E-Invoicing requirements and obstacles gathered at pan-European level among SMEs; Recommendations to overcome obstacles and ensure e-Invoicing mass-market adoption; A path towards a common global standard for e-Business.

1. Requirements and Obstacles for eInvoicing adoption
by European SMEs
Applying standards in eProcurement and eInvoicing
SEPA International Carmen Ciciriello, CEO, SEPA International
©2009 SEPA International Ltd. All rights reserved
Monday, 14 December 2009

2. Agenda
1. E-Invoicing market reality for SMEs
2. Obstacles
3. Requirements
4. Recommendations
5. Next steps
Monday, 14 December 2009

3. E-Invoicing market reality for SMEs
Type of e-Invoicing solution SMEs are using or planning to use
as PDF
from their accounting application directly to customer
from their accounting application, via e-Invoicing platform, to customer
use the customerʼs portal
other e-Invoicing platform
0 15 30 45 60
Source: European e-Invoicing Guide for SMEs
Monday, 14 December 2009

4. Form used: Customer requestʼs to send
invoices electronically:
PDF XML Word Yes No
0 22.5 45 67.5 90 0 17.5 35 52.5 70
Source: European e-Invoicing Guide for SMEs
Monday, 14 December 2009

5. Obstacles
Customer readiness / compatibility with internal information systems
Readiness / compatibility with internal information systems
Complexity
Legal uncertainty
Expensive
0 10 20 30 40
Source: European e-Invoicing Guide for SMEs
Monday, 14 December 2009

6. Requirements
SMEs survey
Free of charge IT tools to create, transmit and send e-Invoices
Supporting material (solution documentation, user manuals, sample files, FAQs, etc)
Assurance that the solution is VAT compliant
A service desk for all e-Invoicing related questions
0 17.5 35 52.5 70
Source: European e-Invoicing Guide for SMEs
Monday, 14 December 2009

7. Requirements
UEAPME
Applied software should be interoperable at minimum cost and effort with
the existing common accounting systems
Complexities of international transactions should not bring complications to
the system
Privacy of users and data protection must be ensured. The system owner
should be an independent body and access to the data should not be
granted to any private entities that could make use of it for their
commercial purposes
Source: UEAPME, “General principles to be followed in order to make e-invoicing adapted to the reality of SMEs”
Monday, 14 December 2009

8. Requirements
Business Requirements for Standardisation
Adoption of a common global standard - UN/CEFACT CII V2- by the public
and private sector (ensure interoperability at semantic level when using
other standards)
Develop Implementation Guidelines of the CII: CEN to deliver them
Obtain information from UN/CEFACT relating to development of the Core
Components Library
Source: EC Expert Group on e-Invoicing
Monday, 14 December 2009

9. Obstacle / Recommendation / pre-Requisites
OBSTACLE RECOMMENDATION PRE-REQUISITES
Customer readiness / User-friendly desktop based ERP/software vendors need
compatibility software solutions for micro- certainty that the standard is
enterprises “here to stay” and will be
widely adopted. Large
ERP and accounting software
Readiness / compatibility need embedded import/export
multinationals will need the
same certainty.
with internal information capability to receive/issue
structured e-Invoices based on Service providers to work
systems closely with software
a global standard
developers
Knowledge and training
Complexity of solutions Awareness and understanding
through guides, free advice, Governments to lead initiatives
available education and involve academics
Monday, 14 December 2009

10. Obstacle / Recommendation / pre-Requisites
OBSTACLE RECOMMENDATION PRE-REQUISITES
Harmonisation and
simplification of e-Invoicing
and e-Archiving rules
SMEs test when drafting Legislation should be clear,
legislation technology neutral and applied
Legal uncertainty consistently across EU
Equality of treatment between
paper and electronic invoicing: Rules and information centrally
no additional requirements accessible
A return to common sense:
business controls to provide
legal certainty
Monday, 14 December 2009

11. Next steps
Disseminate the e-Invoicing Guide for SMEs and ensure translation in other EU
languages (beyond English, Italian and German) to create a common body of
knowledge: http://www.euebl.org/ebl/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ebl_eInv_guide_final_web.pdf
Evaluate pilot projects that will facilitate SMEs adoption of e-Business
technologies (European e-Business Lab with other institutions)
Engage with ERP software vendors to obtain commitment to the UN/CEFACT CII
V2 standard
Advocate harmonisation and simplification of the current legal landscape
Update information about legal developments and standards convergence in
future editions of the e-Invoicing Guide
Monday, 14 December 2009

12. EBL Living Lab
Activities cycle
Identify users’ issues and e-business shortcomings
Seek feedback and practical guidance from the Business Community and top e-
Business practitioners on how to address and solve identified issues and
shortcomings
Engage with the wider market, EU institutions, standardisation bodies, public
authorities and other market stakeholders to share opinions, knowledge and ideas
Provide the wider market with results of our consultation process (i.e. guidance
documents, policies, pilots, recommendations, initiatives, etc.)
Foster development and innovation to the benefit of the whole e-business
ecosystem
Monday, 14 December 2009

13. EBL Living Lab
Activities cycle
Monday, 14 December 2009

14. The Path towards a common Global Standard
1. Believe it is possible and start building the path
2. Governments to lead the process for economic reasons
3. Engage national, regional and industry standards bodies
4. Engage software vendors and banks
5. Make the standard mandatory for public procurement
6. Engage the academic community
7. Provide tool and guidance centres to support SMEs
8. Never say ʻneverʼ... it has been done – eMail, HTML, the Internet
Monday, 14 December 2009

15. VISION SEPA International
“Based on a harmonised legal and regulatory
framework, the future e-business ecosystem
will be an environment where solution and
service providers can compete on a pan-
European basis and where users can
integrate standardised e-business tools into
their internal information systems without
significant investment and disruption.”
For more information:
carmen.ciciriello@sepainternational.com
Monday, 14 December 2009