2994: Avalara on the Rise of E-Invoicing and What It Means for Businesses

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Are we on the brink of a new digital revolution in global trade and commerce? Well today on

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Tech Talks Daily, my guest Alex is going to enlighten us on the transformative world of

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_01]: e-invoicing. And as countries increasingly mandate e-invoicing and businesses worldwide

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_01]: adapt, understanding this shift is crucial. My guest Alex is a key figure from the European

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Commission's e-invoicing technical advisory group and a board member of the Digital Business

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Networks Alliance. What I'm trying to say is he brings a wealth of knowledge about how

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_01]: e-invoicing is reshaping everything from trade, enhancing compliance and driving economic

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_01]: efficiency. So today I want to unravel how this digital evolution is befitting businesses

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and what it means for the future of global commerce. And we're going to do all that

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_01]: in a language everyone can understand. I just want to take a time out to express my gratitude

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_01]: to everyone who supports our mission of delivering content every day to 140,000

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_01]: listeners across 165 countries. I'm grateful for the support that allows me to maintain

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_01]: this daily tech podcast. And it's also an opportunity to talk about the fact that

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[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_01]: to shift gears somewhat and introduce the person that you've all been waiting for

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_01]: today. So buckle up and hold on tight as I beam your ears all the way to the

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_01]: UK where you can join me and Alex in conversation to them. So a massive

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_01]: warm welcome to the show, Alex. Can you tell everyone listening a little about who

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: you are and what you do? Thanks for having me, Neil. Absolute pleasure to be

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: here. So I'm Alex Bolf. I'm the vice president of e-invoicing and Avalara.

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Avalara is a needy SaaS solution provider. We provide fast, easy, accurate

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: ways to manage transactional taxes like sales tax, VAT, GST, customs duty. We

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00]: have cloud-based compliance solutions that automate business processes. We

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: help businesses of all sizes achieve compliance, reduce their risk,

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: streamline their processes. I'm the product owner, the product lead for our

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: e-invoicing solution. This is our next generation SaaS solution to meet

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: the growing trend of e-invoicing globally. I lead a team of product

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: managers across six different countries and I've worked with governments, tax

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: authorities, other influencer bodies all around the world talking about

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: the future direction of travel for tax compliance, digitalization of

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: compliance and of course, e-invoicing.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, there's so much to unpack there. One of the things I try to do

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_01]: every episode is take an area that people may have heard of or maybe have

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_01]: heard of and don't associate technology with and try and demystify it.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So just to set the scene for our conversation today, can you just

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_01]: explain exactly what e-invoicing is and how it represents this next

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_01]: digital era of global trade and commerce? Because it feels like a

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_01]: real opportunity.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely. So an invoice is a digital document. So if you think

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_00]: about today, most businesses trade with invoices that are on paper or

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: PDF, very visual, really built for manual processes. Maybe there's an

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: accounts payable team manually typing in the data into an accounts

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: package. Some businesses will scan documents, others may use OCR

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_00]: technologies, RPA to get data into a structured format. But really what an

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: e-invoices is a digital document that has structured machine readable

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: data. So the invoice can be interpreted, processed by a system.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: So we're talking about things like XML. A couple of main types here.

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_00]: There's the UBL, Universal Business Language. There's also the cross

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: industry invoice, the CII. But this is purely structured data.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: There is like a hybrid version of that. So a PDF A3, which is, to

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: most people looks and feels the same. It's a normal PDF. It's as

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: close to business as usual as you could get. But it has embedded

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: XML in it. So it's the best of both worlds. It can be read by

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: both a human and a machine as well. So e-invoicing is the exchange

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: of that digital document, an exchange of any invoice between

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses and their customers. You typically have a consistent

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: format of that document, inconsistent content, because

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: that content needs to be interpreted, processed. So

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: typically relying on very formalized code lists. And those

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: invoices can be shared on networks across the globe, like

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: an open network like Pepple. We're seeing a global trend

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: where tax authorities actually become that distribution portal

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: in the middle. They have technology to receive an

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: invoice, to even approve it, sign it, validate it. And then

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: in some countries actually send that on to the trading

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: partner.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And just to understand the business value of what we're

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_01]: talking about here, how are you seeing the rise of

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_01]: e-invoicing impacting things like international trade? And

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_01]: what changes our businesses experiencing as a result? Is

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_01]: there a movement of sorts here?

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely. This is a real global trend. We are seeing

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: e-invoicing being adopted in every corner of the globe,

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: every continent. But I'd say it's speeding up global trade. A

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: lot of the historic processes at the customer's border, or

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: just the normal kind of producer pay processes involve

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: a lot of paper, a lot of documents, a lot of manual

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: processes. What e-invoicing does is it really

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: streamlines that. It means that documents, paper, PDFs,

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: they're no longer getting stuck in someone's inbox on

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: email. They're not getting lost in the mail. They're not

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: being reliant on a team of people processing those. We

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: are, we now have the ability to have complete end to

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: end touchless processing. So documents can move across

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: countries, across borders very, very quickly. They can be

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: interpreted, processed, validated and even paid in a

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: touchless manner, all automated based on that machine

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: readable data.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And I've had experience of those invoices getting stuck

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_01]: in spam folders and junk folder. So I know exactly

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_01]: what you're talking about there. And for any startup

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_01]: founder listening or business leader, a small medium or

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_01]: even large size enterprise, what would you say are the

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_01]: main benefits of e-invoicing for businesses?

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Lots of benefits. I suppose that the first thing is, it

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: allows a business to carry on doing business in a

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_00]: country where there is a mandate in place to use

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_00]: e-invoicing. And this is a huge, huge issue because

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_00]: governments are bringing in e-invoicing mandates,

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_00]: forcing companies to adopt it, forcing companies to use

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_00]: technology to produce the relevant invoices and the

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_00]: format to meet standards, connecting to the relevant

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: government endpoints. So without being able to comply,

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_00]: you are really shut out of a market because if you

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_00]: can't issue an invoice, you can't get paid. If you

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_00]: can't receive an invoice from your vendor, the

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_00]: business kind of grinds to a halt. So by being

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: compliant, by being able to issue invoices, you

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_00]: are reducing the risk of penalties. You're able to

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_00]: trade with your trading partners in international

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_00]: markets. But also because e-invoicing is really

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: driven by data and the quality of that data, what

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: we tend to see is it brings up the overall

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_00]: quality of a company's data in their systems.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Typically in the past, a lot of the master data

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_00]: that the businesses hold around their vendors,

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_00]: around their customers, is pretty, pretty

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_00]: dirty. And people just got on with it and

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_00]: maybe they're aware of that periodically cleanser.

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_00]: But the difference is within the invoicing, if

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_00]: certain data is wrong, it's missing, it's not

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: in the right format, it will be rejected. The

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_00]: computer will just say no. A government

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_00]: platform, a portal, a tax authority will reject

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_00]: that invoice straight away, which means it

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_00]: won't be received by the counterparty, by the

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_00]: trading partner. So I think there's a great

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_00]: benefit there. There's certainly a benefit

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: around security, reducing the risk of a

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_00]: fraud. e-invoicing is built on encryption,

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: digital signatures, secure networks. They're

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_00]: really the staples of e-invoicing. And so

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses can be identified by their

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_00]: unique digital certificate or digital

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_00]: signature. And so a tax authority and a

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_00]: trading partner can really be really clear

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and confident on the digital identity, the

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_00]: authenticity of that issuer. So hopefully,

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_00]: you know, that does reduce fraud.

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_01]: And after doing a little research before

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_01]: you join me on the podcast today, I was

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_01]: reading how e-invoicing is also rapidly

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_01]: becoming mandatory in various geographies

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_01]: around the world. So why is that? And what

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_01]: are the implications for companies operating

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: in these regions?

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely. So it's no secret that

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_00]: the tax revenue is more important than

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_00]: ever. Governments around the world, you

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: know, post pandemic budgets need to be met.

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So tax authorities are focusing in on VAT,

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_00]: the VAT gap. So this is the amount of

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_00]: tax, specifically VAT, that isn't

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_00]: collected due to errors, non-compliance

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and specifically fraud as well. In the EU

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_00]: alone, at the last count, that was around

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_00]: 93 billion euros per year. Globally, that

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_00]: figure could be a lot closer to about

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_00]: 500 billion dollars. So that's a lot of

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: money, a lot of tax revenue being left

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_00]: on the table. So tax authorities are

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_00]: finding ways how can we collect more

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_00]: tax? How can we reduce that gap? And

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_00]: they realize that the traditional summary

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_00]: tax return, like a VAT GST return, it

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_00]: doesn't provide enough transparency. It

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_00]: doesn't show tax authorities the

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_00]: individual transactions and it doesn't

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_00]: give them the opportunity to spot errors

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_00]: and fraud. You know, it's really too

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_00]: little too late. So tax authorities see

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_00]: invoicing as a way of sitting in the

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_00]: middle of a transaction. They have the

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_00]: ability to review a transaction, the

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_00]: invoice, they can run their own

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_00]: analytics, they can run various checks

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_00]: and approvals on that document before

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_00]: it's then sanctioned and cleared to be

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_00]: sent to a customer. So they're getting

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_00]: all of those data points. They can use

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_00]: that for trend analysis, they can get

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_00]: insights into individual industries all

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_00]: the way down to a postcode, to a ZIP code.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And my research about you also revealed

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_01]: that you're a member of the European

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Commission's e-Invoicing Technical

[00:12:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Advisory Group and the Digital Business

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Networks Alliance. Now, I'm not sure

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_01]: how much you can share here, but are

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_01]: there any learnings or insights you

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_01]: can share about the development and

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_01]: the adoption of new invoicing standards

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_01]: too?

[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, of course. So e-Invoicing,

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_00]: because we're looking at sending a

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_00]: structured document between trading

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_00]: partners, interoperability is key. So

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_00]: what does interoperability mean? Well,

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_00]: it means everyone needs to be able to

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_00]: receive, understand, interpret the

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_00]: document that's being exchanged. So

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_00]: they must know what the data means.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And so the European Commission has

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_00]: taken a really key role there. The

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Commission developed a European e-

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_00]: invoicing standard several years ago,

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_00]: predominantly for public procurement,

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_00]: business and government supplies,

[00:13:49] [SPEAKER_00]: looking to digitalize public

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_00]: procurement. But this European

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_00]: standard is now being leveraged by a

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_00]: lot of countries and governments across

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Europe and actually even beyond Europe.

[00:14:02] [SPEAKER_00]: But it needs to stay up to date. It

[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_00]: needs to stay fresh. It still needs

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_00]: to meet the needs of businesses as

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_00]: more and more companies are bought

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: into the e-Invoicing net either on

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_00]: a voluntary basis because they want

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_00]: to achieve process efficiencies, they

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_00]: want to trade electronically with

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_00]: their trading partners, or more likely

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_00]: they're being mandated to do this by

[00:14:26] [SPEAKER_00]: governments and tax authorities in their

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_00]: home countries or where they do

[00:14:30] [SPEAKER_00]: business. The standard needs to meet

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_00]: all the different use cases. It

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_00]: needs to meet the different industries

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_00]: across Europe. So a lot of work's

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_00]: been carried on to update that

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_00]: standard, make sure its future fits.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And then there's legislation called

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_00]: BAT in the digital age or VEDA.

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And one of those pillars that that

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_00]: legislation is introducing is around

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_00]: e-Invoicing and more harmonization,

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_00]: ensuring interoperability. And it's

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_00]: going to break down the barriers for

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_00]: both companies and countries within the

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_00]: EU to adopt e-Invoicing. And then if

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_00]: we go across the other side of the

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Atlantic, the US, I'd say a very

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_00]: different experience there because

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_00]: the US is quite unique. You know, the

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_00]: US is a country but there's a very

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_00]: strong state and local approach,

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_00]: particularly to tax and legislation.

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And so they never, well, never say

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_00]: never, but there's very unlikely to

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_00]: be a federal mandate mandating e-

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_00]: invoicing in the US is likely to

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_00]: come more at a state by state level.

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And that means in the US, the

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_00]: real impetus around getting

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_00]: e-Invoicing and moving to harmonized

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_00]: standards is really going to come

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_00]: from businesses themselves. So there

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_00]: was a market pilot involving the

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_00]: business payments coalition, the

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_00]: federal reserve banks were involved.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of e-Invoice service providers,

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_00]: EOPs, other tech companies, banks,

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_00]: payment processing companies,

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_00]: different stakeholders from across

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_00]: the ecosystem and supply chain.

[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And the plan was to create a common

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_00]: e-Invoice standard for the US and

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_00]: actually wider North American

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_00]: market because the US has two

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_00]: biggest trading partners at

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Canada and Mexico. So they wanted

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_00]: to create a standard that would

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_00]: be interoperable and meet the

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_00]: local requirements in those

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_00]: countries too. And so the good

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_00]: news is they had a market

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_00]: pilot, it was a huge success and

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_00]: that pilot then evolved into the

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_00]: digital business network

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_00]: alliance. I'm on the board of

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER_00]: the DBNA, we're a not-for-profit

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_00]: so really looking to encourage

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_00]: the adoption of that national

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_00]: standard and creating what we

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_00]: call a four-corner network.

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So moving away from the current

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_00]: position in the US where there's

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_00]: actually hundreds of different

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_00]: formats and the way most

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses exchange invoices with

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_00]: each other, it tends to be

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_00]: through proprietary procurement

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_00]: networks, AP networks where both

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_00]: parties need to have the same

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_00]: provider. It's not very

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_00]: scalable, it's really

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_00]: restricted the growth and

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_00]: adoption of e-Invoicing. So the

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_00]: DBNA is new, B2B digital

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_00]: highway using this four-corner

[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_00]: network connecting accredited

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_00]: service providers together using

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_00]: a new national standard for

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_00]: e-Invoicing or hopefully really

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_00]: ready invoicing, encourage

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses to adopt to remove

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_00]: barriers. It goes back to my

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_00]: very first point, great

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_00]: interoperability across the

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_00]: country and across North

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_00]: America.

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So on behalf of business

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_01]: leaders that could be listening

[00:17:58] [SPEAKER_01]: anywhere in the world,

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_01]: especially those in geographies

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_01]: where it is already mandatory,

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_01]: how can they better prepare for

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_01]: that transition to mandatory

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_01]: e-Invoicing and what steps

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_01]: should they be taking now to

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_01]: ensure a smooth transition and a

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_01]: smooth compliance?

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a great question, Neil.

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So the first thing I'd say is

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_00]: to just embrace and accept

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_00]: that e-Invoicing is the clear

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_00]: direction of travel.

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_00]: You know this is here now,

[00:18:29] [SPEAKER_00]: even if it isn't in place

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_00]: today in a certain country,

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER_00]: it probably will be in the

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_00]: next two or three years.

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_00]: So what does that mean?

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, it means awareness is

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_00]: key in monitoring legislation

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_00]: monitoring all the new

[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_00]: mandates that are coming out.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, where do you do

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_00]: business?

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Where are your customers?

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Where are your trading

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_00]: partners?

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Putting together a roadmap

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and aligning that with a

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_00]: project plan, but also keeping

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_00]: your stakeholders up to date.

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, you will need

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_00]: technology to meet e-Invoicing.

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It's just too complex to do it

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_00]: yourself.

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_00]: So plan accordingly, bring in

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_00]: different stakeholders, IT,

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_00]: finance, procurement, tax.

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_00]: e-Invoicing is going to touch

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_00]: so many different areas,

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_00]: departments of a business.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And then I'd say think

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_00]: strategically because this is

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_00]: the clear direction of travel

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_00]: because of the quantum of

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER_00]: countries that are bringing in

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_00]: the invoice in it's no longer

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_00]: sustainable or scalable just to

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_00]: look at this as a local issue.

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, maybe five, ten

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_00]: years ago when we saw individual

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_00]: countries bring in the

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_00]: invoicing, a business would just

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_00]: say, actually I have a local

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_00]: finance manager in country.

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_00]: They will select a local

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_00]: provider.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll get a local bolt on.

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, we'll find a

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_00]: solution to be compliant.

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER_00]: With the amounts of countries

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_00]: introducing invoicing now, you

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_00]: don't want to end up with this

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Frankenstein of IT

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_00]: infrastructure, different

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_00]: connections, different APIs,

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_00]: different solutions all over

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_00]: the place.

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_00]: It's just not scalable at all.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_00]: So think strategically and look

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_00]: to invest in a single global

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_00]: platform where possible.

[00:20:27] [SPEAKER_00]: That really allows a business

[00:20:29] [SPEAKER_00]: to be future proofing,

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_00]: maintaining only one single

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_00]: solution.

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And then also creating

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_00]: critical mass around training

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_00]: awareness.

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, this may be rolled

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_00]: out on a country by country

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_00]: basis, but you're building up

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_00]: knowledge about e-invoicing.

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_00]: You can share best practice

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_00]: throughout your company,

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_00]: throughout your business.

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And then finally I'd say

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_00]: don't just view e-invoicing

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_00]: as a compliance requirement.

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, of course there is

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER_00]: the stick of a tax authority.

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't comply, you

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_00]: will receive penalties.

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, you may not be able

[00:21:05] [SPEAKER_00]: to recover VAT on your

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_00]: invoices.

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_00]: As I said at the start, you

[00:21:09] [SPEAKER_00]: may actually be locked out of

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_00]: doing business in a certain

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_00]: country.

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_00]: But e-invoicing also brings

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_00]: a little benefit.

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So you should look at the

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_00]: carrots as well.

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_00]: The streamlining of

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_00]: processes, particularly accounts

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_00]: payable, accounts receivable.

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Ultimately, e-invoicing will

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_00]: reduce costs.

[00:21:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Now there's been a couple of

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_00]: recent surveys in the field.

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_00]: There was a stat from

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Deloitte in Australia saying

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_00]: the price of a typical invoice

[00:21:43] [SPEAKER_00]: paper PDF on producing it,

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_00]: exchanging it, processing it

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_00]: was around 30 Australian

[00:21:49] [SPEAKER_00]: dollars.

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_00]: But an e-invoice was about a

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_00]: third of the price.

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And France, when the French

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_00]: government announced an

[00:21:56] [SPEAKER_00]: e-invoicing mandate for

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_00]: French companies, they said,

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_00]: well, a typical invoice is

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_00]: about 10 euros.

[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_00]: But the price of an e-invoice

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_00]: is less than a postage stamp.

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So because you will be removing

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: all the different human

[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_00]: touches, a lot of the manual

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_00]: processes, storage, archiving,

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_00]: printing, posting, there's

[00:22:19] [SPEAKER_00]: real cost savings to be had.

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And as technology improves,

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_00]: we're going to see further

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_00]: automation, particularly when

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_00]: you inject things like machine

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_00]: learning and AI into the

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_00]: equation.

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Wow.

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Some big stats in there.

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_01]: And as someone that is right

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_01]: in the heart of this space,

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_01]: you've probably had many,

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_01]: many questions about this

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_01]: topic.

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_01]: People asking you for help,

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_01]: et cetera.

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_01]: What are the main challenges

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_01]: that companies are facing when

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_01]: implementing e-invoicing and

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_01]: how can they overcome some

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_01]: of these obstacles?

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I would imagine there's quite

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_01]: a few trending questions that

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_01]: come your way.

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, they really are.

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I think because invoicing is

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_00]: such a core component of just

[00:23:01] [SPEAKER_00]: doing business, there is an

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_00]: assumption that an ERP system

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and accounting system will

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_00]: naturally support e-invoicing.

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And while that may be true in

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_00]: certain markets, you're never

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_00]: really going to have an ERP

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_00]: supporting all global e-invoicing

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_00]: mandates, formats, document

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_00]: types, all the different

[00:23:22] [SPEAKER_00]: strict regulatory requirements

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_00]: out of the box.

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_00]: It's too complex, really.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's one of the first

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_00]: realities that businesses need

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_00]: to remember.

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And so then it's actually going

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_00]: out to market, really

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_00]: identifying is there a single

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_00]: scalable global provider that

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_00]: covers my needs now, but also

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_00]: in the future.

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to implementing

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_00]: a lot of e-invoicing, it

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_00]: isn't plug and play.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_00]: It's really focused in on

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_00]: the source data.

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_00]: So you may need support with

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_00]: integration.

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_00]: You might need system

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_00]: integrators to help you because

[00:24:03] [SPEAKER_00]: data is so important.

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_00]: You may need some support

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_00]: cleansing that data, making

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_00]: sure you have the right data

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER_00]: in the right format to meet

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_00]: e-invoicing.

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Of course, that can be

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_00]: streamlined.

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of providers like

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Avalara, we are creating

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_00]: connectors.

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We're working with our ERP

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_00]: partners, Oracle, NetSuite,

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Workday, others, so we can

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_00]: connect to their systems.

[00:24:29] [SPEAKER_00]: We understand the data in

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_00]: the source system.

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_00]: We can transform that to

[00:24:34] [SPEAKER_00]: what we need to prepare a

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_00]: compliance e-invoice.

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And the other thing, the

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_00]: other barrier, I suppose,

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_00]: is time.

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_00]: With the quantum of

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_00]: mandates, this requires a lot

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_00]: of planning and for

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses to be proactive.

[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And at the moment, some

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_00]: countries are postponing

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_00]: their mandates.

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_00]: They're giving businesses a

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_00]: bit more time to prepare.

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_00]: But my advice would be, don't

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_00]: waste your time.

[00:25:00] Use your time to build

[00:25:01] your project.

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Make the most of this

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_00]: additional time.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Use that to plan, to

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_00]: prepare, to test, to

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_00]: work with not only your

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_00]: advisors but also your

[00:25:11] [SPEAKER_00]: trading partners.

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Communications with your

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_00]: suppliers, your vendors,

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_00]: your customers are really

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_00]: critical because if you're

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_00]: suddenly going to change how

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_00]: you interact with them,

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_00]: how you issue or receive an

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_00]: invoice to get paid, it's

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_00]: really important everyone's

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_00]: clear and everyone's

[00:25:28] [SPEAKER_00]: compliant.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And if I was to ask you

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_01]: to look into my virtual

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_01]: crystal ball, looking

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_01]: ahead, how do you see the

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_01]: future of e-invoicing

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_01]: evolving and are there

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_01]: any trends that businesses

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_01]: should be aware of to stay

[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_01]: ahead in the digital

[00:25:42] [SPEAKER_01]: transformation of global

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_01]: trade because the speed

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_01]: of technological change really

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_01]: seems to be moving fast

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_01]: at the moment.

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER_01]: But anything that excites

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_01]: you or that you're seeing

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_01]: on the road ahead?

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, another great

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_00]: question.

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think by 2030,

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_00]: virtually every country

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_00]: will have e-invoicing in

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_00]: place.

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to see the

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_00]: next five years unprecedented

[00:26:06] [SPEAKER_00]: growth, adoption and

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_00]: mandating heavy

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_00]: invoicing.

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I think we will see more

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER_00]: consistency in terms of

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_00]: formats, in terms of the

[00:26:18] [SPEAKER_00]: models adopted by countries.

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll probably see the

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_00]: of PEPL.

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I mentioned PEPL briefly

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_00]: at the start.

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So it is a network built

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_00]: on the European e-invoicing

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_00]: standard.

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_00]: It's decentralized, which

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_00]: means you don't have to

[00:26:35] [SPEAKER_00]: have the same service

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_00]: provider as your trading

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_00]: partner.

[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_00]: We're starting to see tax

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_00]: authorities adopt PEPL as

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_00]: part of their e-invoicing

[00:26:44] [SPEAKER_00]: mandate.

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_00]: So actually Malaysia

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_00]: adopted e-invoicing,

[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_00]: started a mandate on the

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_00]: 1st of August.

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: That will leverage

[00:26:54] [SPEAKER_00]: the PEPL network for the

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_00]: exchange of the invoice

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_00]: between businesses after

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_00]: the government has approved

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_00]: it.

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_00]: We're likely to see the

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_00]: spread of PEPL across

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_00]: the globe.

[00:27:04] [SPEAKER_00]: It's already adopted in

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_00]: across the EU, the UK,

[00:27:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Japan, Australia, New

[00:27:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Zealand, Singapore.

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll probably see that

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_00]: extend to Africa and

[00:27:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Middle East in the next

[00:27:18] [SPEAKER_00]: few years.

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I think we're going to

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_00]: continue to see the use

[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_00]: of QR codes.

[00:27:22] [SPEAKER_00]: QR codes to aid

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_00]: automation processing.

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_00]: But actually an

[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_00]: interesting thing I've

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_00]: seen in a number of

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_00]: countries is the ability

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_00]: for a consumer, the

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_00]: general public, just to

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_00]: get out their phone,

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER_00]: scan a QR code on a

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_00]: receipt and that will

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_00]: validate that invoice.

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_00]: It will validate the

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_00]: receipt.

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Has the business, has

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_00]: the cafe, the burger

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_00]: joint being compliant,

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_00]: is it reporting that

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_00]: invoice to the tax

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_00]: authority?

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_00]: So really this is

[00:27:50] [SPEAKER_00]: bringing the general

[00:27:52] [SPEAKER_00]: public in as tax

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER_00]: inspectors, which I

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_00]: think is quite fun and

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_00]: an interesting trend.

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And then I think we

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_00]: will see more

[00:28:00] [SPEAKER_00]: automation.

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe at the moment

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_00]: a lot of businesses

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_00]: are just looking to

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_00]: meet the letter of

[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_00]: the law in terms of

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_00]: any invoicing mandate

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_00]: rather than really

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_00]: increasing the benefits.

[00:28:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think the

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_00]: real future trend is

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_00]: going to be it's a

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_00]: no-brainer.

[00:28:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, yes, you may

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_00]: be mandated to

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_00]: issue an invoice in

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_00]: a certain format to

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_00]: a certain tax

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_00]: authority, but really

[00:28:26] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses will really

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_00]: embrace the benefits.

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_00]: It's just part of

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_00]: the next logical

[00:28:31] [SPEAKER_00]: step in the

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_00]: digitalization

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_00]: journey and

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses will want

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_00]: to have the same

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_00]: insights into their

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_00]: data, into their

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_00]: supply chain, into

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_00]: their procurement as

[00:28:42] [SPEAKER_00]: a tax authority will

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_00]: get with that

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_00]: same data.

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think we'll

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_00]: see increased use

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_00]: of data analytics,

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_00]: AI as well, machine

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_00]: learning on that

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_00]: increased more

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_00]: granular transactional

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_00]: data that businesses

[00:28:54] [SPEAKER_00]: now have.

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I was just just

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_00]: thinking, you know,

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I keep saying

[00:28:58] [SPEAKER_00]: e-invoice, but

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_00]: really that's

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_00]: probably not the

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_00]: right word to

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_00]: use because there

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_00]: are so many

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_00]: different document

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_00]: types throughout our

[00:29:07] [SPEAKER_00]: supply chain,

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_00]: throughout our

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_00]: procurement process.

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_00]: If we look at

[00:29:10] [SPEAKER_00]: kind of orders,

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_00]: dispatch notes,

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_00]: arrival notes,

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_00]: receipts, there

[00:29:15] [SPEAKER_00]: are actually over

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_00]: 100 different

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_00]: documents within

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_00]: UBL, Universal

[00:29:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Business Language,

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_00]: one of the

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_00]: XML standards,

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I mentioned at

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_00]: the start.

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think it's

[00:29:27] [SPEAKER_00]: only natural that

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses will

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_00]: start adopting

[00:29:29] [SPEAKER_00]: more e-document.

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_00]: It may start

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_00]: with the e-invoice,

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_00]: but actually

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_00]: companies have

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_00]: the ability to

[00:29:36] [SPEAKER_00]: digitalize the

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_00]: entire

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_00]: end-to-end

[00:29:39] [SPEAKER_00]: procurement process

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_00]: or orders to

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_00]: cash process.

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_00]: So we will see

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_00]: e-orders,

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_00]: e-dispatch notes,

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_00]: e-way builds,

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I think within

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_00]: the world of

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_00]: customs, import

[00:29:51] [SPEAKER_00]: declarations,

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_00]: there's a lot of

[00:29:53] [SPEAKER_00]: paperwork at the

[00:29:54] [SPEAKER_00]: moment, very

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_00]: manual, quite

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_00]: high costs for

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_00]: every shipment.

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_00]: If that

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_00]: digitalizes, which

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I think is

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_00]: the next

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_00]: logical step,

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_00]: that will

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_00]: save not

[00:30:05] [SPEAKER_00]: any paper

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_00]: entries, but

[00:30:07] [SPEAKER_00]: also should

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_00]: save businesses

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_00]: significant amounts.

[00:30:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Incredibly cool.

[00:30:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Exciting times ahead.

[00:30:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And thanks so

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_01]: much for

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_01]: demystifying the

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_01]: world of

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_01]: e-invoicing with

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_01]: me today.

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_01]: And as a small

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_01]: thank you, I want

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_01]: to see if there's

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_01]: something we can do

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_01]: for you now, because

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_01]: some of the

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_01]: biggest names in

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_01]: business, VC,

[00:30:24] [SPEAKER_01]: funding and

[00:30:24] [SPEAKER_01]: tech have either

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_01]: been guests or

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe even

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_01]: listen to this

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_01]: podcast on

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_01]: occasion.

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_01]: So is that a

[00:30:30] [SPEAKER_01]: person you'd

[00:30:30] [SPEAKER_01]: love to have a

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_01]: private

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_01]: breakfast or

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_01]: lunch with?

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_01]: He or she might

[00:30:34] [SPEAKER_01]: just hear this,

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_01]: but let's see what

[00:30:36] [SPEAKER_01]: we can manifest

[00:30:36] [SPEAKER_01]: together.

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Who would he be

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and why?

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, very

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_00]: good question.

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think I'm

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_00]: going to go big.

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So I am actually

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_00]: going to say Bill Gates,

[00:30:46] [SPEAKER_00]: the founder of

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Microsoft.

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_00]: So about 30 years

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_00]: ago, a very young me

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_00]: read a book called

[00:30:53] [SPEAKER_00]: The Road Ahead,

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Bill Gates' book on

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_00]: the future,

[00:30:56] [SPEAKER_00]: the future of

[00:30:57] [SPEAKER_00]: tech and specifically

[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_00]: the information

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_00]: superhighway.

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And actually,

[00:31:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I reread this a few

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_00]: weeks ago

[00:31:04] [SPEAKER_00]: and he starts

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_00]: talking about

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_00]: EDI,

[00:31:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Electronic Data

[00:31:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Interchange,

[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_00]: which was the

[00:31:12] [SPEAKER_00]: foundation of

[00:31:12] [SPEAKER_00]: the invoicing,

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_00]: the exchange of

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_00]: of invoice data between

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_00]: machines.

[00:31:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'd love to

[00:31:20] [SPEAKER_00]: know about the

[00:31:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Microsoft story.

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd love

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_00]: to get his

[00:31:23] [SPEAKER_00]: insights,

[00:31:24] [SPEAKER_00]: but I'd also

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_00]: just like to

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_00]: sit down and say,

[00:31:27] [SPEAKER_00]: look, 30 years

[00:31:27] [SPEAKER_00]: later,

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_00]: what do you think now?

[00:31:30] [SPEAKER_00]: You know,

[00:31:30] [SPEAKER_00]: what predictions did

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER_00]: you make?

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And true,

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_00]: which ones exceeded?

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_00]: That,

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and more importantly,

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_00]: where are we going

[00:31:37] [SPEAKER_00]: for the next

[00:31:37] [SPEAKER_00]: 30 years?

[00:31:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Data,

[00:31:40] [SPEAKER_00]: the internet,

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_00]: automation.

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_00]: It's really

[00:31:44] [SPEAKER_00]: going to impact

[00:31:45] [SPEAKER_00]: how businesses

[00:31:46] [SPEAKER_00]: do business

[00:31:47] [SPEAKER_00]: and how they

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_00]: exchange documents,

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_00]: So be really,

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_00]: really keen to

[00:31:53] [SPEAKER_00]: sit down with

[00:31:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Bill,

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_00]: have breakfast

[00:31:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and just

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_00]: get those views.

[00:31:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Wow.

[00:31:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Go big or go home.

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I absolutely

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_01]: love that.

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_01]: What a great choice.

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I will throw

[00:32:04] [SPEAKER_01]: that out into the ether.

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's see what the

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_01]: universe can offer

[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_01]: both of us there.

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_01]: We'll see what happens

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and for everyone

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_01]: listening,

[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_01]: what's the best place

[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_01]: for them to find you

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_01]: or your team online

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_01]: if they've got

[00:32:15] [SPEAKER_01]: any other questions

[00:32:15] [SPEAKER_01]: or just dive

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_01]: a little bit deeper,

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_01]: find more information

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_01]: about anything

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_01]: we discussed today.

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_00]: So please,

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_00]: please follow me

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_00]: on LinkedIn.

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_00]: If you search

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Alex Ball

[00:32:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and follow me there,

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_00]: you can of course

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_00]: reach out to me

[00:32:29] [SPEAKER_00]: there through a message

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_00]: or please visit

[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_00]: havealara.com.

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_00]: You'll see all our

[00:32:35] [SPEAKER_00]: different solutions

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and you also have

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_00]: the ability

[00:32:38] [SPEAKER_00]: to log a message

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_00]: and we can set up

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_00]: a meeting or call

[00:32:41] [SPEAKER_00]: with our team.

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Understand your business,

[00:32:44] [SPEAKER_00]: understand your needs

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and support you

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_00]: being compliant.

[00:32:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Well again,

[00:32:49] [SPEAKER_01]: thanks so much

[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_01]: for talking about

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_01]: e-invoicing,

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_01]: the next digital era

[00:32:53] [SPEAKER_01]: of global trade

[00:32:54] [SPEAKER_01]: and commerce

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_01]: and bringing to life

[00:32:56] [SPEAKER_01]: exactly what e-invoicing is,

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_01]: demystifying it,

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_01]: talking about how

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_01]: it's impacting trade

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and the actual benefits

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_01]: to businesses

[00:33:03] [SPEAKER_01]: and also for giving us

[00:33:05] [SPEAKER_01]: a great breakfast date there.

[00:33:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd love to see

[00:33:07] [SPEAKER_01]: if we could manifest

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_01]: that out there

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_01]: for you,

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_01]: but more than anything

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_01]: just thank you

[00:33:10] [SPEAKER_01]: for investing your time

[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and sharing that

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_01]: with me today.

[00:33:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you Neil,

[00:33:13] [SPEAKER_01]: been an absolute pleasure.

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Again,

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_01]: big thank you to Alex

[00:33:16] [SPEAKER_01]: for shedding light

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_01]: on the crucial role

[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_01]: of e-invoicing

[00:33:19] [SPEAKER_01]: in modernising

[00:33:20] [SPEAKER_01]: global trade

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and commerce

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and today's discussion

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_01]: for me,

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_01]: not only highlighted

[00:33:25] [SPEAKER_01]: the importance

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_01]: of embracing

[00:33:27] [SPEAKER_01]: digital transformation

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER_01]: but also illustrated

[00:33:30] [SPEAKER_01]: the practical steps

[00:33:32] [SPEAKER_01]: businesses can take

[00:33:33] [SPEAKER_01]: to adapt to this new standard

[00:33:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and as we look

[00:33:36] [SPEAKER_01]: towards a future

[00:33:36] [SPEAKER_01]: where e-invoicing

[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_01]: becomes the norm,

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_01]: what are your thoughts

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_01]: on how this digital shift

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_01]: will continue to evolve

[00:33:42] [SPEAKER_01]: and influence global trade dynamics?

[00:33:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Now I know you're all listening

[00:33:47] [SPEAKER_01]: in 165 different countries,

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_01]: so there are a lot

[00:33:50] [SPEAKER_01]: of diverse perspectives here

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and I want you

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_01]: to share them with me

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_01]: by emailing me,

[00:33:56] [SPEAKER_01]: techblogwriteroutlook.com,

[00:33:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Twitter,

[00:33:57] [SPEAKER_01]: LinkedIn,

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Instagram,

[00:33:59] [SPEAKER_01]: at Neil C Hughes,

[00:34:00] [SPEAKER_01]: but I am recording this podcast

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_01]: on an extremely hot day

[00:34:04] [SPEAKER_01]: here in the UK

[00:34:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and for my friends in the US,

[00:34:06] [SPEAKER_01]: we don't have things like air conditioning

[00:34:08] [SPEAKER_01]: so it's time for me

[00:34:10] [SPEAKER_01]: to take a cold shower

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and cool myself down.

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Not a thought I intended

[00:34:14] [SPEAKER_01]: to leave you with

[00:34:15] [SPEAKER_01]: but there you go.

[00:34:16] [SPEAKER_01]: So thank you for listening as always

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_01]: and until next time,

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_01]: don't be a stranger.