As sending PDF invoices over e-mail is something we have all practiced for many years, we could have a question of why could we not send xml-invoices over e-mail. It seems to be a simpler and cheaper solution than using services of an e-invoice operator. There are 5 main reasons for not sending real e-invoices over e-mail:
- E-mail as a transportation channel is not reliable (every fifth e-mail does not reach its intended recipient).
- No traceability: when an e-mail gets lost, you don’t know, where, when and why it got lost or whether it was sent in the first place at all. (“But we never got your invoice!”)
- E-mail is just as private as a postcard (remember Hillary Clinton’s 50 000 “private” e-mails?).
- Security risks: instead of an invoice, your ERP might be importing some malware or virus.
- Sending invoices over e-mail could be more expensive than sending them via e-invoice operator. This is true when you consider not only setup and running costs, but also cost of handling the missing-invoice related incidents. Missing e-mails mean missing invoices and missing cashflows.
Using e-invoice operator comes with a bonus of additional services related to e-invoices. For example, invoice validation: do all the required fields exist? Or more advanced, like automatic checks whether a product is in assortment, or price on invoice is the same as agreed in the contract.
We can help you to find e-invoicing solution that best suits your company’s needs.
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