E-invoicing with UBL, the new standard

Smarter business

For some years now, entrepreneurs have been obliged to send their invoices electronically when dealing with public contracts and concessions. Electronic invoicing is now also becoming the norm for inter-company invoicing (B2B). Let’s take a look at what that means for you.

What is an e-invoice?

Alternative names: e-invoice, e-invoicing, e-billing, e-bill or electronic invoicing

An “electronic invoice” is an invoice that has been created, sent, and received in a structured electronic form that enables it to be automatically and electronically processed.

Both the sender and the recipient use the same standard format for the invoice data and can, therefore, easily exchange information.

The standard format for this structured electronic form is written in UBL (Universal Business Language). This is a technical language that enables and simplifies financial information processing using software.

Why?

Creating, managing and monitoring invoices is a major administrative burden for companies. According to figures by the Belgian Agency for Administrative Simplification (AAS), the rise of the e-invoice could result in a reduction in costs of EUR 104 931 280 * for businesses and individuals.

Standardizing and automating all steps in invoice management has many advantages:

Cheaper: manual operations become a thing of the past. Savings up to EUR 9.00 per invoice on the estimated average cost of EUR 12.08. *
More reliable: better data – fewer errors
Improved collaboration: with your accountant and customers
More secure: thanks to automatic control options
Faster payments: electronic invoices are paid, on average, seven days earlier than paper versions
Completely acceptable from a legal and taxation point of view

I already send my invoices by email. Isn’t that electronic?

Yes, but…

Many entrepreneurs send their customers an invoice by email. Usually in the form of a document such as a PDF. However, this is not much more than a digitised paper document. Despite the advantages, such as searchability and easy storage, this method does not allow for fully automated management. It is, as it were, still a ‘dumb’ document.

Example
To find out the total of two invoices (in PDF format), the customer must still manually enter the two figures in a calculator.

Practical. Start today.

Get ahead of others in your industry and start e-invoicing now. In doing this, you will be optimally prepared for the current and upcoming government regulations.

What do you need to do? Nothing

Easybox offers all the options for a smooth transition from paper invoices to e-invoices as standard . All invoices you create in Easybox immediately meet all the new standards. Another unique feature of Easybox is that you can also just as easily convert the purchase invoices you received as PDFs into UBL.

It’s really easy.

Do you have any questions?
We can do smarter business together. Our team will assist you personally and will be happy to help you get started rapidly.

* ⫘ Sources: