The meaning of an invoice is invoice. An invoice is the English term for invoice. The English term, like the so-called e-invoice, is increasing in use partly because of the context of information technology, and in particular automated invoice processing.
Invoice Automation
Invoices are increasingly being processed automatically. Suppliers send their invoices in paper, PDF or digital form, after which accounts payable digitizes the invoices and processes them further.
Digitizing invoices is usually done with scan and recognition software. This is also called Object Character Recognition software. An invoice is passed through a scanner, then the digital file is converted to a data file using scan and recognition software. This is often an XML or UBL file and is called an e-invoice or e-invoice.
E-invoicing
An e-invoice or e-invoice is an invoice in the form of a data file. This file is usually of the XML or UBL format.
Invoices can be converted to a data file using OCR software, but it is usually referred to as e-invoicing or e-invoicing when the invoice is sent as a data file by a supplier. Most accounting programs are already capable of this.
Ideally, these files can be processed directly in the customer's invoice processing system. In practice, this is often not the case because an XML or UBL format can be formatted in many different information structures. A standard is missing.
And so conversion is needed to convert the data file to one that conforms to the information structure used by the invoice processing system.
A very effective method of e-invoicing is using a business online transaction network, where files are converted to a desired standard. In addition to conversion, digitization also takes place in such networks.
Suppliers send their invoices in a variety of forms to a network such as the Basware Network, after which the customer receives standardized data files that can be processed immediately.
Never miss a blog update again?
Sign up for the newsletter and automatically receive the latest blogs in your mailbox every month
