[June 26, 2014] |
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European E-Invoicing Service Providers Processed More Than 800 Million E-Invoices, According to EESPA Survey
BRUSSELS --(Business Wire)--
840 million electronic invoices were processed and delivered to invoice
receivers in 2013 by members of the European E-Invoicing Service
Providers Association (EESPA), based on a set of survey results
completed in June 2014. This represented a significant growth of 19 per
cent over 2012 volumes of 706 million.
EESPA commissioned this first annual survey among its members as part of
a continuing commitment to supporting the rapid market growth of
e-invoicing and to play its part in monitoring take-up. The survey was
carried out through a trusted third party on the basis of actual
transaction volumes, collected on a confidential basis from individual
EESPA members for the calendar years 2012 and 2013.
The majority of invoices processed were B2B or B2G (Business-to-Business
or Business-to-Government) invoices (603 million 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).
B2B and B2G
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2012
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2013
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Increase
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Direct - Electronic invoices delivered to customers
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390,494,710
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463,512,001
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18.70%
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Indirect - Electronic invoices delivered to non-EESPA service
providers and EESPA service providers not participating in the survey
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126,837,404
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139,513,992
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9.99%
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Total
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517,332,114
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603,025,993
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16.56%
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B2C
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Direct - Electronic invoices delivered to customers
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157,670,684
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174,493,368
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10.67%
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Indirect - Electronic invoices delivered to non-EESPA service
providers and EESPA service providers not participating in the survey
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30,968,673
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63,216,762
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104.13%
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Total
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188,639,357
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237,710,130
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26.01%
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Grand total
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705,971,471
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840,736,123
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19.09%
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EESPA members were asked to report the volume (i.e. number of items) of
all e-invoices delivered by them to buyers connected to their network or
service, and also volumes delivered to buyers connected to a service
provider outside the EESPA community. Each member was asked to carefully
identify only items representing truly electronic invoices, irrespective
of the process through which the invoice or the invoice data were
collected from suppliers.
The figures represent an indication of the total footprint represented
by the EESPA community in relation to the growing volumes of e-invoices
now being processed at the expense of traditional paper documents. The
majority of EESPA members participated in the survey, although it is the
case that a number of members were for practical reasons not able to
participate in this first survey. Nevertheless by any measure of volume
and growth, the EESPA service providers are making a very significant
contribution to the adoption of electronic invoicing across both Europe
and more widely. Service provider networks and services to buyers and
suppliers contribute a growing and sizeable element of total electronic
invoice volume and these services are more often than not preferred to
direct connections between suppliers and buyers, which can be cumbersome
to manage and do not take advantage of 'network' effects.
By EESPA's own estimates based on comparing its member's volumes in
relation to overall estimates of total electronic invoices processed
across Europe, the EESPA members are processing and delivering more than
50 per cent of all truly electronic B2B/B2G invoices to European
receivers. This takes into account some conservative assumptions
regarding member volumes delivered outside Europe and the volumes of
members not participating in the survey this year.
The survey also collected information on the volume of invoice
transactions exchanged with other service providers on the basis of
interoperability agreements, whereby invoices intended for delivery to a
receiver on a network other than the one used by the supplier are
transferred between cooperating service providers. 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.
Interestingly B2C invoices exchanged through interoperability grew even
more rapidly. The growth of interoperability has prompted EESPA to
prepare a Model Interoperability Agreement, which went live in 2012 and
is finding increasing adoption among its membership.
"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. We expect the adoption of e-invoicing to increase even
more rapidly on a European and global scale as the benefits of
e-invoicing are realised more widely with the support of regulatory
standards and a supportive infrastructure," said Esa Tihilä, co-chair of
EESPA and chief executive officer, Basware. "We as service providers can
smooth the change by providing our expertise in support of regulators
and providing our customers with easy to use solutions and open
e-commerce networks."
"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. The activities of our members give
adopting organisations the element of confidence that is required,"
added Charles Bryant, co-chair of EESPA and European Affairs Adviser,
Tungsten Network. "Working together as an industry trade association,
EESPA will continue to follow the pace of change with our own annual
survey to provide fresh reliable data on e-invoicing from within the
industry every year."
EESPA was formed in 2011 as an international not-for-profit association.
It acts as a trade association at a European level for a large and
vibrant community of e-invoicing service providers, drawn from
organisations that provide network, business outsourcing, financial,
technology, and EDI (electronic data interchange) services. It focuses
on public policy issues, the creation of an interoperable eco-system and
championing the widespread adoption of e-invoicing for the benefit of
economic efficiency and growth.
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