The report is a joint product of the EBA and Innopay, an independent consultancy firm specialised in payments and related services with a particular emphasis on innovation in the online world.

E-Invoicing 2008 provides a description and analysis of the current invoicing and e-invoicing landscape in the Single Market. Its emphasis is on high level trends and facts and on the identification of key realities and analytical conclusions within a coherent framework.

The reference guide makes available descriptions and commentary, including definitions, statistics, country and initiative overviews and market trends. By combining explanatory material with an analytical framework, E-Invoicing 2008 is aimed at fulfilling two major objectives: to supply concise background information on the subject-matter and, through its findings and considerations, to offer a basis for debate among stakeholders.

"After the delivery of the SEPA payment instruments, approaching the subject of electronic invoicing at a pan-European level will be a further step for the financial industry towards achieving a truly integrated and dematerialised European payment environment," said Hansjörg Nymphius, Chairman of the EBA. "As a pan-European forum for payments practitioners, the EBA is well-placed to support the financial industry in its analysis of this complex subject-matter. We hope that our reference guide on e-invoicing will contribute to the understanding of the underlying facts and trends as well as to the debate on the way forward."

The release of this report coincides with and accompanies the imminent launch of the European Commission Expert Group, whose aim is the delivery of a European Electronic Invoicing Framework by the end of 2009.

The essential features of e-invoicing are the replacement of manual paper-based routines with new, integrated systems and processes. Expected benefits comprise the creation of integrated supply chains, which are more cost effective, less error prone, faster and simpler to manage. Other benefits include improved customer care (typically nearly half of customer queries relate to invoicing) and enhanced risk management, as well as the creation of cross and up-selling opportunities.

E-Invoicing 2008 is available as a paper copy and for download as a pdf-file on the website of the EBA.