From French VAT mandate to U.S. B2B framework: be ready for the future of e-invoicing

For more and more countries, e-invoicing has become a matter of law. France’s upcoming e-invoicing mandate for its VAT tax is the latest push for modernization, but it’s certainly not the first – or the last. It’s a future filled with evolving standards that leave many companies scrambling to stay in compliance, today and in the future.

Here’s a look at upcoming e-invoicing regulations and how you can be prepared for the future of e-invoicing.

e-invoicing drivers around the world

Compliance is an essential consideration when migrating from paper-based to electronic invoice, as is already the case for Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Italy, Hungary, and others.

France intends to implement a new e-invoicing system that requires invoices for all transactions subject to VAT to be issued in electronic form and transmitted to the tax authority in real-time.

Its original implementation goal was July 2024, but this month the French government announced it would postpone the reform’s widespread implementation to give those impacted the time needed to succeed, citing a major impact on the economy.

Per the public finance department:

“The date of the postponement will be defined as part of the work to adopt the Finance Act for 2024, with the aim of ensuring that the 4 million companies concerned make the transition to electronic invoicing under the best possible conditions.”

The reform aims to simplify business processes, enhance competitiveness, streamline VAT reporting obligations, improve fraud detection, and provide real-time knowledge of business activity.

Elsewhere in Europe, the EU has mandated e-invoicing for all B2G (business-to-government) procurements, and ongoing discussions make it likely to soon be required for business-to business (B2B) transactions in France, Romania, Poland, Germany, and elsewhere around the world.

In the United States, early efforts driven by the Business Payments Coalition (BPC), a volunteer group seeking greater adoption of electronic B2B payments, remittance data, and invoices, let to development of an electronic e-invoice exchange framework with input from the Federal Reserve. The Digital Business Network Alliance (DBNA) has now taken up the baton to pave the path to modernizing B2B payments in the U.S. by standardizing the way this data is exchanged.

Axway eInvoicing: a global, standards-driven solution

In this context of shifting requirements in a globally interconnected economy, enterprises need the expertise and solutions that will help them to evolve with the markets. It’s why Axway recently acquired Advalvas, a leading European expert in e-invoicing processes.

“Advalvas has been at the forefront of e-invoicing for the past decade, helping steer the direction of invoice compliance around the globe,” said Axway CEO Patrick Donovan. “We are thrilled to welcome AdValvas and look forward to leveraging their deep expertise to help our customers navigate the delicate compliance waters ahead.”

The acquisition of Advalvas adds new capabilities to Axway eInvoicing, an expanded solution that enables companies to handle e-invoicing in a global, standards-driven manner that’s always up to date, whatever the country.

It’s not just a global passport to e-invoicing compliance, but also a path to major efficiency and cost advantages for companies looking to make their invoicing 100% digital.

“As part of the Axway family, we’re now positioned to deliver even greater value to our customers and stakeholders with Axway eInvoicing,” says Michel Gilis, formerly CEO of Advalvas and now Axway VP e-Invoicing. “We continue to stay focused on contributing to global e-invoicing standards and best practices, but on an even larger scale.”

Comply with country mandates

Axway eInvoicing is designed to meet the needs of companies facing specific national mandates, or multiple mandates in the different countries where they do business. For example, B2G e-invoicing is now mandatory for public procurement in the EU using the European Norm EN-16931, which is supported by the PEPPOL network.

As more countries around the world ultimately move to a Continuous Transaction Control (CTC) model, B2G and B2B e-invoicing are becoming a must-have for compliance.

Axway eInvoicing gives companies embedded support for these worldwide B2B and B2G invoicing initiatives, including PEPPOL, CTC in the EU, VAT reform in France with PPF and PDP deployments, and DBNA in the USA. Everything you need for B2G and B2B e-invoicing, all from one software solution and a single vendor.

Axway eInvoicing solves compliance issues with three integrated e-invoicing applications:

1. Archiving allows businesses to securely archive e-invoices, while meeting the archiving requirements for B2B/CTC and B2G e-invoicing countries.
2. Clearance allows businesses to report e-invoicing to the tax authorities in real-time, a requirement for B2B/CTC e-invoicing countries.
3. PEPPOL Access Point allows businesses to connect to the PEPPOL network to send invoices in real-time.

Streamline operations and reduce costs

The need to comply with changing mandates puts operational pressure on companies that can slow down their businesses and increase costs. Supplier companies, for example, sometimes need to manage dozens or even hundreds of buyer-specific processes and portals.

With Axway eInvoicing, you can take a global approach to managing e-invoicing specifics with a single solution, automating processes and eliminating the management nightmare of vendor and portal sprawl.

Companies can also use the expanded Axway software to graduate from inefficient, manual, or even paper-based processes and become 100% digital, saving money on every invoice. In doing so, they can respond to customers and partners faster with new visibility into buyer and supplier flows, down to the individual e-invoice.

Converge financial processes with an integrated platform

Companies can use Axway eInvoicing as a standalone solution, or fully leverage the consistent experience of the Axway B2B Integration Platform to consolidate EDI, API, and e-invoicing processes. Axway B2B Integration Platform connects any type of business network to quickly deliver convergence and compliance.

Axway and AdValvas have both been proactive contributors to major e-invoicing standards groups worldwide. Now, brought together for a unified solution, these experts continue to play leading roles in these efforts, helping to define, develop, and deploy the latest and best technology.

The result? A global e-invoicing solution that stays compliant with standards mandated today, and a team that will be ready to guide you as new requirements evolve.