e-invoicing Europe: Guide for UK Business

Need to learn more about e-invoicing in Europe? Within the EU and EEA, e-invoicing uses standard digital formats for invoicing, making the process fast and efficient. It’s also mandatory in some countries and for some invoice types, with many countries planning on making electronic invoicing obligatory soon.

This means that if you’re a UK business owner billing B2B customers in Europe, you’ll have to get used to e-invoicing to get ahead of mandatory roll out dates.

This guide covers all you need to know about the EU e-invoicing directive and how it’s being rolled out across Europe.

If you are invoicing overseas, a Wise Business multi-currency account can be a helpful tool to receive payments on your customer's local currency, like Euros.

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e-invoicing Europe - An overview

Back in 2014, the EU started on a journey of moving towards e-invoicing, starting with public procurement and similar transactions^¹. A roadmap for e-invoicing in Europe was created which asked all EU member states to move to mandatory e-invoicing for public procurement by 2019, with an option to extend the deadline to 2020 on application^².

Today, all 27 EU member states use e-invoicing when dealing with government contracts and similar, which makes cooperation across borders much easier. In addition, some countries have moved to e-invoicing for business to business sales as well. A recent report by the EU looking at e-invoicing states that it is still a relevant and useful intervention, which has reduced friction - and that countries need to ensure fragmentation doesn’t result from the increasing move towards B2B e-invoicing^³.

UK companies e-invoicing Europe

Mandatory e-invoicing in Europe can affect UK businesses dealing with European governmental bodies, businesses that export to EU countries, as well as UK companies with European subsidiaries or entities.

Each country of the EU has its own approach to e-invoicing, usually using their own digital processing tool. However, as there’s a European standard for e-invoice formats, the systems are all compatible with each other even where they have different names.

Europe e-invoicing requirements

If you’re issuing an invoice to any central, regional and local contracting authorities and entities within the EU you will need to use the local e-invoicing system, or issue a comparable e-invoice which can be accepted by the client. In some countries the obligation for e-invoicing extends to business to business sales as well, which may mean you have to e-invoice even when not dealing with public procurement.

As each country has a slightly different set of rules it’s important to check the local legislation before you prepare your invoice, to make it easier for the client to pay.

e-invoicing Europe - FAQs

Here are a few more common questions and answers on e-invoicing in Europe.

What is the EU e-invoicing mandate?

In 2014 the EU passed a directive which has led to mandatory e-invoicing in public procurement and when dealing with government bodies and authorities.

Is e invoicing mandatory in Europe?

It’s mandatory to issue an e-invoice if you’re billing a public agency or government in most cases within the EU. Member states of the EU are able to also add in local requirements on e-invoicing if they choose to, so some countries also mandate using e-invoices for business invoices too. Check the local requirements in the country you’re working with - there’s a handy reference table below.

How many countries have implemented e-invoicing?

Here’s a rundown of the 27 EU member states and where e-invoicing is mandatory at the time of writing^⁴:

What is the EU directive on electronic invoicing in public procurement?

The EU directive on electronic invoicing in public procurement was agreed in 2014, and member states were given until 2020 to implement this system. Under this directive, businesses dealing with governments and similar public bodies are obliged to use e-invoicing. This covers B2G invoices in things like public procurement, contract awards and invoicing in sectors like water and energy.

What is the difference between an e-invoice and a normal invoice?

An e-invoice is a digital invoice which is in a standard format allowing it to be read by a computer. It’s mandatory to use e-invoices in some countries and for some transaction types, but it’s also a method preferred by many businesses as it’s easy, efficient and limits the chance of human error creeping in when billing.

Receive international payments with ease

Wise Business can help UK businesses, freelancers and sole traders get paid by customers in multiple currencies, with low fees and the mid-market exchange rate.

Your Wise Business account comes with local account details to get paid like a local in Euros and other European currencies like RON and HUF, just as easily as you do in Pounds.

All you need to do is pass these account details to your customer, or add them to invoices, and your customer can make a local payment in their preferred currency. You can also use the Wise request payment feature to make it even easier and quicker for customers to pay you.

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No matter where in Europe you do business, e-invoicing is important. It may be a mandatory requirement depending on where you trade and the type of work you do - but even where it’s not mandatory yet, it’s becoming a common and popular approach to billing which your customers may well expect from you. Use this guide to understand a bit more about how e-invoicing works in the EU and EEA, and why not check out Wise Business for an easy to use international account with low fees and mid-market exchange rates - ideal when invoicing overseas.

Sources used in this article:

Sources last checked March 27, 2024