Basware, a provider of e-invoicing and purchase-to-pay solutions, has successfully built PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) compliant procedures and protocols into all of its e-invoicing solutions, expanding commerce opportunities for its customers across Europe. Staples Finland, a Basware customer, has become one of the first companies to start using PEPPOL-compliant e-invoices.
The mission of the PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) initiative, co-funded by the European Commission, is to enable EU-wide exchange of electronic invoices and business documents amongst private and public businesses of any size to foster European-wide commerce opportunities.
Basware has been a leader in actively developing technologies and services that support B2B commerce, and has been involved in the PEPPOL initiative since 2008. With the European Commission keen to expand market connectivity and interoperability between private and public business, the involvement of e-invoicing and purchase-to-pay experts, such as Basware, has been integral in the development of the initiatives’ standards.
Following successful planning, collaboration and trialing of PEPPOL, the proposed specifications for e-invoices are being rolled-out to businesses. Basware’s customers can now send and receive PEPPOL-compliant e-invoices and documents to customers and suppliers. Basware customers are therefore able to meet the standardized business processes for the transmission of electronic invoices to organizations within Europe. Whilst Basware has always provided compliance with multiple invoice formats or standards, the premise of PEPPOL provides an agreed way to e-invoice, a major step forward in collaborative working.
In the new era of B2B commerce, the level of standardization delivered by PEPPOL holds significant advantages for businesses of every size. PEPPOL will ensure greater transparency through e-invoicing, and increase public accountability of business deals. PEPPOL implementation will also enhance the automation of purchase-to-pay, speed up administrative activities and reduce costs, while encouraging green, sustainable purchasing. E-invoicing also provides a number of wider business benefits for buyers and suppliers: buyers benefit from automated, error-free invoices that improve their ability to forecast, whilst suppliers benefit from faster payment cycles and improved cash flow and visibility.
Basware’s implementation of PEPPOL comes three months before the Norwegian Government will mandate contracting authorities to require that all suppliers must invoice them electronically with the use of PEPPOL infrastructure as the preferred approach.
The Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Difi) state that this mandate by the Norwegian Government will make PEPPOL the ‘backbone of public electronic invoicing in Norway’. PEPPOL anticipate similar requirements from governments across Europe over the next few years.
Click here to view the entire Basware press release.
More companies are seeking solutions to solve international or even global electronic invoicing needs. PayStream’s analysts see a shift in the top of market, driving demand for more sophisticated international purchase to pay and supply chain solutions for invoice management. Procurement and shared services managers are hungry for global answers to eliminate the billions of paper documents that are sent and received each year.
Companies like Basware who are already compliant in procedures and protocols like PEPPOL will have the capabilities to open more doors to foster European wide commerce opportunities and meet the needs of today’s most sophisticated global corporations.
