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Executive summary

The eInvoicing activities in Finland concentrate around the Finnish eInvoice Forum. The main goal of the eInvoice Forum is to promote the widespread adoption and use of electronic invoicing based on common standards and procedures. A further goal is to support inter- and intra-organisational collaboration between all parties in the field.

TIEKE Finnish Information Society Development Centre, co-ordinates the eInvoice Forum. The Forum is a central collaboration and meeting point for the different parties in the field, such as developers, service providers, experts and the users of electronic invoicing.

In Finnish e-invoicing environtment operators and banks are equally providing eInvoiving services for business and public sector. The banks and e-invoicing service providers have agreed upon basic procedures that enable eInvoices to be sent and received reliably in a common trunk network. This means that the invoicing traffic between the invoice issuer and invoice recipient is conveyed in a uniform manner even if the parties use the services of different e-invoicing service providers.

The e-invoicing service providers and the banks take care of the set-up, maintenance, monitoring and backups for the network connections. They also handle any format conversions needed for eInvoices, allowing customers to select the method of sending and receiving eInvoices that suits them best.

How does the eInvoice Forum work?
To reach their goals the members of the eInvoice Forum work together both on- and off-line, with guidance set by a steering group. Much of the actual work is done in three working groups: the technical working group, the user working group and the software company working group. The eInvoice Forum activities are guided by a steering group comprising representatives from leading eInvoicing service providers and banks.

Technical working group
The working group consists of the banks and service providers who transmit einvoices from sellers to buyers. The task of the technical working group is to resolve technical issues in the different einvoice formats and in the transmission procedures.


User working group
The user group consists of the senders and receivers of einvoices. This means big senders of einvoices such as telecom companies and power companies, but also accountacies and other companies dealing with invoices. The task of the user working group is to reflect the ideas of the users and point out problems from the users' point of view.


Software company working group
The software company working group consists software companies who make einvoicing software. The task of the working group is to discuss and solve interoperability issues and to develop a testing service for einvoices.

The contact person for the eInvoice Forum is Mr. Martti From (martti.from (ät) tieke.fi.


Making Networking Possible

Physical networking between parties is made possible by
* Members' information meetings twice a year
* Development work brainstorming with other members through the working groups
* Opportunity to recognise and have influence on defining national development project needs in the field
* Involvement in the development of international electronic invoicing. The eInvoice Forum co-operates with UN/CEFACT and CEN/ISS in einvoicing issues.

Legal aspects

Legal issues
Legislation in Scandinavia imposes no hindrances on electronic invoicing. As a transmitter of electronic invoices, the eInvoicing service provider corresponds to the Post Office so eInvoicing data enjoys the same privacy and protection as conventional mail. The Accounting Act in Nordic countries permits the use of electronic archives for both vouchers and accounts ledgers. Many Nordic companies already use electronic archives. The EU-legislation also supports electronic invoicing.

Links related to einvoicing in Finland

*eInvoicing Registry http://verkkolasku.tieke.fi (in Finnish), contains the contact information and einvoicing addresses of Finnish companies capable of einvoicing

* The Finnish pages of the eInvoicing Forum http://www.tieke.fi/liiketoimintapalvelut/verkkolaskufoorumi/

* List of companies http://www.tieke.fi/liiketoimintapalvelut/verkkolaskufoorumi/jasenyritykset/ (in Finnish) who are members of the eInvoicing Forum

*Connections between eInvoice service providers in Finland http://www.tieke.fi/mp/db/file_library/x/IMG/14919/file/yhdysliikenne.pdf