Finland still lagging behind in consumer e-invoicing
Finland has yet to make any headway with regard to switching to the e-invoicing of consumers, even though we are already one of the international leaders in business-to-business e-invoicing. According to an extensive Itella Information survey, Denmark holds the lead in both consumer and business e-invoicing. The survey was conducted in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany during the spring of 2008. Consumer interviews were used to investigate over 3,300 people¡¦s experiences of e-invoicing. More than 1,600 people were interviewed with regard to business-to-business invoicing.
According to the survey, consumers in the Nordic countries and Germany around 7 to 8 per person monthly.ƒ{receive roughly the same number of invoices Hard copy is still the most common invoice format, with the exception of Denmark. In all of the countries, however, hard copies¡¦ share of all invoices has decreased since 2006.
Denmark is in a class of its own with regard to e-invoicing. Only 32 per cent of Danish people nowadays report that they receive their invoices primarily in hard copy format. In the other countries around 75 per cent of consumers receive their invoices primarily in hard copy format. The Danes receive their e-invoices through both the online bank and invoice issuers¡¦ websites or invoice and e-commerce portals.
The Finns and Danes exhibit contrasting conduct with regard to payment, too. In Finland, online banking is commonly used for payments, while few invoices are received there. Danes commonly receive reminders of their due invoices through an online bank, but favour direct debiting.
In Finland, almost 80 per cent of large companies plan on sending the majority of their invoices in electronic format within 2 to 3 years. Among SMEs, Finnish ones are the most eager to make the switch to e-invoicing. Some 78 per cent of Finnish SMEs believe that they will be solely or partially using e-invoicing within the following 2 to 3 years.
– According to our survey, almost all businesses and organisations intend to make the switch to e-invoicing in the forthcoming years. The only exception is Germany, in which only 65 per cent are considering this. The underlying reason for Finnish businesses¡¦ enthusiasm for e-invoicing is the desire to achieve time and cost savings through this invoicing method, Savolainen states.
According to the survey, Finnish SMEs will be switching to e-invoicing in a more pronounced fashion than elsewhere.
