Electronic Invoicing: European Union directives bring new efficiencies and cost savings to shipping

Moving from paper to electronic invoicing in Europe

Despite the benefits of e-invoicing and looming regulation deadlines, today many companies still print and mail invoices, following the old operating standards.  In 2010, the European Commission set a goal for e-invoicing to be the main method of invoicing inside the European Union (EU) by 2020. According to Directive 2014/55/EU1 on e-invoicing, paper and electronic invoices are equivalent and both guarantee the authenticity of origin and date of issue until retention by the recipient.

On April 16, 2014, the EU adopted the Directive on e-invoicing in public procurement. The goal is that once the Directive has been transposed into the national laws of EU countries, e-invoices will be able to flow easily across the EU. By May, the Official Journal of the European Union published the Directive on e-invoicing in public procurement, noting that member states have until November 2018 to adopt electronic invoicing.

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