1. A Closer Look at e-Invoicing and its Various Formats
Invoice, a formal request for payment, is a commercial document issued by the seller. It indicates the
dates when the products or services were delivered /rendered and the amount payable by the buyer
/customer. Both electronic and paper based invoices are used these days. However, electronic invoices
are the best bet as it helps to take the pain away from the procurement process. Businesses that
automate invoicing and procurement processes are found to gain financially. Instead of investing in
separate automation tools for procurement and invoicing, companies must invest in an eProcurement
solution so that the entire procurement workflow from the order to the delivery and invoicing is automated.
Providing invoices electronically is an effective approach as it helps not only to streamline processes but
also to reduce costs. Apart from financial and environmental factors, regulatory factors are also driving
companies to switch from paper to electronic payment process invoicing. Though, neither the Sarbanes
Oxley Act nor the EU directives specify the kind of invoicing to be done, e-invoicing helps a lot in order to
be compliant with these regulations.
Electronic invoices can be transferred electronically i.e. through computer files or telematically i.e. from
one computer to the other and therefore electronic invoices are also referred to as telematic invoices and
digital invoices. Electronic invoices are issued in formats such as EDIFACT, XML, STFI, UBL, rtf, html, txt,
pdf, doc, xls, gif, jpeg, and so on. In short, any format is used but in order to make it legally valid, it should
be electronically signed. Let’s look at some of the most notable formats of electronic invoices.
EDI
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is the electronic transfer of invoice information between the supplier
and the buyer in a manner agreed upon by both of them. It is one of the traditional formats and is fast and
secure. This format is suitable for very large enterprises as it is costly and time consuming. EDIFACT
(Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport) is a form of EDI.
XML
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is the newer way of sending standardized text files between the
supplier and the buyer. It is still in the growing stage and therefore new standards are slowly emerging.
The two current standards that are under development are UBL (Universal Business Language) and
UN/CEFACT.
PDF
PDF (Portable Document Format) is one of the popular formats for sending invoices as it can manage
both texts as well as images.

2. Apart from these, there are several national formats such as Finvoice in Finland and Svefaktura in
Sweden, and ISDOC in Czech Republic.
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