Electronic Invoicing in Finland - attitudes towards
electronic invoicing by financial managers in small- to
mid-sized companies
Anna Rofhök-Björni
Master’s of Science Thesis in Accounting
Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration
2006

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SWEDISH SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Department: Accounting Type of work: Master of Science Thesis
Author: Anna Rofhök-Björni Date: 25.01.2006
Title: Electronic Invoicing in Finland - attitudes towards electronic invoicing by
financial managers in small- to mid-sized companies
Abstract:
Electronic invoicing is a fairly new phenomenon that is facing a surge in popularity
in Finland at the moment. There has not been a lot of research made previously on
electronic invoicing and attitudes towards using it by potential users. This thesis aims
to fill this gap.
The research objective is to ascertain what the attitudes are towards electronic
invoicing by financial managers employed by SMEs in Finland. A questionnaire has
been sent to financial managers with questions about electronic invoicing. The
response rate was good.
The result of the study showed that the attitudes towards electronic invoicing are
positive. There were some concerns regarding the cost and safety of using electronic
invoicing but the majority of the respondents believe that using electronic invoicing
would be beneficial.
Keywords: electronic invoicing, XML, ebXML, eInvoice, Finvoice, electronic
commerce, TEAPPSXML, PostiXML, EDIFACT

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Table of Contents
1 Introduction ______________________________________________________ 1
1.1 Background ________________________________________________________ 1
1.2 Research objective __________________________________________________ 1
1.3 Structure of the thesis________________________________________________ 1
2 Electronic Invoicing in Finland ______________________________________ 3
2.1 Introduction________________________________________________________ 3
2.2 The invoice_________________________________________________________ 3
2.3 Electronic invoicing _________________________________________________ 4
2.4 Techniques and standards ___________________________________________ 10
2.5 Electronic invoicing in Finland _______________________________________ 13
2.6 Laws and regulations _______________________________________________ 18
2.7 Summary _________________________________________________________ 19
3 Theories and prior research ________________________________________ 20
3.1 Introduction_______________________________________________________ 20
3.2 Theories of adoption of new information technology _____________________ 20
3.3 Previous research-findings on factors affecting attitudes towards adoption __ 23
3.4 Summary _________________________________________________________ 28
4 Research model and Methodology ___________________________________ 29
4.1 Introduction_______________________________________________________ 29
4.2 Research model and hypotheses ______________________________________ 29
4.3 Data collection _____________________________________________________ 34
4.4 The results ________________________________________________________ 37
5 Discussion ______________________________________________________ 62
5.1 The research and its limitations ______________________________________ 62
5.2 The results and their implications _____________________________________ 62

IV
5.3 Suggestions for further study_________________________________________ 66
5.4 Conclusion ________________________________________________________ 66
6 Bibliography_____________________________________________________ 67
7 Appendix _______________________________________________________ 71
7.1 Appendix 1________________________________________________________ 71
7.2 Appendix 2________________________________________________________ 77
List of Tables
Table 2.1 Costs of paper invoices versus electronic invoices (Elma Electronic Trading, 2006) ...............10
Table 4.1 Current electronic invoicing status ............................................................................................38
Table 4.2 Preferred electronic-invoicing solution......................................................................................39
Table 4.3 Electronic invoicing is hard to understand ................................................................................39
Table 4.4 There is a risk of error increase when using electronic invoicing .............................................40
Table 4.5 Electronic invoicing is tiresome to learn....................................................................................40
Table 4.6 It would be difficult to check accuracy when using electronic invoicing ...................................41
Table 4.7 Technically safe..........................................................................................................................41
Table 4.8 There are financial restrictions in our company to acquire electronic invoicing ......................42
Table 4.9 ERP Systems in use in our company...........................................................................................43
Table 4.10 Regression analysis 1 ...............................................................................................................45
Table 4.11 Regression analysis 2 ...............................................................................................................47
Table 4.12 Regression analysis 3 ...............................................................................................................50
Table 4.13 Regression analysis 4 ...............................................................................................................52
Table 4.14 Regression analysis 5 ...............................................................................................................55
Table 4.15 Summary of hypotheses ............................................................................................................59
Table 4.16 Correlation Matrix ...................................................................................................................60
Table 4.17 Questions for correlation matrix in table 4.14 .........................................................................60
List of Figures
Figure 2.1 Elma for RosettaNet (Elma Electronic Trading, 2006) ______________________________12
Figure 2.2 eInvoice model (e-invoice consortium, 2005)_____________________________________14
Figure 3.1 The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Gullkvist, 2005) _________________________21
Figure 3.2 The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Gullkvist, 2005) ____________________________22
Figure 4.1 Research model ____________________________________________________________30
Figure 4.2 Technically safe ___________________________________________________________41
Figure 4.3 Normality Probability Plot Regression No1 ______________________________________45

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Figure 4.4 Normality Probability Plot Regression No 2 ______________________________________48
Figure 4.5 Normality Probability Plot Regression No 3 ______________________________________50
Figure 4.6 Normality Probability Plot Regression No 4 ______________________________________53
Figure 4.7 Normality Probability Plot Regression No 5 ______________________________________56
Table 4.17 Questions for correlation matrix in table 4.14 ____________________________________60
Figure 4.8 Correlations in research model ________________________________________________61
Figure 5.1 The significant factors in the research model_____________________________________63
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank everybody who has helped me during the time I have been writing
this thesis. I want to thank Thomas Lönnquist at eCraft Oy Ab who gave me the idea to
write about electronic invoicing as well as Johan Andersson at Iversum who has sent me
lots of information. Additionally, I would like to thank Janneke von Wendt and Tove
Gordin-Lydman who translated the questionnaire from English to Finnish. Also, Oana
Velcu, thank you so much for helping me out with all the technical stuff as well as
giving me information on how to analyse my results. I would also like to thank Heli
Salmi who agreed to meet with me and discuss electronic invoicing in Finland. And of
course, Professor Anders Tallberg who has given advice on how to write the thesis and
how not to. Last but not least, I want to thank my husband Janne for putting up with me
and my writing – it took longer than I planned. Thanks for your support!!

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1 Introduction
1.1 Background
In Finland, the Finns can use information networks for almost any everyday activity.
Dealings with governmental departments, bank transactions and purchasing flight or concert
tickets can be handled online. Eighty percent of the population in Finland is familiar with
the Internet and almost fifty percent of them use the Internet daily. Finland has been ranked
three times as one of the most developed IT economies by World Economic Forum (WEF)
in the beginning of the 21st century. Additionally, Finland has many times been cited as a
good “test laboratory” for innovations and services because the Finnish people are
technically oriented and interested in trying new products. Exploring electronic invoicing
and financial managers’ views on its use and adoption in Finland will therefore give an
interesting picture of the future of electronic invoicing (ICT Cluster Finland Review 2005).
There has been a lot of research made regarding attitudes towards and adoption of
electronic commerce by SMEs (Small and Middle-sized Enterprises) which has shown that
SMEs are reluctant to adopt e-commerce (Grandon & Mykyton, 2004). Considering these
findings, it is of interest to establish financial managers’ thoughts regarding electronic
invoicing.
1.2 Research objective
Electronic invoicing is currently a much discussed topic because of the time and cost
reductions it can offer. Many different solutions and techniques have been introduced and
tested. Even though there are numerous studies on attitudes towards information technology
and electronic commerce and their adoption, there is no current research available on the
attitudes towards electronic invoicing. The main purpose of this thesis is to fill this gap.
The objective is to identify the attitudes towards electronic invoicing and its adoption
among financial managers and accountants working for SMEs in Finland. This study will as
a consequence increase our knowledge of attitudes towards new technology in general and
electronic invoicing in particular.
1.3 Structure of the thesis
The first chapter of the thesis serves as an introduction to the topic of electronic invoicing.

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The second chapter will discuss electronic invoicing in Finland. A general description of the
traditional invoice will be offered and discussed before continuing with the electronic
invoice. There will be definitions and introductions of what kinds of electronic invoicing
there are. Subsequently, benefits that can be won by using electronic invoicing are
discussed. Chapter two continues by discussing techniques and standards that are used to
make electronic invoices and also the most common solutions available on the Finnish
market. The chapter will end by briefly introducing laws and regulations that need to be
considered.
Chapter three discusses theories on new information technology adoption and previous
research in this area. In this chapter various factors influencing adoption decisions and
attitudes are identified.
Next part of the thesis, chapter four outlines the research methodology, the research itself
and the results. The last part, chapter five will discuss the findings and their limitations and
implications.

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2 Electronic Invoicing in Finland
2.1 Introduction
Electronic invoicing is facing a surge in popularity at the moment and especially in Finland
suppliers of electronic invoicing and new solutions are increasing. In this section I will
establish what an electronic invoice is, what options are available, the techniques and
standards and finally some solutions on the market in Finland and the laws and regulations.
2.2 The invoice
To understand the electronic invoice, it is useful to be aware of what an invoice is. The
commercial invoice is according to the CEN/ISSS e-Invoicing Focus Group (2005) the most
important document exchanged between business partners. It is not only of commercial
value but it is also an accounting document and it has legal implications for both the sender
and the receiver of the invoice. According to Verohallinto (2005), an invoice is
verification or a message in either paper or electronic format that fulfils the regulations of
VAT (Value Added Tax) laws. In Finland, the invoice forms the basis for the VAT
declaration and reclamation as well as the statistics declaration for intra community trade
and the export and import declaration for extra community trade (CEN/ISSS e-invoicing
focus Group, 2005). The invoice is made by the seller for a sale made to document the
transaction and it subsequently supports accounting and auditing functions. In Finland, a
typical invoice includes the following items:
• Date of invoice
• Number of invoice
• The issuer’s VAT-number
• Issuer’s and recipient’s name and address
• The amount and kind of goods or services
• Date of delivery, date of performance or date of payment (if it is a prepayment)
• The tax-base for every taxable item, price per unit excluding VAT as well as price
reductions and discounts.
• Taxbase
• Amount of VAT to be paid (Verohallinto, 2005)

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2.3 Electronic invoicing
2.3.1 Definitions
According to the e-invoice consortium (2005), an electronic invoice is a modern, reliable,
cost-efficient and practically paperless method of handling and processing invoices for
goods, services and other expenses. Electronic invoicing is suitable for both large and small
firms and companies as well as private customers and both large and small volumes of
invoices can be sent. It is an especially efficient method of invoicing when there are many
recipients. The recipient is sent the invoicing data and an invoice image for circulation,
approval and archiving in electronic format (Elma Electronic Trading, 2005). The electronic
invoice can be graphically displayed on the computer screen similarly to a traditional
invoice. Consequently, archiving, distribution and approval procedures are improved.
Business customers can receive the electronic invoice straight into their financial
information system (e-invoice consortium, 2005). Private customers can receive invoices in
their internet bank. Private customers will not be dealt with in depth as this thesis will
mainly concentrate on B2B (Business to Business) invoicing solutions.
2.3.2 Invoicing electronically
To be able to receive electronic invoices there has to be at least an internet connection, a
workstation, and an agreement with an internet bank or similar where the invoices will
arrive. Sending is usually done through the company’s invoicing system but it can be done
through the Internet as well (Tieke, 2005).
Most financial administration services can send electronic invoices through the Internet
without anything but a browser. The invoices are divided into electronic invoices,
EDIFACT invoices or eKirje invoices to be printed in paper format and subsequently sent
forward to the recipients. The recipient can also receive the invoices electronically straight
into the financial information system provided that the account entries are already marked
on the invoice. All the recipient has to do is to approve the invoice for payment. Sales and
purchase invoices can for example be accessed and transmitted while performing other
bank-transactions (Vahtera Pauli, 2005).

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2.3.2.1 Scanning of invoices
The most basic method of electronic invoicing is scanning. The invoice is issued by the
sender in paper format and subsequently scanned so that the receiver can process them
electronically. The receiver or a third party usually performs the scanning. In this case, the
invoices do not use any electronic messaging.
The receiver has good control of the internal handling of invoices, the processing system
and the status right through the processing as well as the archiving (CEN/ISSS e-Invoicing
Focus Group, 2005). However, the benefits from electronic invoicing compared to paper
invoices are non-existent if the financial information system does not use a system which
can handle the electronic invoice. Consequently, scanning of invoices is only using a small
part of the possibilities that electronic invoices can offer (Vahtera, 2002).
2.3.2.2 Insular electronic invoice
The next type of electronic invoice is the insular electronic invoice. This is when the
receiver wishes to receive invoices electronically in his/her system but where the preceding
messages have not been electronic. This may help to streamline the receiver’s internal
processing of invoices but the processing will nevertheless involve many manual actions
such as verification and matching of the invoice against orders, and cut-and-paste
operations to make the invoice information possible to manage in the ERP system. These
invoices could be in text format (HTML, Word, Excel and the like) or graphical format (for
example PDF or TIFF) (CEN/ISSS e-Invoicing Focus Group, 2005).
2.3.2.3 Electronic invoicing on Web forms
This option involves a web site where the invoices are entered. An example would be a
large, powerful buyer who wants to receive electronic invoices but buys irregularly or not
very often from small suppliers. The supplier is then referred to a web site, usually one that
is accessed through user id and password and he/she can enter the invoice manually there.
The web site might also offer additional services such as storing of invoices and printed or
electronic copies of the invoices entered. If the web site is also the point of access for orders
to the supplier, his/her amount of invoicing data to be inserted may be considerably
reduced. The buyer has full authority on the format of the invoices so that they can be
processed automatically when received. The buyer or a third party runs the web site and is

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in control of how the invoices are stored and the security surrounding the invoices.
The web site could be in the supplier’s control if the situation is reversed and the supplier is
influential and can persuade the buyers to collect invoices from there. In this scenario the
supplier controls the invoice format and procedures. Using a web site for electronic
invoicing could however cause duplication of data entry for the receiver (CEN/ISSS e-
Invoicing Focus Group, 2005).
2.3.2.4 Electronic invoicing through a consolidator
Many companies find using a consolidator convenient. A third party such as a bank or an
ASP (Application Service Provider) operator is used to overcome differences in networks,
communication protocols and message formatting standards by converting the invoice data
between the sender and the receiver. The invoices are electronic throughout the process and
even though the invoices are formatted differently, they are structured and intended for
automatic processing. Consequently, a company only has to have one format of invoices
instead of matching formats for every recipient (CEN/ISSS e-Invoicing Focus Group,
2005).
The consolidator is responsible for the sender’s invoice traffic, the format of the invoice and
the transfer to the recipient. The electronic invoices to be sent are gathered from the sender
by the consolidator. Credit invoices can be sent separately or included. The consolidator
subsequently checks the sender and its right to send electronic invoices and distributes the
electronic invoice to the recipient according to the recipient’s identifier. If the recipient
cannot be identified or if the data is erroneous, an error message is received. If the recipient
uses a service provider, it is his/her responsibility to collect his/her electronic invoices. If
the service provider is a bank for example, electronic invoices could be accessed when
collecting bank statements or paying invoices (e-invoice consortium, 2005)
2.3.2.5 Electronic Invoicing under trading partner framework agreement
In this scenario, the business partners have an agreement for a period of time stating the
conditions for trade. The business process is agreed upon as well as products and prices. A
Price List transaction may be used to change products and prices during the period. A Call-
off/Order transaction is used for individual deliveries followed by an order response. When

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the sale is fulfilled an invoice is used to request payment (CEN/ISSS e-Invoicing Focus
Group, 2005).
2.3.2.6 Direct Electronic Invoices
An electronic invoice can also be collected directly from the electronic invoice provider or
straight from the sender. Software-specific direct connections have been developed for key
accounting and workflow applications in association with software providers and ASP-
operators (e-invoice consortium, 2005).
2.3.3 Benefits to issuers and recipients
The potential benefits have caused a fast growing interest in electronic invoicing. According
to Luo et al. (2000), the most obvious benefits for using electronic invoicing are the
reductions in time and cost when processing invoices. It has been estimated that around 200
million business-to-business (B2B) invoices and 150 million business-to-customer (B2C)
invoices are sent in Finland yearly. On average, when including both issuer’s and
recipient’s costs the handling of a B2B invoice is around EUR30. Eighty percent of this
amount constitutes the handling of a received invoice (e-Finland Forum, 2004).
The process of receiving an invoice payment in Finland is largely automated using
reference numbers, with the introduction of electronic invoicing, the recipient’s accounting
and payment of invoices could be automated as well. The cost reduction could be up to as
much as 80-90% (Vahtera, 2005). In addition, the automation of the invoice processing
reduces the risk of incorrect entries. Electronic invoices are also more environmentally
friendly because of its paperless system (Rautajoki, 2003). According to the e-invoicing
focus group, the introduction of electronic invoicing will furthermore aid tax administrators
to implement new tools and procedures for controlling purposes that are less intrusive on
the trading partners. It has also been said to offer better competitiveness to the economy as a
whole if the number of users is large enough (ICT Cluster Finland Review 2005).
The sender of electronic invoices can reap the following benefits:
Fast invoicing
Lowering of costs of material
Better customer service and cost-savings for customers

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Less manual work process - enhanced efficiency and reduced human error risk
Possibility for electronic storage
Possibility for outsourcing
The receiver of electronic invoices can reap the following benefits:
No manual invoice entry
Automation of VAT services
Fast circulation of invoices
Easier filing
Less errors in data entry and handling
Automation of accounting
Reduced cost of invoice handling (Tieke, 2005, Elma Electronic Trading, 2006)
Typically, large companies have more bureaucracy when processing an invoice. Different
companies have different processes for handling invoices and different invoices have
different handling requirements. Pauli Vahtera and Heli Salmi have made a calculation (see
table 2.1), where two companies with different needs are compared on the time it takes to
handle an incoming paper invoice as well as the time and cost-savings when using
electronic invoicing.
Company A Paper Electronic
(based on Internet and EDI in Effective Accounting Invoice
by Salmi-Vahtera):
Handling phase Time (min) Time (min)
Opening the mail 1
Date stamping the invoice 1
Copying the original 1
Organising copy in a folder according to alphabetical 1
order
Checking and posting the invoice 2
Entry into the purchase ledger 2
Checking 1 1
Approval 2 1
Posting the invoice to the data system 1,5

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Approval of payment 0,5
Archiving the invoice (in numerical order) 1
In-house mailing (9 copies of the invoice) 10
Error handling (10% of invoices) 2 1
TOTAL (min) 26 3
Hourly rate 34 EUR
Minute rate 0,6 EUR
Cost / invoice EUR 14,57 1,68
Savings / invoice 12,89 EUR
Savings as a percent 88,5 %
Paper Electronic
Company B Invoice
(based on Paperiton kirjanpito [Paper-free
Bookkeeping] by Vahtera-Salmi):
Handling phase Time (min) Time (min)
Purchase invoice from the post
Supplier number, receipt stamp and receipt number 0,5
marked onto the invoice
Entry into the ledger 1
Entry into the order processing system
Finding the despatch note for the invoice; the despatch
note is clipped to the invoice, the invoice is placed in a
post box, someone takes it to the purchase team
Approval in the team 0,5
The invoice returns to bookkeeping 10
A copy of the invoice is taken
The despatch note is stapled to the copy 0,5

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The copy and the despatch note are placed into a 0,5
folder in receipt order
The original invoice is approved
Approval 0,5 0,5
The chief accountant checks the invoice posting 0,5
The invoice is taken from the ledger and posted 0,5
The invoice is archived in receipt number order 0,5
TOTAL (min) 14 1,5
Hourly rate 34 EUR
Minute rate 0,6 EUR
Cost / invoice EUR 7,8 0,8
Savings / invoice 7,0 EUR
Savings as a percent 89,3%
Table 2.1 Costs of paper invoices versus electronic invoices (Elma Electronic
Trading, 2006)
2.4 Techniques and standards
2.4.1 Introduction
There are many different techniques and standards available on the international market for
electronic invoicing. As this thesis’ focus is on the Finnish market I will concentrate on the
techniques and standards used in Finland. The main ones are the eInvoice, the Finvoice,
TEAPPSXML, PostiXML, VaLo and EDIFACT but there are others.
The eInvoice was developed by an organisation which was formed to facilitate the
development of electronic invoicing in Finland , the e-invoicing consortium. The e-
invoicing consortium agreed on technical data content as well as the information to be
included in the electronic invoice supported (the eInvoice). The eInvoice standard has two
possibilities: XML or ASCII. The Finvoice was introduced by the Finnish Bank Association
and was developed according to ebXML. In addition to these, TietoEnator has its own
product TEAPPSXML which is compatible with both the eInvoice standard and the

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Finvoice. Having many standards on the market is not a problem as the service providers
transform the electronic invoices to the format required. In Finland, large corporations still
use EDIFACT but according to Vahtera this will diminish as the other alternatives are
stronger and less expensive (Vahtera, 2005).
2.4.2 EDIFACT & ANSI
EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange for Administartions, Commerce and Transport) and
ANSI (American National Standards Institute) are traditional standards of EDI. These
standards set fields for documents such as purchase orders, invoices and payments
(Hasselbring & Weigand, 2001).
2.4.3 XML (eXtensible Markup Language)
XML is a mark-up language and is used to create self-descriptive data. It is a meta-
language. XML is independent of any application or platform and both humans and
machines can read its syntax. (Hasselbring & Weigand, 2001) It has been widely used to
describe data and creating mark-up languages (Deitel et al, 2003).
2.4.4 RosettaNet
Rosetta Net a consortium that develops an electronic business framework for business
processes definition. It is a non-profit organisation and it is creating open standards so that
supply-chain partners can coordinate business processes more efficiently. To accomplish
this goal, RosettaNet has developed dictionaries and frameworks that assist organisations in
implementing business-process standards. The core properties of RosettaNet is the
definition of terms called PIPs (Partner Interface Processes). PIPs are XML specifications
and describe processes and business documents shared in the supply chain (Deitel et al,
2003). The RosettaNet framework is for example used by Elma Electronic Trading in their
Elma for RosettaNet.

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Figure 2.1 Elma for RosettaNet (Elma Electronic Trading, 2006)
2.4.5 EbXML (Electronic Business XML)
This technical framework was developed jointly by OASIS (Organization for the
Advancement of Structured Information Standards) and UN/CEFACT (United Nations
Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business) to standardise XML business
specifications and make it possible for XML to be used consistently for electronic business
data exchange. EbXML provides a technical framework through which companies
regardless of size and industry can communicate and exchange data using XML or EDI
syntax. EbXML draws on extensive experience with EDI syntax and semantics and on
current initiatives for converting EDI to XML (ebXML forum, 2005). In Finland, the
Finvoice was developed using ebXML.
2.4.6 Biztalk
BizTalk is a tool developed by Microsoft for communication between different systems.
With BizTalk, data can be marked up as XML and subsequently transferred between
different applications regardless of different platforms or programming languages. BizTalk
actually includes three things; the BizTalk Server, the BizTalk Framework and the BizTalk
Schema Library. The server parses and translates every message and the framework is a
schema structuring the messages to be sent (Deitel et al 2003). Biztalk has been used in

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Finland for electronic invoicing solutions by ASP operators.
2.5 Electronic invoicing in Finland
2.5.1 Introduction
As Finland is one of the forerunners in electronic banking, there is considerable expertise in
the electronic business area and the internet banking and payment infrastructure is greatly
developed. In addition, there has been a great deal of collaboration between banks, ASPs
and others and this has resulted in a development of functional and cost-efficient
procedures, standards, models and instructions for electronic invoicing. As a consequence,
Finland has proven to be a good market for solutions for electronic invoicing to be
developed in (Vahtera, 2002).
2.5.2 Solutions available
Electronic invoicing has been used in Finland over 30 years already. The first electronic
invoices were sent between large corporations according to internal standards. In the 1970s,
the KOTVA-standard was introduced and many large businesses traded invoices. At the end
of the 80s, the international EDIFACT standard was established which is still used by big
firms today (Vahtera, 2002). In 1998, payment of electronic invoices through the internet
was commenced. International credit card-companies have their own electronic invoices
and also other large international corporations have their own systems which are based on
internal standards, EDIFACT and US ANSI standard. Invoices in pdf-format or email
invoices have also been used as electronic invoices. The Post’s eKirje can be printed but is
electronic in the seller’s accounting system (Vahtera, 2002). Tietoyhteiskynnan
kehittämiskeskus (Tieke, 2005) has developed a website where electronic invoice users can
register when they are able to receive and send electronic invoices (Tieke, 2005). The
biggest players on the Finnish market are according to Heli Salmi, Elma Electronic Trading,
Nordea, TietoEnator and BasWare. In this section, I will describe some of the most
common solutions available on the Finnish market.
2.5.2.1 The eInvoicing Consortium
The e-Invoice consortium was initiated in 1999 and the eInvoice solution was developed
(Elma Electronic Trading, 2006). Providers of electronic invoicing and banks in Finland

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agreed upon a common standard so that electronic invoices could be sent and received in a
secure manner in a common trunk network. Consequently, invoicing between sellers and
buyers is made in a uniform way even though they are using different providers.
The eInvoicing consortium is focused on securing the eInvoice and making it reliable. The
providers install the connections the customer needs to be able to send and receive
electronic invoices. This can be done in collaboration with the financial administration
software providers or ASP operators or independently. The banks and the providers then
handle the set-up, maintenance, support and backup of the network connections as well as
format conversions that might be necessary to let the customers use the method of receiving
and sending e-invoices best suitable (e-invoice consortium, 2005).The parties in the
consortium transmit the data to the receiver according to the technical address in the
invoice. Standards for the invoice data has been developed by the consortium (Elma
Electronic Trading, 2006).
Figure 2.2 eInvoice model (e-invoice consortium, 2005)

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The eInvoicing model is based on EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). EDI includes the
electronic transfer, from computer to computer, of commercial and administrative data with
the use of an agreed standard. In other words, EDI can mean both EDIFACT messages as
well as XML messages. Electronic invoicing is based on agreements between the parties
involved:
• the invoice issuer and the service provider or bank
• agreements between the parties in the consortium
• the invoice receiver and the service provider or bank. ¨
Verification of origin is established by the use of VPN (Virtual Private Network) protocol.
The VPN protocol secures the origin, integrity and confidentiality of the message. In FTP-
connections the FTP (File Transfer Protocol) user is identified with a user id and a
password. Banks demand MAC (Message Authentication Code) digest in their connections.
The verification of integrity is verified with start and end segments.
In international transactions the transmission can be secured by:
• The invoice sender and the receiver make an EDI-agreement where the security
methods are established
• Verification of origin is established by using VPN protocol
• The verification of integrity can be secured by a digest, which is included in the
data. In all cases the integrity of the data can and will be verified with start and end
segments (Elma Electronic Trading, 2006).
2.5.2.2 Elma E-Invoice
Elma is part of the eInvoicing consortium and offers several solutions to their customers
depending on the customers’ situation. Elma offers the Elma eInvoice, the Elma eInvoice
Basic and Elma eInvoice.com. The Elma eInvoice is suitable for large and mid-sized
organisations and the Elma eInvoice Basic and the Elma eInvoice.com are more fitted to
small and medium-sized companies. All of the products support several standards, message
descriptions and operational models available on the market. In addition, all Elma e-invoice
products are based on the standards and operating procedures identified by the eInvoice
consortium. Customers can therefore choose the method of receiving and sending electronic

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invoices that suits them best. Elma’s products support, among others, the following
formats: PDF, TIFF, eInvoiceXML, eInvoice ASCII, TEAPPSXML (TietoEnator), EPL
(Finland Post Ltd), and EDIFACT.
The Elma eInvoice is made to look like a regular, printed invoice. According to Elma
Electronic Trading, this aids checking, circulation and archiving of the electronic invoice. It
can easily be linked to the organisation’s invoicing system. The recipient can receive the
invoice in whatever format required, whether it is another Elma eInvoice, an EDI invoice or
in paper format (printed by the Elma Invoice service). Invoice payment information is
automatically integrated into the recipient’s system. The invoices can be accessed and
viewed from the organisation’s ERP system. It can be printed, saved on a workstation or
forwarded by e-mail.
If the recipient uses the eInvoice Repository Connection (eRC) the Elma eInvoice can be
received directly into the financial information system. The eRC uses the Elma data
warehouse technology and an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) application interface to make
this possible. The recipient’s software supplier is then responsible for transferring the data
and integrating the invoices. With the eRC Plus, the recipient can also receive electronic
invoices from other operators and banks who are part of the eInvoice consortium.
EDI invoices are transferred automatically using the ElmaEDI connection from the sender’s
ERP system to the receiver’s system. Orders and order confirmations often forms the basis
for EDI invoices according to the SCM (Supply Chain Management) - model. EDI invoices
are mainly for companies sending many invoices.
For customers wanting invoices in paper format, the Elma Invoice service can be used. The
issuer sends the invoice files electronically to Elma and the Elma Invoice service prints the
invoices and sends them to the customer. A customer can furthermore receive scanned
paper invoices by using the Elma eCom Connection. Paper purchase invoices are then
converted into electronic format such as PDF or TIFF files.
In addition to the connections in Elma’s products, Elma eInvoices can be received through
several ASP operators. The operators then transmit the invoice data between themselves and
the operators are responsible for their service. Each operator can use different ways to send
the invoice data. The Elma eInvoice can be transmitted through the Internet as well as

17
through fixed connections. Currently, the Elma eInvoice supports the following distribution
channels: Finland Post Ltd, TietoEnator, Elisa Solutions Ltd, Proha Oyj, ProCountor.Com,
WM-data Novo, and BasWare Business Transactions.
Elma eInvoice Basic uses the same technology and distribution channels as the eInvoice but
has limited customisation.
The Elma eInvoice.com is a service where companies can send and receive invoices
electronically without installing a new application to their own system. An internet browser
is all that is needed. The invoices are subsequently sent straight to the recipient’s system.
For security, the invoice traffic is encrypted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer), MAC
(Message Authentication Code) and PATU (Banking standard for secure customer
connections). Automatic watchdog technologies are used to control the buffers for the
invoices and the servers are placed safely and securely and under constant supervision
(Elma Electronic Trading, 2006).
2.5.2.3 Finvoice
The European Committee for Banking Standards (ECBS) introduced in July 2003 a
standard for electronic invoicing called the electronic Payment Initiator (ePI). The ePI was
created to be used both domestically as well as internationally. In Finland, the ePI standard,
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and ebXML-compliant descriptions were employed
to develop a format for electronic invoices called Finvoice (ebxml forum, 2005). The
Finvoice was created by Finnish banks and uses XML syntax. The Finvoice can as such, be
presented in a browser in a form similar to a paper invoice as well as be understood by an
application. Consequently, the Finvoice can be printed as a paper invoice and processed
traditionally if the need arises (The Finnish Bankers‘ Association, 2005).
A Finvoice consists of three things; a transmission frame consisting the information
necessary for forwarding the invoice, a specification of the information needed for approval
and accounting purposes and payment information. As mentioned earlier, the Finvoice can
be opened for viewing and printing using a normal browser but it can also be processed
fully automatically (The Finnish Bankers‘ Association, 2005).

18
2.6 Laws and regulations
According to Directive 2001/115/EC, all Member States must accept documents or
messages in paper or electronic format as invoices if they meet the conditions outlined in
Directive 2001/115/EC. It is also stated in the Directive that Member States can require
special conditions, procedures or measures according to the national requirements. This can
cause conflicts in cross-border trading. In such cases, the VAT rules of the issuer’s Member
State will apply (e-Invoicing Focus Group, 2005).
Directive 2001/115/EC entails requirements on electronic invoices regarding the guarantee
of integrity of content and authenticity of origin for VAT purposes. As stated earlier, an
electronic invoice should be accepted as long as the authenticity of the origin and the
integrity of the contents are guaranteed. The authenticity of the origin is to know for a fact,
the identity of the sender of the electronic invoice. The integrity of the contents means that
any changes that have occurred during transport or storage can be detected. This should be
accomplished through:
- an Advanced Electronic Signature (AES).
- or an electronic data interchange (EDI).
- or any other electronic means subject to acceptance by the Member State in question.
The conditions will if necessary be adjusted according to any future technological
developments in this field by 31.12.2008 the latest.
In addition to these conditions the following need to be considered:
- some Member countries might require a summary document in paper format of the
invoices issued.
- some Member countries might require prior notification but only until the end of 2005.
- signed invoices should not be required.
- regarding cross border invoicing, the terms and conditions of the agreement and of the
acceptance procedures are to be according to the regulations of the State in which the goods
or services are supplied.
- regarding non EU countries, the Member State where the taxable person is registered can
require specific conditions for electronic invoices issued from a country with which there is
no legal agreement regarding invoices if the goods and/or services are supplied in the
Member State.
According to the e-Invoicing Focus Group (2005), the Directive furthermore states that

19
copies of all invoices whether received or issued are to be stored. The authenticity of the
origin, the integrity of the content and the invoices’ readability have to be guaranteed
throughout the period of storage. The content may not be changed and it has to be legible
throughout the period. If the invoices are stored in message format then the required
directory and code sets required for conversion to clear format must also be stored. The
place of storage is optional as long as the invoices or the information stored are available
without unnecessary delay to the authorities. Invoices are required to be stored for fiscal
administration for a period of six years (CEN/ISSS e-Invoicing Focus Group, 2005). In
Finland, electronic storage of invoices is allowed according to the Finnish accounting laws
as long as they can be retrieved easily (kirjanpitolautakunnan yleisohjeet, 2000).
The Finnish Ministry of Finance has proposed modifications in the national VAT legislation
based on the EU directive. These modifications were accepted by the Parliament in
February 2003. There will be no specific requirements for electronic invoicing in Finland.
The proposal declared that there have not been any taxation difficulties in electronic
invoicing and legislation should not include too strict requirements (Elma Electronic
Trading, 2006).
2.7 Summary
As presented in this section, there are a number of options available for companies
interested in using electronic invoicing with the two main ones being electronic
invoicing using a consolidator and making a solutions especially fitted to serve the
company in question. The benefits of using electronic invoicing are several but the most
important ones are the savings a company can make in time and cost. In addition, entry
errors are reduced. The main products on the Finnish market are the eInvoice, the Finvoice,
TEAPPSXML, and EDIFACT. The eInvoice standard uses XML or ASCII, the Finvoice
was developed using ebXML and the TEAPPSXML is compatible with both the Finvoice
and the eInvoice. In Finland there are no laws especially for electronic invoicing.

20
3 Theories and prior research
3.1 Introduction
The vast availability of new information technology, as well as the nature of the “global
village”, have changed the way organizations work. For example, adoption decisions have
now become more difficult for management to make (Dasgupta et al 1999). Adoption of
information technology has been greatly studied in recent years and has been defined as the
decision to invest in, or to accept, a new technology (Dasgupta et al, 2002) and is
characterised by the making of the adoption decision and the investment following the
decision (Dasgupta et al 1999). As there is no set framework made for studying the attitudes
towards adoption of electronic invoicing I have decided to use a selection of theories on IT
adoption as a basis for my research. In this section I will present these theories and what has
been discovered to determine attitudes towards new information technology and its
adoption and how I will apply them in my study on attitudes towards electronic invoicing
and its adoption.
3.2 Theories of adoption of new information technology
3.2.1 Introduction
Adoption of new information technology has been widely researched and there are several
theories that have been used to study this subject, for example the Theory of Reasoned
Action, the Technology Acceptance Model, the Motivational Model, the Theory of Planned
Behaviour, the Innovation Diffusion Theory and the Social Cognitive Theory (Venkatesh et
al 2003). A selection of these will be introduced below.
3.2.2 Technology Acceptance Model
The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was proposed by Davis in1989 as a tool to
predict acceptance of information technology. It has since then been widely used and
validated. The model states that adoption of information technology is dependent on the
perceived ease of use and the perceived usefulness of the technology by the user. More
recent research has extended the model to include factors such as perceived system quality,
performance and prior use. Social norms and prior performance showed to have an

21
influence on technology adoption. The TAM has mainly been used to predict adoption of
new technology by individuals but not by organisations (Dasgupta 2002). Many other
theories on information technology adoption are based on the TAM and previous research
often refers to the model. For example, Pavlou (2003) states that internet technology
acceptance can be partially explained with the TAM.
Perceived
usefuln ss
e
Attitude Behav ioural Actual
External variables Toward intentio to use
n systemu se
using
Perceived
ease of use Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
Figure 3.1 The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Gullkvist, 2005)
3.2.3 The Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of
Planned Behavior
The Theory of Reasoned Action, TRA and the Theory of Planned Behavior, TPB, are both
well-known theories of intention and have been used with success in many different
settings. These two theories suggest that behaviour can be predicted according to the
intentions of the person in question. The intentions are in turn influenced by the person’s
attitude (favorable or unfavorable evaluation) and subjective norm (perceived social
pressure to perform) towards the behavior (Grandon and Mykytyn 2004).
The TRA involves using an individual’s attitude and his/her subjective norm towards the
behavior to predict intentions (Riemenschneider and McKinney, 2001-2002). The TRA has
been used to gain understanding of behavior and has been applied in many behavioral
science disciplines. The TRA has for example been used by Davis, Bagozzi and Warshaw
to examine user acceptance of computer technology and their conclusion was that

22
individuals’ use of computers can be predicted based on their intentions. (Riemenschneider
and McKinney, 1999, Grandon and Mykytyn, 2004).
The TPB builds on the TRA and has the addition of perceived behavioral control. (PBC).
PBC involves the influence of past experiences as well as anticipated barriers. The theory
with attitude, subjective norm and PCB is documented using belief-based measures and
direct measures (Grandon and Mykytyn 2004). This theory has been validated in many
different settings and situations and has proven to be useful in predicting managerial
behavior in regards to adoption of new information technology (Riemenschneider and
McKinney, 1999, Grandon and Mykytyn 2004).
Belief an
s d
Evaluation
Attitude toward
Behav iour
Behav ioural Actual
Intention Behaviour
Subjective
Norm
Theory of Reasoned
Normativ Belief an
e s d Action (TRA)
M otivation to comply
Figure 3.2 The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Gullkvist, 2005)
3.2.4 Technology-Organization-Environment framework
The technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework uses three aspects of a firm’s
context as influences on adoption and implementation of an innovation: technological,
organizational and environmental context.
The technological context involves the internal and external technologies that are relevant
to the firm. The organizational context involves the size of the firm, centralization,
formalization and complexity of managerial structure, the quality of its human resources

23
and the availability of internal slack resources. The environmental context entails the
environment in which the firm is doing business i.e. industry, competitors, resources, and
government (Zhu et al 2004).
The TOE framework has been confirmed by many researchers such as Swanson, Kuan and
Chau and Iacovou. Iacovou et al (1995) discusses adoption of EDI by small firms. The
TOE-framework is used and different adopters and non-adopters are identified.
3.2.5 The theory of diffusion of innovation
The theory of Innovation Diffusion is increasing in popularity as a reference theory for
studying information technologies. It provides tools to assess adoption and identifies factors
that facilitate or inhibit technology adoption and implementation. It has many similarities to
the TAM. For example, diffusion theory involves relative advantage and complexity, which
can be seen as the same as TAM’s perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Fichman
(1992) explains that factors facilitating or hindering adoption of technology that can be
identified by diffusion innovation theory include characteristics of the technology,
characteristics of adopters, how adopters hear about the technology and how they are
persuaded to adopt (Fichman 1992).
3.3 Previous research-findings on factors affecting attitudes
towards adoption
3.3.1 Introduction
In this section, previous research findings will be presented. Previous research in this area
has shown the following to be motivations for IT adoption
• sustaining competitive advantage
• improvement of efficiency
• protecting market share
• assisting in innovative activities
• increasing productivity and profitability (Wang et al (2004))

24
In addition to these motivations, many other factors have been introduced and validated or
discarded. I have decided to include personal factors, organizational factors, environmental
factors, technological factors and economical factors as these are the most prevalent in
previous research.
3.3.2 Personal factors
Personal factors include attitude, perceived benefits, perceived ease of use and perceived
usefulness. These are included in the theories introduced in the previous section such as the
TAM and the TRA. Chau (2003) uses the TAM when studying acceptance of internet
banking but extends it by adding the variable attitude. In Chau’s study, perceived ease of
use showed to be the most significant determinant of acceptance. He therefore goes on to
conclude that perceived ease of use will be of importance for any new technology in the
early days of adoption. McCloskey (2003-2004) also found in her study that perceived ease
of use and perceived usefulness were determinants of acceptance. In addition, Gullkvist
(2005) learned in her study of the electronic paper in Finland that perceived usefulness and
perceived ease of use were important factors affecting attitudes toward the electronic paper.
Pavlou (2003) proposes an e-commerce acceptance model that draws on the TRA. He states
that perceived trust and risk are important variables when predicting B2C e-commerce
acceptance. He found that perceived usefulness was a determinant of acceptance but the
importance of trust is due to the high level of uncertainty concerning on line transactions.
The adopters of web-based e-commerce in Riemenschneider and McKinney’s study (2001-
2002) had stronger beliefs as to the advantages to be gained than non-adopters
(Riemenschneider and McKinney 2001-2002). This was also found in the research made by
Wang et al (2004) where higher perceived benefits led to a greater motivation to adopt.
Iacovou et al (1995) discovered in their study of EDI adoption in small firms that there was
low awareness of the benefits of EDI before adoption. As a consequence, the relationship
between perceived benefits and adoption of EDI was moderate (Iacovou et al, 1995).
3.3.3 Organisational factors
Organizational factors include culture, ownership, management skill and support among
others. Dasgupta et al (1999) discovered that if an organization has a high performance-

25
oriented culture the level of computerization tends to be higher. This type of culture
emphasizes people, team, detail, outcome orientation and innovativeness. Companies
sustaining a stability-oriented culture were believed to be less likely to adopt new
information technology as they tend to resist change but the study could not find any
support for this theory. The conclusion was that even change-resisting firms need to adopt
some amount of new technology to stay competitive. Foreign or domestic ownership did not
show to be significant either (Dasgupta et al 1999).
Chong (2000) identifies managerial factors such as lack of managerial and or technical skill
that influence adoption or non-adoption. In addition, lack of managerial support has been
found to influence adoption. This has been verified by Wang et al (2004) where strong
support from top managers was shown to have positive influence on IT adoption.
Availability of qualified personnel is another important factor discussed by Bertschek and
Fryges (2002). Dasgupta et al (1999) also found that greater involvement of Information
Systems staff in the decision making regarding adoption had a negative influence on
adoption. However, Gullkvist (2005) discovered that managerial support as well as IT
support did not have a big effect on the attitudes of accountants and auditors and states that
these factors affect actual usage and not attitudes.
3.3.4 Firm Size
Firm size is one of the most frequently studied factors on adoption and has been validated in
many different settings as a determinant of adoption of new information technology.
Riemenschneider and McKinney (2001-2002) found in their study of belief differences in
small business adopters and non-adopters of web-based e-commerce using the TPB, that
large firms were more likely to adopt e-commerce than small firms. This was also evident
in Bertschek and Fryges‘(2002) study of German companies regarding B2B e-commerce
adoption. Firm size is a factor that determines adoption, the larger the firm the more likely
adoption is. Dasgupta et al (1999) discovered the same thing. The degree of
computerization was found to be larger in larger firms. Iacovou et al (1995) looked at the
relationship between firm size and adoption of EDI and stated that adopters tend to be larger
firms (in terms of sales volume) than non-adopters. This is a result of the resources that are
available to the firm. Size measured as number of employees on the other hand does not
seem to have an impact (Iacovou et al 1995). Kelley and Helper (1999) state, that a
business’ likeliness to adopt new technology is a function of its organizational capabilities

26
in relation to its size and its history with similar technologies. Larger firms are more likely
to adopt new technology due to the fact that large firms have more liquidity and can
therefore more easily afford it. If the firm in addition has experience of similar technology
adoption the uncertainty is reduced. Then management has some idea of the disruption it
will cause and how to minimize it. This will reduce the cost of adoption and therefore it is
more likely to happen. Wang et al (2004) contradicted Zhu’s (Zhu et al, 2002) claim that
large firms are more likely to adopt commerce. Wang et al claimed that any firm, large or
small can adopt commerce and do business on the Internet. But their study contradicted this
claim and proved yet again that size does matter.
3.3.5 Technology characteristics
Technological factors such as the perceived relative advantage, compatibility, trialability,
complexity, observability have also been noted in Chong‘s study (2000). Wang et al (2004)
provide a new categorizing method for IT adoption using internal and external factors.
Internal factors include firm size, system support readiness and a clear IT strategy.
Accessibility, alliance services and personalization were also found to be important in
Chau‘s study of internet banking. Unexpectedly, task familiarity proved to have low
importance (Chau, 2003). Gullkvist (2005) found that trust in the technique was an
important variable determining perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use.
3.3.6 Environmental factors
Kelley and Helper (1999) claimed that if the firm is practicing in an environment where the
industry mix is diverse it is more likely that management hears of new technologies and the
benefits and therefore it is more likely that they adopt the technology. In addition, in such
an environment the new technology and the people needed to implement it are more
available. Smaller firms are especially influenced by their geographical and network
positions. In addition, Bertschek and Fryges (2002) found that international pressure is also
important as well as the industry the company is in. If other firms are adopting the
technology they have to follow. This was the most significant factor in their study. In
Chong’s study (2000), external factors such as fluctuating interest rates, reliability of
supply, competition, and critical mass were noted as important. If critical mass is limited

27
there might be a lack of infrastructure, suitable platforms and compatible technological
standards. In addition, national infrastructure and government support is also important.
3.3.7 Competitive effects
Dasgupta et al (1999) found in their study that firms facing heavy competition were more
likely to adopt new information technology than others. Wang et al (2004) found that the
network position in a supply chain is significant; the closer to the core the higher the
likeliness of adoption. Other competitive factors they found were stable business network
linkage, inter-firm collaboration and mutual IT adoption along the supply chain.
Zhu et al (2004) uses the Technology-Organization-Environment Framework to investigate
factors which may influence the value of e-business. They found among other things that
competitive pressure is a factor driving firms to adopt e-business. Iacovou et al found in
their study that the main reason for small firms to adopt EDI was external pressure
especially from trading partners (Iacovou et al, 1995).
3.3.8 Economic factors
Computer hardware and software prices also showed to influence adoption decisions
(Dasgupta et al 1999). Adopting new information technology not only requires investments
in hardware and software but also employee training and system integration (Zhu et al,
2004). Transaction costs per invoicing need also be considered. According to Heli Salmi,
who is coordinator of expert services at Elma Electronic Trading, cost was more of an issue
earlier. Nowadays, it is important that the cost per invoice is lower than postage fees. This is
also dependent of the size of the firm.
3.3.9 Paperless Accounting
Benita Gullkvist has made a study called the Electronic Paper in Accounting – Studies in
Attitudes and Consequences among Accounting Professionals (2005). Her main research
question was how accounting professionals in Finland view electronic accounting systems.
She used both surveys and interviews among accountants and auditors employed in
accounting agencies to accomplish this aim. Gullkvist has based her study on theories such
as the Technology Acceptance Model and the Theory of Reasoned Action among others.
She found that perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of the system were important

28
factors determining attitudes towards paperless accounting. In addition, she found
experience, institution conformity (work routines, accounting norms, and the organization),
technical factors, economic factors, social norms and attitudes towards using to be
important. She could however, not find support for organizational factors such as
management support (Gullkvist, 2005).
3.4 Summary
Many theories have been developed about attitudes towards and implementation of new
information technology. In this section, I have introduced a selection of these; the
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), the Theory
of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the theory of diffusion of innovation and the Technology-
Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework. The theories that will be mostly used in my
research are the TAM and the TRA with some aspects of the TOE framework as well.
There has also been an overview of previous research findings. Many factors have been
verified as having an effect on attitudes towards new technology and adoption decisions and
a collection of these have been introduced in this section. I have included personal factors,
organizational factors, environmental factors, technological factors and economical factors
as these are the most prevalent in previous research. My research has furthermore been
influenced greatly by Benita Gullkvist’s study (2005) called Electronic Paper in
Accounting. Studies in Attitudes and Consequences among Accounting Professionals and
this study has also been introduced in this section.

29
4 Research model and Methodology
4.1 Introduction
As attitudes towards electronic invoicing and its adoption in Finland have not been studied
previously, the aim of this research is to fill this gap. To accomplish this, a questionnaire
was sent to SMEs in Finland dealing in B2B activities. In the study, Benita Gullkvist’s
research (2005) was used as a roadmap. She studied the attitudes towards electronic
accounting among accountants and auditors and her questionnaire served as a model to
mine. The theories mentioned previously such as the TAM and the TRA were also used to
develop the questionnaire to investigate the attitudes toward electronic invoicing and its
adoption in Finland. In this section I will develop the research model and the hypotheses to
be tested.
4.2 Research model and hypotheses
Using Gullkvist’s (2005) model as inspiration, my research model is similarly based on the
TRA-model and the TAM-model. These models have been validated in the past and have
proven useful in similar circumstances as indeed in Gullkvist’s study. Figure 4.1 has been
developed using Gullkvist’s research model. Since the purpose of the study is to find out
about attitudes, the focus is as in Gullkvist model, instead of on actual usage, on intention to
use. Also, since electronic accounting and electronic invoicing are quite novel, it might not
be possible to measure what affects actual usage.
There are a few differences between Gullkvist’s model and mine. The intention to use is
influenced by the attitudes towards usage and perceived usefulness in both models. In my
model however, intention to use is also affected by perceived ease of use. In Gullkvist’s
model, intention to use is influenced by a variable called social pressure which involves
attitudes among co-workers and the like. I have changed this factor to environmental factors
which involve customers, suppliers and competition as I felt this was more appropriate
since I am studying the attitudes of financial managers in SMEs. Attitude towards usage is
in my model, similar to Gullkvist’s model, affected by perceived usefulness and perceived
ease of use, but also by organisational factors and technical factors. Technical factors are
also affecting perceived ease of use in my model whereas in Gullkvist’s model they only
affect perceived usefulness. Gullkvist also has an additional factor in her study called

30
accounting practices which I excluded since my study is about electronic invoicing.
Personal factors Perceived
usefulness
Organisational
factors Attitude
Towards
usage Intention to use
Technical factors Perceived
ease of use
Economical
factors
Environmental
factors
Figure 4.1 Research model
Personal factors
In this segment, personal factors of the respondent such as age, sex, work experience as
well as experience of electronic invoicing are studied, to see if they affect the attitudes
towards electronic invoicing. Gullkvist (2005) discusses the likelihood of demographic
variables affecting attitudes towards electronic accounting. She points out that previous
research have found that older people and people with longer work experience are more
prone to feel negatively towards new technology. On the other hand, there is research that
point out that previous experience with the technique in question is associated with positive
attitudes (Gullkvist, 2005).
Hypothesis 1:
Previous experience of electronic invoicing or similar techniques affects perception of
electronic invoicing.

31
Hypothesis 2:
Age and previous work-experience influence perceptions of electronic invoicing.
Organizational factors
In this segment, factors such as availability of IT personnel, support from management and
the firm’s business activities are studied. Dasgupta et al (1999) investigated the possibility
that the availability of IT personnel to train employees and to facilitate the adoption process
have been influential on decisions to adopt a new product, but found that this had little
significance. Iacovou et al, (1995) found that most respondents were concerned with the
lack of know-how. I would like to see if the same holds true in this situation.
In addition, individuals seldom have the right to decide on investment decisions or new
information technology usage in the company and as a consequence the perception of
management support could influence attitudes (Fichman, 1992). Gullkvist (2005) found in
her study that implementing electronic accounting would not only introduce new
technology but to receive all potential benefits, processes were to be changed as well. I
would like to see whether the perceptions of a change in processes affect the attitudes
towards electronic invoicing.
Hypothesis 3
Having qualified IT personnel in the company affects perceptions of electronic invoicing.
Hypothesis 4
If there is a perception that management would support adoption, financial managers are
more positive towards electronic invoicing.
Hypothesis 5
If there is a perception that changes in processes will be big, managers are less likely to
want to use electronic invoicing
Hypothesis 6
Most firms have not implemented electronic invoicing but will within 5 years
Hypothesis 7
Adoption depends on the business activities of the firm

32
Environmental factors
Outside pressure such as opinions and actions of supplier and customers are studied in this
section. Especially for small firms, it has been found that the actions of suppliers and
competition affect adoption decisions made by SMEs, as small firm are more susceptible to
outside pressure (Iacovou et al, 1995).
Market share is also examined. When a company is faced with a great deal of competition
one of the options to achieve cost efficiencies may be to invest in new information
technology (Dasgupta et al, 1999). As a consequence, if there is little competition, there is
less need to invest in new information technology.
Hypothesis 8
Pressure from suppliers and/or customers can determine intention to use electronic
invoicing
Hypothesis 9
The larger the market share the less important electronic invoicing will be.
Technological factors
Safety and implementation issues are studied in this part. Kelley and Helper (1999) found
that if a company has implemented similar technology before, it was more positively
inclined towards new technology. As SMEs aren’t likely to have invested in similar
technology before I wanted to see if recent ERP system adoption would affect attitudes
towards electronic invoicing. Trust in the safety of the technique has been found to
determine perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use (Gullkvist, 2005). According to
Heli Salmi, the technical safety of electronic invoicing is perceived as good nowadays and I
would like to see if this holds true. In addition, I wanted to see if electronic invoicing is
perceived to be easy to learn.
Hypothesis 10
If other technology adoption has been made recently, the company is more likely to have a
positive attitude towards electronic invoicing.

33
Hypothesis 11
Electronic invoicing is perceived as technically safe.
Hypothesis 12
Electronic invoicing is perceived as easy to learn
Economical factors
In this part, economical issues are studied. Previous studies have shown that economical
reasons have an affect on the intention to adopt new information technology (Iacovou et al
1995). As SMEs often have less available financial resources than large corporations, the
costs associated with investing new information technology can be perceived as too high.
Hypothesis 13
Economical reasons are often cited as reasons for not implementing.
Usefulness and ease of use
The perceived usefulness and ease of use is examined in this section. Perceived usefulness
and perceived ease of use have been found to be important determinant of acceptance of
new technology (Chau, 2003, McCloskey, 2003-2004) as well as affecting attitudes towards
electronic accounting (Gullkvist, 2005). Therefore, I anticipate that if electronic invoicing is
perceived as useful and easy to use the attitudes will be positive.
Hypothesis 14:
If electronic invoicing is perceived as useful, the attitude towards electronic invoicing is
positive.
Hypothesis 15:
If electronic invoicing is perceived as easy to use, the attitude towards using it is positive.
Hypothesis 16:
If electronic invoicing is perceived as useful, the intention to use is positive.
Hypothesis 17:
If electronic invoicing is perceived as easy to use, the intention to use is positive.

34
Attitudes and intention to use
The attitudes of the respondents are examined here to see whether the intention to use is
positive. Gullkvist’s (2005) results showed that attitudes towards using hade an affect on
the respondents’ intention to use.
Hypothesis 18:
If the attitude towards electronic invoicing is positive, the intention to use is positive.
4.3 Data collection
4.3.1 The method
To test the hypotheses, the best method was decided to be conducting a survey. A
questionnaire was formulated and sent to 200 SMEs in Finland by email. The email
contained a cover letter including a link to a web-page where the questionnaire was located.
The respondents were given two weeks to reply. When the first week had gone, a reminder
was sent.
4.3.2 Questionnaire design
The questionnaire was based on the literature review in general and Gullkvist’s study in
particular. It was designed as a web-page and contained 52 questions. The questions were
either multiple choice or open text. The questions were formulated so that both adopters and
non-adopters of electronic invoicing could answer. As it was considered more likely that
respondents would prefer to answer in their mother-tongue, the questionnaire was translated
into Finnish to increase the response rate. Both the Finnish version and the original English
version can be found in the appendix.
The beginning of the questionnaire contained questions regarding the respondent such as
sex, age and work experience. Next, questions regarding the company were raised. These
included queries about number of employees, number of employees in the finance
department, market share and industry. After this, questions about the amount of import
export and purchase and sales invoices the company handles yearly. In addition, the
respondents were required to convey how many employees were occupied processing
invoices and if the company has domestic or foreign owners. After this, questions regarding

35
the electronic invoicing status and preferences were raised as well as queries into what kind
of ERP system is in use, when it was implemented and whether there was any automation of
the supply chain.
The next part of the survey included questions where the respondents were asked to express
their agreement or disagreement to posed statements on a five-point Likert scale. Number 1
is set as strongly disagree and number 5 is set as strongly agree. In this section, questions
regarding experience, organizational support, attitudes and opinions are posed.
The final part of the questionnaire invites the respondents to predict when all invoicing will
be electronic in Finland and internationally. The last questions involve the respondent
giving an opinion on the benefits and risks with electronic invoicing as well as the biggest
reasons, in their opinion, for not implementing electronic invoicing.
4.3.3 The Population
The objective of the study was to ascertain the opinions of financial managers and
accountants in small- to middle-sized companies in Finland. The target-group was therefore
individuals working with accounting and finance in small- to middle-sized companies in
Finland. The companies were selected randomly from Hanken’s voitto database according
to turnover (>1 million <100 million euro per year). Two hundred companies were deemed
to form a sufficient sample of the population for the study and were picked from the list
drawn from the database. All the companies in the sample conduct B2B activities.
Since the questionnaire was sent via email, email-addresses for the respondents were to be
found. This was accomplished by searching companies’ websites. This means that
companies that do not have a website were not included in the study neither were those not
posting the email address of the financial manager/accountant on the web. There is
therefore a possibility that the results are somewhat atypical but was deemed necessary
since many small companies outsource their accounting and invoicing.
4.3.4 The response rate
I received 43 replies out of 200 questionnaires sent, which constitutes a response rate of
21,5 percent. This amount of respondents is deemed to be sufficient to make statistical

36
analyses (Nyberg 1999) and is close to the response rate (26 percent) that Gullkvist (2005)
reached in her study of the electronic paper among accountants and auditors.
4.3.5 Descriptive statistics
Out of the 43 replies, 90, 7 percent were made by women (39 replies) and 9,3 percent (4
replies) by men..According to Gullkvist (2005) who had similar results, there is however, a
tendency that accounting professionals are female and therefore these results are not
surprising.
Out of 43 respondents, 42 conveyed their age. Out of the 42, the oldest was born in 1944
and the youngest in 1974. The average year of birth of the respondents was 1958. This
means that the sample is a bit older than Gullkvist’s sample where the respondents had a
mean age of 40 years old (Gullkvist, 2005). Gullkvist commented on the fact that older
people can be more resistant to changes and new processes and they are therefore not
enthusiastic towards the idea of electronic accounting.
Years of experience among the respondents varied from four to forty-five with an average
of twenty-two years. The experience of this sample group is therefore longer than in
Gullkvist’s study where the average was fourteen years. This corresponds to the fact that the
average age also was higher.
The respondents were, as previously mentioned, employed by SMEs, the smallest company
employing five people and the largest forty-five people. The average amount of employees
was twenty-two people. In the finance department an average of two people were employed.
The largest number of personnel employed to do finance and accounting was five and the
smallest number was one. Out of the respondents only forty-two answered the question
about how many employees were processing invoices. The number ranged from 0.25 to four
people, with an average of one person. The yearly amount of purchase and sales invoices
was given by forty-one respondents. The amount of purchase invoices ranged from fifty-one
to 5000 with an average of 1746 and sales invoices ranged from 100 to 14000 with an
average of 2130.
Thirty-five respondents gave the amount of import and export the company is involved in.
The average amount of import was twenty-seven percent of purchases with the lowest

37
amount being zero and the highest 100. The corresponding figure for export was sixteen
percent on average and a low of zero and a high of ninety. Only fourteen people wanted or
could rate the amount of market share the company has. The smallest percentage of market
share was one and the highest sixty. The average showed thirty-two percent. Ninety-three
percent (40 companies) were wholly domestically owned while two companies (4,7
percent) were owned by foreign interests and one company was a mixture of both. Sixteen
companies (37 percent) were from metal-related industries while the others were from
various industries.
A note should be made however, that the sample could have been affected by the fact that
the questionnaire was sent out electronically. People that are more interested or have a more
positive attitude towards new techniques could have been more prone to participate in the
survey as opposed to those who feel negatively about new techniques.
4.4 The results
4.4.1 Introduction
To establish whether the hypothesis made in the earlier section have any relevance, a
statistical analysis were performed. All the statistical analyses were made using the statistics
program SPSS. The analyses made were t-tests, to compare the means between two groups
and regression analyses, to see if there were any connections between different variables.
The descriptive analyses were also made using SPSS.
4.4.2 Descriptive analyses
In order to ascertain how common it is for SMEs to have electronic invoicing or if they
intend to implement it in the future, the respondents were asked to select the option that
suited them the best. As can be seen from table 4.1, only three companies, or seven percent
are currently using electronic invoicing, but 32,6 percent or fourteen respondents answered
that they will adopt electronic invoicing within one year’s time and 30,2 percent or thirteen
respondents answered that they will adopt electronic invoicing within three years. Only five
respondents or 11,6 percent said that they will not adopt electronic invoicing at all. This
indicates that most of the respondents have a positive attitude towards electronic invoicing
and it supports hypothesis 6. On average, the respondents also believe that electronic

38
invoicing will be used by everyone in Finland within 10 years and internationally within 15
years.
Hypothesis 6: Most firms have not implemented electronic invoicing but will within 5
years.
Option Frequency Percent
Are using 3 7,0
5 11,6
Will not employ
14 32,6
Planning to employ within one year
13 30,2
Planning to employ within 3 years
8 18,6
Planning to employ within 5 years
Total 43 100,0
Table 4.1 Current electronic invoicing status
The respondents were asked to select which electronic invoicing solution they were using or
if they were not currently using one which one was their preference. Two of the respondents
using electronic invoicing, stated that they are using a bank as a consolidator and the third
one is using EDI. The respondents’ replies can be viewed in table 4.2. The majority would
prefer using banks as consolidators. As many as 51, 2 percent had chosen this option. Seven
respondents or 16, 3 percent each chose custom-made direct invoicing and through another
service provider as consolidator.

39
Options Frequency Percent
No answer 5 11,6
EDI 2 4,7
Custom-made direct invoicing 7 16,3
Trough a bank as consolidator 22 51,2
Through other consolidator 7 16,3
43 100,0
Total
Table 4.2 Preferred electronic-invoicing solution
Table 4.3 outlines the replies to the statement that electronic invoicing is hard to
understand. Most, or 44,2 percent, selected the option that they did not agree at all. Only 3
respondents selected options 4 (somewhat agree) and 5 (Fully agree).
Frequency Percent
1 19 44,2
2 9 20,9
3 12 27,9
4 2 4,7
5 1 2,3
Total 43 100,0
Table 4.3 Electronic invoicing is hard to understand
In the statement that electronic invoicing causes the risk of error to increase most were
unsure. 39,5 percent or 17 respondents selected option number 3 which is non-committal.
However, as can be seen in table 4.4, only 6 respondents had selected an option agreeing
with the statement.

40
Frequency Percent
1 10 23,3
2 10 23,3
3 17 39,5
4 3 7,0
5 3 7,0
Total 43 100,0
Table 4.4 There is a risk of error increase when using electronic invoicing
Similar results were found in the statement that electronic invoicing would be tiresome to
learn. Table 4.5 shows that 27,9 percent selected the non-committal option while most, or
37,2 percent said they totally disagreed. This confirm hypothesis 12.
Hypothesis 12: Electronic invoicing is perceived as easy to learn
Frequency Percent
1 16 37,2
2 10 23,3
3 12 27,9
4 3 7,0
5 2 4,7
Total 43 100,0
Table 4.5 Electronic invoicing is tiresome to learn
The majority of respondents appear quite uncertain on the statement that it is difficult to
check the accuracy when using electronic invoicing. Table 4.6 shows that the tendency is
however leaning towards disagreeing with the statement.

41
Frequency Percent
No answer 1 2,3
1 8 18,6
2 12 27,9
3 14 32,6
4 4 9,3
5 4 9,3
Total 43 100,0
Table 4.6 It would be difficult to check accuracy when using electronic invoicing
To the question whether electronic invoicing is technically safe and trustworthy, the
majority were non-committal (37, 2 percent) while 27, 9 percent agreed somewhat and 23, 3
percent fully agreed. This confirms hypothesis no. 11 that electronic invoicing is perceived
to be technically safe.
Hypothesis 11: Electronic invoicing is perceived as technically safe.
20
15
10
Count
5
0
1 3 4 5
Figure 4.2 Technically safe
Frequency Percent
1 1 2,3
2 4 9,3
3 16 37,2
4 12 27,9
5 10 23,3
Total 43 100,0
Table 4.7 Technically safe

42
Two respondents chose not to answer the question about whether there were any financial
restrictions in the company to implement electronic invoicing. The replies can be seen from
table 4.8. Nineteen respondents (44, 2 percent) disagreed to the statement that there were no
restrictions whereas fourteen respondents (32, 6 percent) agreed. This corresponds to the
hypothesis that economical reasons are often cited as reasons for not implementing. In the
last section of the questionnaire where the respondents could write freely on the most
important reasons for not adopting electronic invoicing the following statements could be
found:
“Modifications to the existing software would be expensive”
“Invoicing costs, sending attachments, software prices and maintenance costs”
“Economic reasons – the investment is too large for an SME”
This suggests that even though the benefits are there, economic factors are considered more
important.
Hypothesis 13: Economical reasons are often cited as reasons for not implementing.
Frequency Percent
No answer 2 4,7
1 9 20,9
2 10 23,3
3 8 18,6
4 10 23,3
5 4 9,3
Total 43 100,0
Table 4.8 There are financial restrictions in our company to acquire electronic invoicing
There were many different ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems in use and 13
people chose not to respond to the question about what ERP system they were using. The
most prevalent software was Sonet with 14 percent, followed by Nova which was used by
11, 6 percent. Table 4.3 outlines the replies.

43
Frequency Percent
No answer 13 30,2
Sonet 6 14
Nova 5 11,6
Oscar 3 7
Liinos 2 4.7
Control 9000 2 4,7
Econet 2 4,7
Visio 2 4,7
Other 7 16,1
Nothing 1 2,3
Total 43 100
Table 4.9 ERP Systems in use in our company
A t-test was made to examine whether those who had implemented the ERP systems
recently i.e. in 2001 or after were more likely to implement electronic invoicing than those
with not so recent experience of IT implementation. There were, however no difference of
significance identified. In addition, a test was also made to ascertain whether the attitudes
were different. There were no significant differences in opinion except in the question about
liking to work with electronic invoicing. Those who had implemented a new ERP system in
the year 2001 or later were more positive towards electronic invoicing. The mean was 3,82
whereas the other group showed a mean of 3,00. The Sig (2-tailed) was 0,074. This gives a
weakly significant result to hypothesis 10.
Hypothesis 10: If other technology adoption has been made recently the company is more
likely to have a positive attitude towards electronic invoicing.
T-tests were also made testing if companies handling a larger amount of invoices were more
likely to adopt electronic invoicing but this was not the case. Importing and exporting did
not seem to effect the implementation decision either.
As previously mentioned, since so many of the respondents were part of the metal industry,
a t-test was performed to see if there were any differences in opinions between the metal

44
industry and the other industries regarding e-invoicing implementation but none were
discovered. Therefore, it was concluded that hypothesis 7 had no significance, at least not
for the metal industry compared to others.
Hypothesis 7: Adoption depends on the business activities of the firm
4.4.3 Multiple regression analysis
To establish whether the other hypothesis were valid and to find out more about what is
affecting attitudes towards electronic invoicing, a series of multiple regression analyses
were performed. By performing multiple regression analyses it can be ascertained whether a
combination of factors are contributing to a positive or negative attitude towards electronic
invoicing.
Regression model 1
In this model, variables for experience, an organizational factor such as availability of IT-
personnel, a technical factor such as trust in the technique, size in terms of employees and
age are used as independent variables. The model examines whether these variables can
explain how the respondents perceive the usefulness of electronic invoicing.
Y1 = a + X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + X5
Where
Y1 = Useful in work (Question 11c) -> perceived usefulness
X1 = previous experience of electronic invoicing (Question 1a)
X2 = trust that electronic invoicing is technically safe (Question 9)
X3 = available IT –personnel (Question 2)
X4 = Employees (Question 2 in company information section)
X5 = Year of birth (Question 3 in personal information)

45
Dependent variable: Standardized t-value Sig
perceived usefulness Coefficients Beta
Constant -1,280 0,209
Previous experience 0,277 1,974 0,056
Technically safe 0,576 4,223 0,000
Available IT personnel -0,299 -1,882 0,068
Size in terms of -0,060 -0,430 0,669
employees
Year of birth 0,168 1,296 0,203
R Square = 0,445 R Square Adjusted = 0,368
F = 5,779 Sig = 0,001 Durbin-Watson = 1,809
Table 4.10 Regression analysis 1
In the Pearson’s correlation test, the experience variable, the technological variable and the
age variable all correlate positively with the dependent variable of useful in work (,238 ,546
and ,320). However, the other two independent variables size and available IT personnel
show very low values (-,023 and -.071 respectively) indicating that there is no relationship
between these independent variables and the dependent variable. There is no excessive
correlation between the independent variables (none is above ,7) and both the Tolerance and
the VIF values in the coefficients table indicate that there is no multicollinearity between
the variables.
As can be noted from figure 4.3, there is normality. The points are positioned in a somewhat
straight diagonal line. This is a sign that there are no deviations from normality.
Norm Probability Plot
al
1,0
,8
E e d C mP b
ro
,5
xp cte u
,3
0,0
0,0 ,3 ,5 ,8 1,0
Observ Cum Prob
ed
Figure 4.3 Normality Probability Plot Regression No1

46
Table 4.10 shows that the R Square of the regression is ,445 indicating that 44,5 percent of
perceived usefulness is explained by the independent variables. The adjusted R Square is
lower (,368) but is still quite good. The ANOVA result is 0.001 indicating that this
regression model has statistical significance.
Subsequently the independent variables will be examined. Table 4.10 outlines the results
obtained and it can be noted that the variable technically safe has the highest Beta value
(0,576). This means that technically safe contributes the most to predicting perceived
usefulness. Availability of IT personnel is the second highest (-,299) followed by
experience (,277) and Year of Birth (,168). Size in terms of employees contributes the least
to perceived usefulness (-,060). The only variables making any significant unique
contribution to predicting perceived usefulness are technically safe, previous experience and
availability of IT personnel. They give a Sig. value of ,000, 0,056 and ,068. The other
variables show no unique contribution. Hypothesis 11, 1 and 3 were hereby supported.
Technically safe, previous experience of electronic invoicing and the availability of IT staff
have effect on perceived usefulness. Interestingly, the result for the availability of IT staff is
negative.
Hypothesis 11: Electronic invoicing is perceived as technically safe.
Hypothesis 1: Previous experience of electronic invoicing or similar techniques affects
perception of electronic invoicing.
Hypothesis 3: Having qualified IT personnel in the company affects the perceptions of
electronic invoicing.
Hypothesis 2 was refuted. Age did not show to have any significance in predicting
perceived usefulness of electronic invoicing.
Hypothesis 2: Age and previous work-experience influences perceptions of electronic
invoicing.
Regression model 2
In the second model, variables affecting attitudes towards electronic invoicing are

47
examined. The dependent variable is I like/would like to use electronic invoicing and is set
against an organizational factor such as the perception of management approval of adoption
of electronic invoicing, a technical factor such as trust in the technique, the variable
perception of usefulness and also the perception of ease of use.
Y1 = a + X1 + X2 + X3 + X4
Where
Y1 = I like/would like to work with electronic invoicing (Question 22) -> attitude towards
electronic invoicing
X1 = perception of management approval of adoption of electronic invoicing (Question 3)
X2 = trust that electronic invoicing is technically safe (Question 9)
X3 = Useful in work (Question 12)
X4 = Ease of use (Question 13)
Dependent variable: I Standardized t-value Sig
would like to work with Coefficients Beta
electronic invoicing
Constant -0,547 0,588
Technically safe 0,367 3,000 0,005
Management approval 0,193 1,801 0,080
Useful in work 0,177 1,411 0,166
Ease of use 0,295 2,285 0,028
R Square = 0,685 R Square Adjusted = 0,652
F = 20,704 Sig = 0,000 Durbin-Watson = 2,060
Table 4.11 Regression analysis 2
In the Pearson’s correlation test, technically safe, management approval, useful in work and
ease of use all correlate positively with the dependent variable of like to work with
electronic invoicing (,722, 552 ,623 and ,690) and the correlation between the independent
variables is not too high. In addition, both the Tolerance and the VIF values in the
coefficients table indicate that there is no multicollinearity between the variables.

48
As can be noted from figure 4.4, there is normality. The points are positioned in a rather
straight diagonal line. This is a sign that there are no deviations from normality.
Normal Probability Plot
1,0
,8
Expected Cum Prob ,5
,3
0,0
0,0 ,3 ,5 ,8 1,0
Observed Cum Prob
Figure 4.4 Normality Probability Plot Regression No 2
Table 4.11 shows that the R Square of the regression is ,685 indicating that 68,5 percent of
I like to work with electronic invoicing is explained by the independent variables. The
adjusted R Square is lower (,652) but the result is still significant. The ANOVA result is
0.000 indicating statistical significance of the regression.
Next, the independent variables, in this case technically safe, management approval,
usefulness in work and ease of use will be analysed. It can be seen from table 4.11 that the
Beta value for technically safe is the highest of the four (,367) indicating that this variable
contributed the most to the prediction of I like to work with electronic invoicing. Ease of
use is also showing strong contribution (,295). The other two showed considerably lower
values, (management approval ,193 and useful in work ,177) with management approval
having a slightly higher value than useful in work. All of the variables, except for useful in
work are however, making a statistically significant unique contribution to the prediction of
the dependent variable. As the Sig. value for technically safe was ,005 this variable made a
very strong unique contribution. Ease of use also made a contribution with a Sig. value of
,028. Management approval made a weaker contribution (,080) and useful in work did not
show a unique contribution at all (0,166). This regression model gives support to the
hypotheses that management approval and perception of ease of use affect attitudes towards

49
electronic invoicing but not that perception of usefulness affects attitudes towards electronic
invoicing.
Hypothesis 4: If there is a perception that management would support adoption, managers
are more positive towards electronic invoicing.
Hypothesis 15: If electronic invoicing is perceived as easy to use, the attitude towards using
it is positive.
However, hypothesis 14 was not supported by this regression. Useful in work did not affect
the attitude towards electronic invoicing in the extent that was expected from the research
model.
Hypothesis 14: If electronic invoicing is perceived as useful, the attitude towards electronic
invoicing is positive.
Regression model 3
In the third model, variables affecting intention to use electronic invoicing are examined.
The dependent variable is I would use electronic invoicing if I could and is set against
personal factors such as the perception of the changes in processes electronic invoicing
would cause and its ease of use, and environmental factors such as supplier and customer
usage and whether important customers have requested adoption of electronic invoicing. .
Y1 = a + X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + X5
Where
Y1 = I would use if I could (Question 14) -> intention to use electronic invoicing
X1 = perception of change of processes if electronic invoicing is adopted (Question 8)
X2 = Ease of use (Question 13)
X3 = Supplier usage (Question 6)
X4 = Customer usage (Question 5)
X5 = Important customer has requested (Question 7)

50
Dependent variable: I Standardized t-value Sig
would use if I could Coefficients Beta
Constant 1,728 0,092
Change in processes -0,045 -0,344 0,733
Ease of use 0,503 3,917 0,000
Supplier usage -0,279 -2,055 0,047
Customer usage 0,018 0,113 0,911
Important customer 0,306 1,922 0,062
request
R Square = 0,420 R Square Adjusted = 0,342
F = 5,364 Sig = 0,001 Durbin-Watson = 1,867
Table 4.12 Regression analysis 3
The Pearson’s correlation test show that the independent variables have some correlation to
the dependent variable even though change of processes show a very low value (-0,61).
Ease of use show the highest correlation (,549), important customer request gives the
second highest value (,325 ) and supplier usage and customer usage were quite similar (,142
and ,125 respectively). None of the variables had too high correlations between each other.
The Tolerance and the VIF results are also an indication that there is no multicollinearity.
The regression is showing normality. This can be seen from figure 4.5 where the line is
quite diagonal and straight.
Normal P-P Plot of Regression Standardized Residual
Dependent Variable: would use if I could
1,0
0,8
Expected Cum Prob
0,6
0,4
0,2
0,0
0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0
Observed Cum Prob
Figure 4.5 Normality Probability Plot Regression No 3

51
The R Square of this regression is ,420 (see table 4.12) signifying that 42 percent of I
would use electronic invoicing if I could is explained by the independent variables. This is a
good result but not spectacular. The adjusted R Square is ,342. The Anova result is 0,001
indicating that the results are statistically significant.
Next we’ll have a look at the analysis of the independent variables. It can be seen from table
4.12, that easy to use gives the highest Beta value (,503) signifying the fact that this variable
is the most important in predicting I would use if I could. Important customer request comes
second (,306), supplier usage third (,279), change in processes fourth (0,045) and the
weakest contribution comes from customer usage (,018). Only two of the variables make a
unique contribution to the prediction of I would like to use. Ease of use gave a Sig. value of
0.000 demonstrating a strong contribution and supplier usage gave a Sig. value of 0,047.
Consequently, this confirms hypothesis 17 as well as parts of hypothesis 8.
Hypothesis 17: If electronic invoicing is perceived as easy to use, the intention to use is
positive.
Hypothesis 8: Pressure from suppliers and/or customers can determine intention to use
electronic invoicing
If suppliers are using electronic invoicing seems to have greater influence than usage by
customers. As these companies are quite small it might be more likely that the suppliers are
using electronic invoicing than the customers.
However, changes in processes did not show any significance in the prediction of I would
like to use electronic invoicing and therefore I conclude that this hypothesis is wrong.
Hypothesis 5: If there is a perception that changes in processes will be big, managers are
less likely to want to use electronic invoicing
Regression model 4
In the fourth model, I wanted to continue to examine other variables that could affect the
intention to use electronic invoicing in the future. The dependent variable is again “would
use if I could” and the independent variables are perception of financial restrictions of the

52
company, perception of the usefulness of electronic invoicing in work, the age of the
respondents, the approval of the finance department i.e. the people working with and
affected by electronic invoicing and attitude.
Y1 = a + X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + X5
Where
Y1 = I would use if I could (Question 14) -> intention to use electronic invoicing
X1 = perception of financial restrictions (Question 10)
X2 = perception of finance department approval of implementation (Question 4)
X3 = Useful in work (Question 12)
X4 = Year of Birth (Question 2 in personal information)
X5= Attitude (Question 22 -> I would like to work with electronic invoicing)
Dependent variable: I Standardized t-value Sig
would use if I could Coefficients Beta
Constant -0,196 0,846
Financial restrictions 0,345 3,051 0,004
Finance department 0,399 2,681 0,011
approval
Useful in work 0,433 3,271 0,002
Year of Birth 0,004 0,032 0,975
Attitude -0,151 -0,935 0,356
R Square = 0,637 R Square Adjusted = 0,586
F = 12,614 Sig = 0,000 Durbin-Watson = 2,114
Table 4.13 Regression analysis 4
Firstly, the Pearson’s was performed to check that there is some correlation between the
independent variables and I would use if I could. The test showed that all variables have
correlation even though Year of birth was quite low (,290). Out of the other variables useful
in work gave the highest value (,642) followed by Finance department approval (,622),
financial restrictions (,531). and attitude (,524) The correlation between the independent
variables is not too high. The Tolerance and the VIF results also show that there is no
multicollinearity.

53
The regression is showing normality. This can be seen from figure 4.6. The line is quite
diagonal and straight indicating that there are no deviations from normality.
Normal Probability Plot
1,0
,8
Expected Cum Prob
,5
,3
0,0
0,0 ,3 ,5 ,8 1,0
Observed Cum Prob
Figure 4.6 Normality Probability Plot Regression No 4
The R Square of this regression is ,637 (see table 4.13) signifying that 63,7 percent of I
would use electronic invoicing if I could is explained by the independent variables. This is
quite a high number and the adjusted R Square is slightly lower at ,586 but still a significant
result. The Anova result is 0,000 demonstrating that the results are statistically significant.
Now that we have established that the combination of these independent variables have an
affect on the dependent variable of I would use electronic invoicing if I could, the
independent variables will be analysed separately. It can be seen from table 4.12, that useful
in work gives the highest Beta value (, 433) signifying the fact that this variable is the most
important in predicting I would use if I could. Financial department approval is the next
important variable (,399), followed by financial restrictions (,345). Attitude showed a lower
contribution (-,151) and year of birth showed a very weak contribution (,021). All
independent variables except attitude and year of birth showed to be uniquely contributing
to predicting I would use if I could. Useful in work gave a Sig. value of 0.002
demonstrating a strong contribution and financial restrictions gave a Sig. value of 0,004.
Financial department approval gave a Sig. value much lower than the other two but still
significant; 0,011. The Sig. value of attitude was ,356 and year of birth was ,854.

54
This regression gives support to hypothesis 13. The perception of the financial restrictions
of the firm regarding the cost of implementation is affecting the intention to use electronic
invoicing.
Hypothesis 13: Economical reasons are often cited as reasons for not implementing.
Hypothesis 16 is also confirmed by this regression. Useful in work proved to contribute
strongly to prediction of intention to use.
Hypothesis 16: If electronic invoicing is perceived as useful, the intention to use is positive.
However, year of birth did not show any significance in the prediction of I would use
electronic invoicing if I could and therefore I conclude that age is irrelevant to predicting
the intention to use electronic invoicing.
Hypothesis 2: Age and previous work-experience influence perceptions of electronic
invoicing.
Attitude did not either show any significance to intention to work and therefore hypothesis
18 was not supported.
Hypothesis 18: If the attitude towards electronic invoicing is positive, the intention to use is
positive.
Regression model 5
In the fifth and last model, I wanted to examine variables that could affect perception of
easy to use. The dependent variable is “easy to use” and the independent variables are
technically safe, experience with electronic invoicing, employees, management support and
the availability of IT personnel in the firm
Y1 = a + X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + X5
Where
Y1 = Easy to use (Question 13)

55
X1 = Technically safe (Question 9)
X2 = Experience with electronic invoicing (Question 1a)
X3 = Employees (Question 2 in company information section)
X4 = Management support (Question 2 in personal information)
X5= Available IT personnel (Question 2)
Dependent variable: Easy Standardized t-value Sig
to use Coefficients Beta
Constant 0,730 0,470
Technically safe 0,461 2,979 0,005
Experience with e- 0,272 1,877 0,068
invoicing
Employees 0,108 0,728 0,471
Management support 0,160 1,039 0,306
Available IT personnel -0,126 -0,797 0,430
R Square = 0,397 R Square Adjusted = 0,315
F = 4,870 Sig = 0,002 Durbin-Watson = 1,956
Table 4.14 Regression analysis 5
Firstly, the Pearson’s was performed to check that there is some correlation between the
independent variables and the perception of easy to use. All the variables in this regression
were correlated to Easy to use. Technically safe has the highest correlation (,552),
Management support comes next (,391) followed by Experienced with e-invoicing (,332)
and the availability of IT personnel (,242). Employees has the lowest correlation of ,197.
The variables are not showing too high correlation too each other. There is no
multicollinearity according to the tolerance and VIF results.
The regression is showing normality. This can be seen from figure 4.7. The line is diagonal
and straight demonstrating that there are no deviations from normality.

56
Normal Probability Plot
1,0
,8
Expected Cum Prob
,5
,3
0,0
0,0 ,3 ,5 ,8 1,0
Observed Cum Prob
Figure 4.7 Normality Probability Plot Regression No 5
The R Square of this regression is ,397 (see table 4.14) indicating that 39,7 percent of Easy
to use is explained by the independent variables. This is not as high number as many of the
previous regressions and the adjusted R Square is slightly lower at ,315 but the result is still
significant. The Anova result is 0,002 demonstrating that the results are statistically
significant.
The analyses of the independent variables show that the highest Beta value (,461) is
produced by technically safe, followed by experienced with electronic invoicing (, 272)
indicating that these two are the most important variables making electronic invoicing
perceived to be easy to use. As can be seen from table 4.14, the other variables did not
contribute as much and did not have a unique contribution to predicting easy to use.
4.4.4 Summary of findings
In this section the results are summarized and demonstrated in tables and figures to
increase the overview of the research. Table 4.15 gives a summary of the hypotheses
and whether they were supported or not. As can be seen, ten of the hypotheses were
verified, one was partly supported, one could not be tested and the rest were not
supported.

57
Hypothesis Hypothesis Significant Comments
No support
1 Previous experience of Yes
electronic invoicing or similar
techniques affects perception of
electronic invoicing.
2 Age and previous work- No
experience influence
perceptions of electronic
invoicing.
3 Having qualified IT personnel Yes
in the company affects
perceptions of electronic
invoicing
4 If there is a perception that Yes
management would support
adoption, managers are more
positive towards electronic
invoicing.
5 If there is a perception that No
changes in processes will be
big, managers are less likely to
want to use electronic invoicing
6 Most firms have not Yes
implemented electronic
invoicing but will within 5
years
7 Adoption depends on the No There were no significant

58
business activities of the firm differences in adoption
plans between firms in
the metal industry and
others.
8 Pressure from suppliers and/or Partly The supplier part was
customers can determine confirmed but there were
intention to use electronic no indication that
invoicing pressure from customers
had any influence.
9 The larger the market share the Could not be Only fourteen
less important electronic tested – respondents had replied
invoicing will be. sample too to the question about
small market share.
10 If other technology adoption Yes
has been made recently the
company is more likely to have
a positive attitude towards
electronic invoicing.
11 Electronic invoicing is Yes
perceived as technically safe.
12 Electronic invoicing is Yes
perceived as easy to learn
13 Economical reasons are often Yes
cited as reasons for not
implementing.
14 If electronic invoicing is No
perceived as useful, the attitude
towards electronic invoicing is
positive.

59
15 If electronic invoicing is Yes
perceived as easy to use, the
attitude towards using it is
positive.
16 If electronic invoicing is Yes
perceived as useful, the
intention to use is positive.
17 If electronic invoicing is Yes
perceived as easy to use, the
intention to use is positive.
18 If the attitude towards No
electronic invoicing is positive,
the intention to use is positive.
Table 4.15 Summary of hypotheses
The results from the regression analyses were quite high; some had Adjusted R square
around 65 percent. This is similar to the results that Gullkvist obtained in her study (2005).
She also found that many of the independent variables studied significantly affected the
dependent variable used. Similarly to my study, she also found that there were high
correlations between the variables in the study.
As the correlations in the regression analyses were quite high, I have included a correlation
matrix (see table 4.16) where the correlations between the questions in the survey can be
overviewed. Only correlations at the 5% risk level have been included.

60
Correlation Matrix
1a 3. 4. 9. 10. 11a. 11b. 11c. 12. 13. 14. 15. 17. 18. 19. 21. 22. 23. 24.
1 a. 0,348* 0,338* 0,332* -0,362*
3. 0,748** 0,514** 0,319* 0,307* 0,391** 0,361* 0,552** -0,533**
4. 0,748** 0,663** 0,341* 0,538** 0,455** 0,513** 0,621** 0,620** 0,449** -0,388* 0,386* -0,473** 0,710** -0,576**
9. 0,514** 0,663** 0,339* 0,442** 0,389* 0,526** 0,552** 0,456** 0,505** -0,533** -0,337* 0,412** -0,543** 0,722** -0,433** -0,542**
10. 0,319*' 0,339* 0,362* 0,398** 0,336* 0,531** -0,385* 0,341* -0,457**
11a. 0,348*' 0,341*' 0,362* 0,865** 0,912** 0,727** 0,497** 0,431** 0,607** -0,410** 0,486** -0,330* 0,413** -0,422**
11b. 0,538**' 0,442** 0,865** 0,890** 0,816** 0,537** 0,562** 0,678** -0,515** 0,552** -0,353* 0,544** -0,401** -0,350*
11c. 0,338*' 0,455**' 0,389* 0,398** 0,912** 0,890** 0,788** 0,506** 0,488** 0,705** -0,516** 0,444** -0,436** 0,562** -0,412** -0,450**
12. 0,307*' 0,513**' 0,526** 0,727** 0,816** 0,788** 0,659** 0,641** 0,721** -0,411** -0,303* 0,573** -0,383* 0,623** -0,414** -0,452**
13. 0,332*' 0,391**' 0,621**' 0,552** 0,336* 0,497** 0,537** *0,506** 0,659** 0,549** 0,514** -0,397** -0,631** 0,561** -0,599** 0,690** -0,455** -0,650**
14. 0,361*' 0,620**' 0,456** 0,531** 0,431** 0,562** 0,488** 0,641** 0,549** -0,339* -0,400** 0,526** -0,470**
15. 0,449**' 0,505** 0,607** 0,678** 0,705** 0,721** *0,514** -0,384* -0,330* 0,590** -0,416** 0,570** -0,380* -0,468**
17. -0,388*' -0,533** -0,410** -0,515** -0,516** -0,411** -0,397** -0,339* -0,384* 0,608** -0,448** 0,550** 0,467**
18. -0,337* -0,303* -0,631** -0,330* -0,312* 0,429** -0,496** 0,340* 0,557**
19. 0,386*' 0,412** 0,486** 0,552** 0,444** 0,573** 0,561** 0,590** -0,312* 0,519** -0,560** -0,351*
21. -0,473**' -0,543** -0,385* -0,330* -0,353* -0,436** -0,383* -0,599** -0,400** -0,416** 0,608** 0,429** -0,566** 0,543** 0,659**
22. 0,552**' 0,710**' 0,722** 0,341* 0,413** 0,544** 0,562** 0,623** 0,690** 0,526** 0,570** 0,448** -0,496** 0,519** -0,566** -0,507** -0,684**
23. -0,362*' -0,433** -0,422** -0,401** -0,412** -0,414** -0,455** -0,380* 0,550** 0,340* -0,560** 0,543** -0,507** 0,332*
24. - -0,576**' -0,542** -0,457** -0350* -0,450** -0,452** -0,650** -0,470** -0,468** 0,467** 0,557** -0,351* 0,659** -0,684** 0,332*
0,533**'
Table 4.16 Correlation Matrix
**Correlation is significant at the 0,01 level (2-tailed) * Correlation is significant at the 0,05 level (2-tailed)
1 a.Experienced using e-invoice 11b. E-invoicing would increase productivity 17. Difficult to check accuracy with e-invoicing
3. Management support of acquiring e-invoicing 11c. E-invoicing would increase efficiency 18. Tiresome to learn how to use e-invoicing
4. Finance dpt approval of acquiring e-invoicing 12. E-invoicing would be useful in work 19. E-invoicing would lead to error reduction
9. E-invoicing is technologically safe 13. E-invoicing would be easy to use 21. E-invoicing offers benefits but prefer paper invoicing
10. No Financial restriction to acquire e-invoicing 14. Would use e-invoicing if possible 22. Would like to work with e-invoicing
11a. E-invoicing would increase quality 15. E-invoicing would offer time and cost savings 23. There is risk of error increase with e-invoicing
24. E-invoicing would be hard to understand
Table 4.17 Questions for correlation matrix in table 4.14

61
As can be seen from table 4.13, the number of significant correlations is quite high. As
pointed out previously, this was also noted in Gullkvist’s study (Gullkvist, 2005). In figure
4.8, the most significant figures of correlations between the factors have been included.
This figure is drawn according to the research model presented in figure 4.1. Most factors
correlate to each other but this has not led to any multicollinarity in the regression analyses.
Correlations >0,300
**Correlation is significant at the 0,01 level (2-tailed)
Personal factors * Correlation is significant at the 0,05 level (2-tailed)
Perceived
0,641**
usefulness
0,623**
Organisational
0,513**
factors
0,710**
0,514**
Attitude 0,526**
0,526**
0,332* 0,659** Towards
Intention to use
0,722** usage
Technical factors
0,690**
Perceived 0,549**
0,552**
ease of use
0,375*
Economical 0,336*
factors 0,531**
0,345*
Environmental
0,345*
factors
Figure 4.8 Correlations in research model
As can be seen from figure 4.8, even though the regression analyses did not show that
perceived usefulness had an affect on attitude towards usage, the two variables are still
correlated. This is similar to Attitude towards usage and Intention to use. It can also be
seen that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are correlated. The effect they
have on each other was not tested in the regressions however.

62
5 Discussion
In this section I will discuss the research, the results and their limitations.
5.1 The research and its limitations
The research was aimed to investigate the opinions of financial managers employed by
SMEs in Finland. A questionnaire was sent out to 200 companies and 43 replies were
received. The response rate was good. However, the replies came from very small
companies and therefore the research does not cover the population intended which was
SMEs in Finland. According to the replies, none of the companies employed more than 45
people. As a result, there was no information obtained regarding how financial managers
and accountants employed by larger firms feel about electronic invoicing.
As stated previously, the respondents could be more inclined to have a positive attitude
towards electronic invoicing as they were found working for companies having websites i.e.
they could be more used to working electronically. Also, the survey was sent out by email
and this could have prompted respondents who are positively set towards working using
electronic tools to answer whereas respondents preferring working with paper where
discouraged.
In addition, there were only three of the respondents who were using electronic invoicing
presently which had an effect on what analyses could be made. It would have been
interesting to ascertain from a bigger sample of actual users what their opinions regarding
electronic invoicing was and what influenced the adoption decision. This could also be an
effect of the size of the companies. Previous research has shown that size is a big
determinant when it comes to adoption of new technology.
5.2 The results and their implications
The result of the statistical analysis did not introduce any surprising findings. I will
however, in this section discuss the results and how they relate to previous research
findings. The findings on what factors affect perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use,
attitudes and intention to use can be viewed in figure 5.1.

63
Personal factors Perceived
usefulness
Organisational
factors Attitude
Towards
usage Intention to use
Technical factors
Perceived
ease of use
Economical
factors
Environmental
factors
Figure 5.1 The significant factors in the research model
The personal factors studied were age, previous experience, sex, attitudes, perceived
benefits, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Age and previous work experience
are related to each other but neither of the two showed any signs of affecting how the
respondents felt about electronic invoicing. As mentioned earlier, Gullkvist discussed
resistance to changes and new processes by older people, but this was not confirmed in my
research. In addition, change in processes did not have any affect on intention to use.
Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have been cited in many studies as the most
significant determinants of acceptance (Chau, 2003, McCloskey 2003-2004). Gullkvist
(2005) found that they were important factors in affecting attitudes as well and in my study,
I could also see that the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease of use had an effect on
whether the respondents view electronic favorably and intended to use it in the future.
However, perceived usefulness did not affect the attitude towards electronic invoicing even
though it had an affect on intention to use.
Similar to Gullkvist’s (2005) study, I found that trust in the technique was an important
determinant of perceived usefulness. I also found that trust in the technique was an
important factor on how easy electronic invoicing was perceived to use. Pavlou (2003) also
states that perceived trust and risk are other important determinants of acceptance regarding

64
e-commerce acceptance because of uncertainty with online transactions. In this study, the
respondents viewed electronic invoicing as technically safe and as such had trust in it.
However, when asked to name the biggest risks in using electronic invoicing many
respondents cited uncertainty and data security as the major risks. There were also a few
statements that there were no risks involved. This is a selection of the biggest risks
according to the respondents:
- Data security and transaction disturbances
- Technical failure of computers, email or electronic invoicing
- Errors and uncertainty
- Untrained, careless users or operators
- Finding correct electronic invoicing address and receiving payment on time
- Losing information
- Mismatch with ERP system and the expense
Previous research has shown that adopters of e-commerce viewed the advantages gained
more positively than non-adopters (Riemenschneider and McKinney, 2001-2002, Wang et
al, 2004). The respondents in this study quoted the following to be the biggest benefits that
could be gained:
- Facilitates and increases speed of invoicing and payment cycle
- Reduces amount of paper, paperwork and filing
- Reduces postage and enveloping
- Increases efficiency, reduces workload and saves time
- Increases accuracy and customer satisfaction,
- Reduces amount of false and lost invoices
- Cost efficient
Lack of management support has been one of the organizational factors that have shown to
have a strong affect on adoption of new information technology. The same was found in
this study where the focus was on attitudes. Even though management support was not the
strongest factor it was still significant. The perception of management approval of
electronic invoicing showed to have some significance when predicting how much the
respondent wanted to work with electronic invoicing. This is different from the results in
Gullkvist’s study (2005) where management support did not show an effect on usefulness

65
and perceived ease of use. Bertschek and Fryges (2002) discussed the importance of the
availability of qualified IT personnel and in my study this could also be seen.
The size of the firm and how it affects adoption decisions have been studied greatly in the
past. Dasgupta et al (1999), for example, found that the level of computerisation was larger
in larger firms. Iacovou et al (1995) also found that adopters of EDI tend to be larger firms.
The size is however measured in sales volume and is probably a result of the larger
resources the firm has available. Iacovou et al (1995) also found that size measured by
number of staff does not affect adoption. In this study, I tested to see if firm size in terms of
number of employees had an effect on how useful the respondents felt electronic invoicing
to be but size did not have any significant effect.
Competitive factors have proven previously to affect adoption of new technology but this
study did not find as much support for competitive factors having an affect on attitudes
towards electronic invoicing as anticipated. Iacovou et al (1995) found in their study that
adoption of EDI by small firms was influenced by external pressure especially from trading
partners and the results in this study somewhat agreed with this. Usage by suppliers showed
to have an affect on intention to use in the future but customer usage had not. Requests from
important customers did show to have some importance in conjunction with ease of use,
supplier usage, customer usage and change in processes.
Dasgupta et al (1999) found in their study that firms facing heavy competition were more
likely to adopt new information technology than others. I wanted to see if the same applied
to attitudes but unfortunately only fourteen respondents stated the amount of market share
the firm has thus, making the sample too small.
Another competitive effect mentioned is positioning in the supply-chain. Wang et al (2004)
stated that inter-firm collaboration was important regarding the likelihood of adoption. Only
a few of the respondents indicated that they had any automation of the supply-chain
suggesting that there is little electronic co-operation throughout the supply-chain.
Economic factors proved to be very important to the respondents. Since most of the
companies are quite small in terms of employees, there might not be an abundance of
resources available and therefore the economic factors have such a large impact.

66
Much of this research was based on the TAM and the TRA. The perceived usefulness and
perceived ease of use from the TAM both had an affect on intention to use but only
perceived ease of use had an affect on attitudes. In addition, attitudes did not show to have
an effect on intention to use. This could perhaps be a result of the question “I would like to
use electronic invoicing” which I used as a factor for attitude.
5.3 Suggestions for further study
As noted previously, there was no information obtained from financial managers and
accountants working for middle-sized companies. Since these companies usually have more
employees and perhaps more funds available it would be interesting to investigate whether
they are closer to acquire electronic invoicing than the small companies in this study.
In addition, only three of the respondents were currently using electronic invoicing and
as a consequence, opinions from actual users could not be obtained. It would be
beneficial for providers of electronic invoicing services to know how users are feeling
about electronic invoicing in order to improve the product.
5.4 Conclusion
Electronic invoicing will be important in the future. The benefits received from using it is
too big to be ignored. To what extent and in what pace SMEs in Finland decide to
implement electronic invoicing could not be ascertained for sure by this study but I can
conclude that the majority of the respondents feel positively about electronic invoicing.
Most of them also realized the benefits that can be gained. Since many where concerned
with the expense of implementing electronic invoicing, there will however, probably take
some time before the majority or SMEs are using electronic invoicing.

67
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71
7 Appendix
7.1 Appendix 1
The questionnaire
Cover letter for questionnaire
What are your opinions and intentions regarding electronic invoicing?
Dear Sir/Madame,
I am a student at the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration in
Helsinki, doing the Master Program of Advanced Financial Information Systems (PAFIS).
This survey is part of my Masters’ thesis. The purpose of the survey is to establish the
opinions and intentions of managers of SMEs in Finland regarding electronic invoicing. In
this survey, electronic invoicing refers to electronic transmission of an invoice.
I am trying to establish what or whether there are any determinants of adoption of electronic
invoicing. You may or may not be using some kind of electronic invoicing presently. To
participate in this survey it is not necessary to have any previous experience of electronic
invoicing.
To be successful in my endeavor it is very important for me that you fill out the attached
questionnaire. It should not take you more than 15 minutes. Please return the questionnaire
by the 1st of November, 2005. The answers will be totally confidential and no reference to
you and/or your company will be made.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for your participation.

72
Anna Rofhök-Björni
ATTACHEMENT Questionnaire
Questionnaire
Please circle the alternative that suits you best and fill out the missing information. Please
answer all questions.
Sex and year of birth- woman, year _________ - man, year___________
Title _________________________Total work experience ____________ year(s)
Company information
Number of employees in the finance department __________company total _________
Industry ______________________Market share ______________________
Amount of import (% of purchases) ___________ Export (% of sales)____________
How many sales and purchase invoices do you send and receive yearly?
Sales ___________________ Purchase __________________
How many employees are busy processing invoices? _____________________
What is your current status regarding electronic invoicing?
1. We are using electronic invoicing
2. Will not employ
3. Planning to employ within one year
4. Planning to employ within 3 years
5. Planning to employ within 5 years

73
Please circle the alternative that is most applicable to your company.
The company is owned Domestically Foreign Both
What solution is the most applicable to your company?
EDI
Custom-made direct invoicing
Through Bank
Trough software provider
What ERP system are you currently using and when was it
implemented?_____________________________________
Is any part of the supply chain automated presently and if so what part?
______________________________________________________________________
The following section offers a number of statements where you tick the option which most
accurately corresponds to your situation. Please select only one option.
Fully disagree Fully agree
1. I am very experienced in using
electronic invoicing 1 2 3 4 5
electronic payments 1 2 3 4 5
electronic accounting 1 2 3 4 5
2. In our company there are IT personnel that are responsible
for assisting us in technical issues
1 2 3 4 5
3. Management approves/would approve of adopting
electronic invoicing 1 2 3 4 5
4. The finance department approves/would approve of

74
adopting electronic invoicing 1 2 3 4 5
5. Our customers are using electronic invoicing
1 2 3 4 5
6. Our suppliers are using electronic invoicing
1 2 3 4 5
7. Our most important customers are requesting/requested
that we adopt electronic invoicing
1 2 3 4 5
8. The changes that was incurred/would be incurred in
adoption of electronic invoicing would not change our
existing routines
1 2 3 4 5
9. Electronic invoicing is/would be technically safe and reliable
1 2 3 4 5
10. There are no/were no financial restrictions to adopt
electronic invoicing in our company
1 2 3 4 5
11. Through using electronic invoicing I can/could
Increase the quality of my work
1 2 3 4 5
Increase the productivity
1 2 3 4 5
Increase efficiency
1 2 3 4 5
12. Electronic invoicing is/would be useful in my work
1 2 3 4 5

75
13. Electronic invoicing is/would be easy to use
1 2 3 4 5
14. I intend to use electronic invoicing to the extent possible
1 2 3 4 5
15. Electronic invoicing offers/would offer cost and time savings
1 2 3 4 5
16. Electronic invoicing would/could lead to personnel cuts
1 2 3 4 5
17. It is/would be difficult to check the data accuracy when using
electronic invoicing 1 2 3 4 5
18. It is / would be time-consuming and tiresome to learn how
to use electronic invoicing
1 2 3 4 5
19. Electronic invoicing leads/would lead to error reduction
1 2 3 4 5
20. Electronic invoicing leads/would lead to more reports
1 2 3 4 5
21. Even though electronic invoicing offers/would offer benefits
I prefer to work with paper invoices.
1 2 3 4 5
22. I love/would love to work with electronic invoicing
1 2 3 4 5
23. The risk of error is/would be increased with electronic
invoicing
1 2 3 4 5

76
24. Electronic invoicing is hard to understand and is/would
be frustrating to work with
1 2 3 4 5
I think all invoicing will be totally electronic within ____ year(s) in Finland___ year(s)
internationally.
In your opinion, what are the biggest benefits of implementing electronic invoicing?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
In your opinion, what are the biggest risks of implementing electronic invoicing?
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
In your opinion, what would be the most important reason NOT to implement electronic
invoicing?
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Thank you for you participation!

77
7.2 Appendix 2
Questionnaire in Finnish
The cover letter
Mitkä ovat mielipiteenne ja aikomuksenne sähköisen laskutuksen suhteen?
Hyvä %s,
Minun nimeni on Anna Rofhök-Björni ja opiskelen kauppatieteen maisteriksi
ruotsinkielisessä kauppakorkeakoulussa Helsingissä, eli Hankenilla, Master Program of
Advanced Financial Information Systems - ohjelmassa. Osana loppututkintoani kartoitan
Pk-yritysten johdon mielipiteitä ja aikomuksia sähköisen laskutuksen suhteen. Pro gradu-
tutkielmassani sähköisellä laskutuksella tarkoitetaan laskun sähköistä siirtoa. Lähetän
ohessa linkin tutkimukseen, joka on osa maisteri tutkielmaani.
Tutkimuksellani yritän löytää sähköisen laskutuksen omaksumista määrääviä tekijöitä.
Osallistuaksenne tutkimukseen Teillä ei tarvitse olla sähköistä laskutusta käytössänne tällä
hetkellä. Teillä ei myöskän tarvitse olla aiempaa kokemusta sähköisestä laskutuksesta.
Tutkimukseni kannalta minulle on erittäin tärkeää että Te täytätte liitteenä olevan
kyselylomakkeen. Sen täyttämiseen menee noin 15 minuuttia. Ystävällisesti palauttaka
lomake 1 marraskuuta mennessä. Vastauksenne käsitellään täysin luottamuksellisesti ja
täten teihin tai yritykseenne ei tule viittauksia tutkimuksessani.
Ottakaa minuun yhteyttä, jos teillä on jotain kysyttävää tutkimukseen liittyen.
Kiitos osallistumisestanne!
Anna Rofhök-Björni
KYSELYLOMAKE http://www.pafis.shh.fi/~annrof03/survey/q.php?id=%d
Sähköisen laskutuksen kyselylomake

78
Valitkaa vaihtoehto joka parhaiten kuvailee tilannettannne ja täyttäkää myös
puuttuvat tiedot. Vastatkaa ystävällisesti kaikkiin kysymyksiin. Kiitos!
Perustiedot
Sukupuoli
Nainen
Mies
• Syntymävuosi
• Titteli
• Työkokemus vuotta
Yritystietoa
• Yrityksemme talousosastolla työskentelee henkilöä
• Yrityksemme palveluksessa on henkilöä
• Yrityksemme toimiala
• Yrityksemme markkinaosuus toimialalla
Tuonnin osuus (% hankinnoista)
Viennin osuus (% myynnistä)

79
Kuinka monta osto- ja myyntilaskua lähetätte ja vastaanotatte vuodessa?
Osto
Myynti
Kuinka monta henkilöä laskutus työllistää?
Mikä on tämänhetkisen laskutuksen tilanne? Valitse vaihtoehto joka parhaiten kuvailee
tilannettanne
Käytämme sähköistä laskutusta.
Emme aio ottaa käyttöön sähköistä laskutusta.
Suunnittelemme ottavamme sähköisen laskutuksen käyttöön vuoden sisällä.
Suunnittelemme ottavamme sähköisen laskutuksen käyttöön 3 vuoden sisällä.
Suunnittelemme ottavamme sähköisen laskutuksen käyttöön 5 vuoden sisällä.
En ole koskaan kuullut sähköisestä laskutuksesta.
Yritys on
Suomalaisomistuksessa
Ulkomaisomistuksessa
Suomalais- ja ulkomaalaisomistuksessa
Sähköisen laskutuksen kannalta, mikä ratkaisu sopii parhaiten / sopisi parhaiten
yrityksellenne?
EDI
Räätälöity suoralaskutus
Sähköinen laskutus pankin kautta

80
Palvelu muulta sähköisen laskutuksen palveluntarjolta
Mitä toiminnanohjausjärjestelmää käytätte tällä hetkellä? ja koska se otettiin
käyttöön?
Onko mikään osa tilaus - toimitusketjustanne automatisoitu tällä hetkellä, ja jos vastaus on
myöntävä mikä osa siitä?
Valitkaa väittämä joka parhaiten kuvaa tilannettanne. Valitkaa vain yksi vaihtoehto
kysymystä kohden.
Olen täysin eri Olen täysin samaa
mieltä mieltä
1. Olen erittäin kokenut
• sähköisen laskutuksen
käyttäjä
• sähköisten maksujen
käyttäjä
• sähköisen kirjanpidon
käyttäjä
Yrityksessämme on IT
henkilöstöä, joka on
2.
vastuussa meidän
teknisestä tuesta.
Johto hyväksyy / tulee
hyväksymään sähköisen
3.
laskutuksen
käyttöönoton.

81
Talousosasto hyväksyy
/tulisi hyväksyä
4.
sähköisen laskutuksen
käyttöönoton.
Asiakkaamme käyttävät
5.
sähköistä laskutusta.
Hankkijamme /
6. toimittajamme käyttävät
sähköistä laskutusta.
Tärkeimmät
asiakkaamme pyytävät /
ovat pyytäneet että
7.
ottaisimme sähköisen
laskutuksen
käyttöömme.
Sähköisen laskutuksen
käyttöönotto ei
8. muuttanut / tulisi
muuttamaan olemassa
olevia käytäntöjämme.
Sähköinen laskutus on /
olisi teknisesti
9.
turvallista ja
luotettavaa.
Sähköisen laskutuksen
10. käyttöönotolle ei ole /
ollut mitään rajoituksia

82
yrityksessämme.
Ottamalla käyttöön
11. sähköisen laskutuksen
voin / voisin
• Parantaa työni laatua
• Nostaa tuottavuuttani
• Lisätä tehokkuuttani
Sähköinen laskutus on /
12. olisi hyödyllistä työni
kannalta
Sähköinen laskutus on /
13.
olisi helppo käyttää.
Aikomukseni on
käyttää sähköistä
14.
laskutusta siinä määrin
kun se on mahdollista.
Sähköinen laskutus
15. johtaa kustannus- ja
ajansäästöihin.
Sähköinen laskutus
16. johti / johtaisi
henkilöstövähennyksiin.
Sähköistä laskutusta
17.
käyttäessä on / olisi

83
vaikeaa tarkistaa tiedon
täsmällisyyttä.
On /olisi aikaa vievää ja
vaikeaa oppia
18.
käyttämään sähköistä
laskutusta.
Sähköinen laskutus
19. johtaa / johtaisi
vähempiin virheisiin.
Sähköinen laskutus
johtaa / johtaisi
20.
usemman raportin
tekemiseen.
Sähköisestä
laskutuksesta on / olisi
hyötyä, mutta haluaisin
21. mielummin
työskennellä
paperimuotoisen
laskutuksen parissa.
Teen mielelläni / tekisin
mielelläni työtä
22.
sähköisen laskutuksen
parissa.
Virheiden riski kasvaa
23. sähköisessä
laskutuksessa.

84
Sähköistä laskutusta on
vaikea ymmärtää ja on /
24.
olisi turhauttavaa tehdä
työtä sen parissa.
Uskon että kaikki laskutus vuoden sisällä vuoden sisällä
tapahtuu sähköisesti Suomessa, ja kansainvälisesti.
Mitkä ovat mielestänne suurimmat hyödyt sähköisen laskutuksen käyttöönotosta?
Mitkä ovat mielestänne suurimmat riskit sähköisen laskutuksen
käyttöönotossa?
Mikä on mielestänne tärkein syy olla ottamatta sähköistä laskutusta käyttöön?
Kiitos erittäin paljon osallistumisestanne!
82.181.98.213 179
Lähetä vastauksesi
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