e-invoice provider

[2JP]

We are a micro UK company who sells to a number of government funded organisations worldwide, including the EU. EU govs have gone/ are going to e-invoice only (e.g. XML specific format with digital certificate), or thereabouts, especially Spain. Most countries seem to have a submission portal of some kind available for pdf upload but I do not know how long that will last. It is yet another obstacle for small companies and trade relationships, apparently saving money for large corps and govs, but poorly thought through in my humble opinion and costing small companies more. We use a simple book keeping software that does not yet have e-invoicing integration but do not want to switch to a completely new system unless we have to. Our invoices are few.

Can anybody recommend a simple to use software app/web portal that simply provides the ability to e-invoice; we are happy to type in the info from a conventionally generated invoice. We see no benefits; it is just going to be another software system to learn and deal with. All the "advantages" mentioned regarding e-invoicing to an efficiently operating small vendor such as ourselves seem disingenuous or, at best, irrelevant, unless it is an option provided by the sales software you already use. UK use of e-invoicing seems currently scant. All we want to do is have a foreign customer who insists on an e-invoice accept an invoice from us for goods delivered. Taking a step back, it seems ludicrous to me that this is a problem, but perhaps not in the eyes of modern business when one considers that the alternative involves a little training, competence and responsibility. Currently we are looking at b2brouter as it appears one of the simplest but allows various formats. Are there any other small business users out there in a similar position?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Your accounts system?

 

[2JP]

Your accounts system?

QuickFile.

 

[martin_shl]

I use QuickFile and it is great system, but AFAIK it is not yet setup for e-invoicing though considering how it works, it probably won't be too difficult for them but I can't see anything in the forum that suggests this might be on its way.

 

[Newchodge]

Excuse my ignorance but is einvoicing different from emailing a pdf invoice?

 

[martin_shl]

Yes, the e-invoice is the invoice metadata and line items sent as structured data from one system to another, with a certificate to protect against fraud.
There's a lot of claims that it is good but as the OP said, it is going to be very difficult for small businesses. I think I saw something (but can't remember where) to suggest HMRC is keen for this to happen in the UK (easier to keep tabs on people)

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

E-invoicing is a thing in the EU and will become a thing in the UK within a few years.

Knowing the UK, we will adopt a slightly different approach to the EU BECAUSE WE CAN!

 

[2JP]

Currently, UK gov have a consultation out on it:

Electronic invoicing: promoting e-invoicing across UK businesses and the public sector

www.gov.uk

 

[linkator]

Please contact me about your e-invoicing needs for initial discussion. I've implemented the e-invoicing for Italian company few years ago when I worked for them - it was a small part of bigger ERP solution worked across EU. We are launching our own invoicing tool (currently in beta-testing) and international e-invoicing will be a good addition to it. This will be free for you as we need your real-life feedback.

 

[martinjeffries]

We're in a similar position and it definitely feels like another hoop to jump through just to get paid for work we’ve already done. All these "benefits" always seem to be for the big organizations receiving the invoice, rather than those of us actually doing the work!

We looked at b2brouter as well, but ended up going with TrueCommerce in the end. They've been a real lifesaver for our export side. They have a web portal where you can just type the info in manually—pretty much like you mentioned—so you don't have to rip out your whole bookkeeping system or deal with a complex API.

What I liked about them is that they handle all the technical things (like the Spain XML formats) in the background. It was fairly straightforward to get it all sorted, and it's one of those "set and forget" things once you've done it a few times. TrueCommerce might be worth a look for your company!

I hope you find a solution that works—it's ludicrous how complicated they're making things these days.