Hints and tips to successfully start with electronic invoicing

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	Current EU E-invoicing basics How does your tax inspector currently approach e-invoicing? As from 1 January 2013 electronic and paper invoices must be treated equally in the European Union. From that moment the IRS (tax authority) can no longer require additional guarantees with regard to e-invoices. But until then you have to comply with the requirements mentioned in this chapter.
	The new EU Directive What will be different as from 1-1-2013? The new EU Directive must be implemented in all EU Member States at January 2013. If not, an EU Member State’s citizen, company or organisation can already act on it, with reference to this Directive. This chapters explains all the major changes: from equal treatment and business controls to tacit acceptance.
	Tax requirements What information must be part of an invoice? If you issue an invoice to your customer, you will need to make sure that your invoice meets the legal requirements. If it doesn’t, it is possible that your customer is not entitled to deduct VAT. You can also get in trouble at a tax audit. So this chapter shows you what should be part of your invoice.
	The simple invoice What is a simple invoice? When can I start using it? The new EU Directive will also allow the possibility to issue a simple or simplified invoice. The simplified invoice is developed to reduce the administrative burden of companies, especially SME’s, by making it easier to issue invoices. In this chapter we’ve displayed how a simple invoice differs from a regular (e-)invoice.
	Be clear and understandable Does your customer really understand your invoice? An invoice must not only contain all the legally required fiscal information. An invoice must also be clear and understandable for your customer. That reduces questions and complaints. It also increases the chance that your customer pays on time or maybe -just maybe- a bit faster: reducing your DSO!
	Payment instructions Does your customer know how to pay your invoice? Proper billing and instructions stimulates payment behaviour. Clear information about payment instructions and methods definitely helps. The following tips will help you to communicate your payment instructions clearly towards your customer.
	Create your e-invoice What to look after when generating your e-invoice? Once all the invoice data are available on your computer, the invoice can be created in your financial software or online application. Make sure that the invoice is made in accordance with the applicable legislation in your country. This chapter shows where to pay attention to.
	Issuing time How do you engage with your customers? This step involves sending, exchanging or provisioning the e-invoice towards the receiving party: your customer. We neither favour nor make a distinction with regard to the file format, the channel, address or any other way the invoice is issued. There are some thing is worth looking after when starting to issue an (e-)invoice. This chapter shows what that is.
	Receiving e-invoices A sales invoice has now become your purchase invoice. So now what? Somewhere during transport the invoice has undergone a transformation: the sales invoice has become a purchase invoice. The invoice is now residing under your responsibility as a customer, buyer, purchaser. What to do?
	Verify your data How can you verify an electronic invoice? Tax auditors and authorities distinguish between different control types. The technical verification checks the roadworthiness of the invoice (data) during transport. The formal verification checks whether the agreed (or required) formalities have been complied with. And the material verification checks whether the contents of/the information in the actual invoice are correct.
	Manage your master data What are master data and how do I manage them? Master data are data which are stable over longer time periods, such as the debtor and creditor data, physical/digital addresses and legal entity identifiers such as VAT, Duns, GS1, SEPA and GLN numbers. For products or services master data can include product names, descriptions, tax rates, addresses and codes such as EAN codes.
	Let’s archive How do I prevent digital Alzheimer’s? When we think of e-invoicing and e-billing we focus mainly on creating, sending, receiving and processing of invoice information. However archiving invoice information together with all other administrative files, is as important as all other processes combined. By archiving information we prevent ourselves from developing digital Alzheimer’s.
	Ensure controllability How do I stay in control? There is no clear-cut short answer. Sorry. This is because the EU e-invoicing legislation is based on principles rather than specific requirements. The easiest answer is to stay in control using business controls. But there is more than meets the eye.
	Adoption Tactics How do I achieve massive adoption? It is important to inform your customers and suppliers for your and their transition to e-invoicing. That approach provides you with a number of benefits: (1) your customers or suppliers will not be surprised by your switch to e-invoicing and (2) chances are that you’ll achieve a higher adoption rate than going through a cold turkey e-invoicing upgrade.
	Acquisition Fraud Avoid paying fake invoices! Acquisition fraud costs entrepreneurs hundreds and hundreds of millions of euros per year. Acquisition fraud among other things implies that invoices are being sent invoices for products or services that never have and will be delivered. Acquisition fraud using fake invoices is part of the paper world. Therefore, as digitisation and e-invoicing increases, the number of fake (e-) invoices will increase correspondingly.