Publication

Zanzibar White Paper on the EU eInvoicing Directive

The EU eInvoicing Directive (2001/115/EC) was implemented into national law on 1 January 2004. The Directive introduced a simplified set of rules on invoicing that are valid throughout the EU and replaced legislation from individual member states.

The Directive requires member states to recognise the validity of electronic invoices and allows for cross-border electronic invoicing and electronic storage. The result of the application of eInvoicing will be a significant reduction in administrative costs, particularly for small and medium-sized organisations and provides an important boost to electronic commerce.

The Zanzibar Managed Service, delivered by PA Shared Services Ltd, is a Web based P2P and electronic marketplace solution. It provides a common hosted platform for eProcurement and eInvoicing. The EU eInvoicing Directive (2001/115/EC) recognises and promotes invoices despatched and stored in an electronic format. Through the Directive there is acceptance of electronic storage, including on-line storage. Self-billing by the customer is also acceptable.

In some member states electronic invoicing was previously prohibited or had to be accompanied by parallel transmission of paper invoices. Zanzibar complies with the eInvoicing Directive through being able to generate invoices in an electronic format to be uploaded onto various finance systems and general ledger. The Zanzibar Supplier Portal (eInvoicing hub) facilitates eInvoicing free of charge across the whole supplier community.

This publication looks at the EU eInvoicing Directive in more detail and outlines how Zanzibar can support organisations in achieving full eInvoicing in their procurement process.