Wednesday 2nd July, 2014

According to survey results by the European E-Invoicing Service Providers Association (EESPA), 840 million electronic invoices were processed and delivered to invoice receivers in 2013 by its members. This represents a significant growth of 19 per cent over 2012 volumes of 706 million.

The majority of invoices processed were B2B or B2G (Business-to-Business or Business-to-Government) invoices (603million invoices in total in 2013), although the EESPA membership also has a significant involvement in the delivery of B2C (Business-to-Consumer) invoices (237 million invoices in total in 2013).

The survey also collected information on the volume of invoice transactions exchanged with other service providers on the basis of interoperability agreements. The B2B/B2G volumes exchanged in this way in 2013 were 140 million (127 million in 2012), representing a faster growth rate than overall market growth.

Esa Tihilä, co-chair of EESPA and chief executive officer, Basware said;

“What the research clearly shows is that the adoption of e-invoicing and volumes of e-invoices from and between the companies has increased significantly.”

"With EESPA members processing at least half of all e-invoices in Europe, it is clear that our community of members is playing a vital part in making supply chain automation a reality with its massive cost, efficiency and liquidity benefits," added Charles Bryant, co-chair of EESPA and European Affairs Adviser, Tungsten Network.