As e-invoicing mandates expand across jurisdictions, organisations are being forced to rethink how invoicing is handled across finance, tax, and IT. What was once an operational process is now closely tied to compliance, system architecture, and cross-functional coordination. E-invoicing migration therefore goes beyond implementing a new tool, requiring the right provider, robust integration, and clear ownership across teams.
To explore what a successful approach looks like in practice, we spoke to experts from KPMG Switzerland: Almos Antolik (Indirect Tax Expert), Sāndor Arany (Indirect Tax Senior Manager), and Sergio Avalos (Head of Tax Technology and Transformation). Drawing on their experience advising multinational organisations, in the following interview they share their perspective on the role of providers, the realities of implementation, and how companies can structure their internal approach to e-invoicing transformation.
1) The role of the provider
What role does an e-invoicing provider play in a company’s financial ecosystem?
E-invoicing providers sit at the intersection of finance, tax, and IT. They act as the operational layer that translates transactional data into compliant, structured formats that can be exchanged with both business partners and tax authorities. In practice, this means ensuring that invoice data flows seamlessly from ERP systems into the required formats, while also managing validations, submissions, and responses from clearance platforms where applicable.
From a tax perspective, the provider becomes a critical control point. It’s not only facilitating data exchange, but also embedding regulatory logic into transactional processes.
What exactly should the responsibility of an e-invoicing provider be?
The provider’s primary responsibility is to ensure that invoice data is transmitted accurately, in the correct format, and in line with current regulatory requirements across all relevant jurisdictions. This includes maintaining up-to-date format standards, handling validations, and managing submissions where required. Beyond this, the provider should offer reliable system performance and clear visibility into transaction statuses.
To what extent can an e-invoicing provider help companies to fulfil regulatory requirements?
An e-invoicing provider plays a central role in helping organisations to meet regulatory requirements by keeping pace with evolving rules and embedding them into the transaction process.
This includes maintaining up-to-date format and reporting requirements across jurisdictions, ensuring invoices are validated before submission, and managing interactions with clearance platforms where required. In doing so, providers help ensure that invoices are accepted, processed without delays, and remain compliant as regulations change. They can also support long-term scalability, which becomes particularly important as you expand into new markets.
2) Selecting a provider / managing the switch
How can organisations assess their legacy systems to prepare for new reporting requirements?
A great first step is to create a detailed mapping of current invoice flows. You need to understand how data is generated, transformed, and transmitted across your existing systems. This includes identifying manual steps, data inconsistencies, and dependencies between systems.
From there, it’s possible to assess whether existing ERP structures can support structured data outputs required for e-invoicing. In many cases, legacy systems weren’t designed with real-time reporting in mind, so data enrichment or transformation layers are required.
An exploratory approach is valuable because it allows you to test assumptions early. Pilot assessments or proof-of-concept integrations can highlight gaps in data quality or system compatibility before a full rollout begins.
What criteria should a company pay particular attention to when selecting an e-invoicing provider?
There are several! Regulatory coverage is one of the most important, particularly if you operate across multiple jurisdictions. Your prospective provider should demonstrate a clear roadmap for maintaining compliance as regulations evolve.
Integration capability is another key factor. The provider should be able to integrate with existing ERP systems without requiring extensive custom development. This includes support for different data formats and communication protocols.
Operational reliability also plays a central role. This includes system uptime, processing speed, and the ability to handle peak transaction volumes. You should also consider the provider’s support model, including how quickly issues are resolved and how regulatory updates are communicated.
What do you consider the best process for switching from traditional invoicing to fully digital e-invoicing?
A structured, phased approach tends to deliver the most reliable results during an e-invoicing migration project. This typically begins with a readiness assessment, followed by a prioritisation of countries or business units based on regulatory urgency.
It’s a good idea to handle implementation in waves, starting with a limited scope to validate integrations and processes. Once stability is achieved, additional regions or transaction types can then be onboarded.
Change management is also important. Internal stakeholders need to understand how processes will change, particularly in relation to exception handling and compliance responsibilities.
3) Implementation
What technical integrations are required to incorporate an e-invoicing provider into existing systems?
At a minimum, integration is required between the ERP system and the e-invoicing platform. This involves extracting invoice data, transforming it into the required structured formats, and transmitting it to the provider.
Depending on the architecture, this may involve middleware layers that handle data mapping and validation. In more complex environments, integration with multiple ERP instances or legacy systems may be required.
There is also often a need to integrate with external platforms, such as government clearance systems or business networks, though ideally the provider should manage these connections.
To what extent can e-invoicing be implemented independently from existing processes?
In most cases, full independence isn’t really feasible as e-invoicing is closely tied to core financial processes, including order-to-cash and procure-to-pay workflows.
That said, certain components can be introduced with minimal disruption. For example, a provider can handle format conversion and transmission externally, while internal processes remain largely unchanged in the initial phase. Over time, organisations often adapt their processes to take full advantage of automation and real-time reporting.
What are the most common challenges during an e-invoicing migration/implementation project?
Data quality is possibly the most common issue. Inconsistent or incomplete data inevitably leads to validation failures and rejected invoices. Addressing this is typically time consuming and requires key changes to how data is captured and maintained.
Another challenge is managing the diversity of regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. Each country has different formats, submission processes, and timelines. Coordinating these within a single implementation programme is far from easy.
Last but not least is organisational alignment. Differences in priorities between IT, tax, and finance teams slow down decision-making. Successful projects tend to establish clear governance structures and defined responsibilities early in the process.
How does KPMG measure the success of an e-invoicing migration/implementation project?
We typically measure success using a combination of operational and compliance-related indicators. From an operational perspective, key metrics include invoice processing times, error rates, and the proportion of invoices processed without manual intervention.
From a compliance perspective, we look at acceptance rates from tax authority platforms, the number of rejected submissions, and the ability to meet reporting deadlines consistently.
User adoption is another important indicator. If internal teams are able to work efficiently within the new processes, it suggests to us that the implementation has been successfully embedded into daily operations.
4) Internal management / responsibility
Which department typically leads an e-invoicing project – IT, Tax, or Finance?
Ownership depends on the organisation, but successful implementations usually involve a joint effort between tax, finance, and IT. Tax teams bring an understanding of regulatory requirements, finance teams manage transactional processes, and IT teams handle system integration.
In many cases, tax plays a leading role due to the compliance implications. However, governance structures must ensure that all relevant functions are aligned.
How can organisations handle conflicts when ownership of e-invoicing becomes disputed?
Clear governance is essential. This includes defining roles and responsibilities at the outset, as well as establishing decision-making frameworks.
It can be helpful to position e-invoicing as a cross-functional transformation rather than assigning ownership to a single department. Steering committees or project boards can provide a structured forum for resolving conflicts and aligning priorities.
How do e-invoicing projects affect tax departments in particular?
E-invoicing significantly increases the operational involvement of tax teams. Instead of reviewing transactions retrospectively, tax becomes embedded in real-time processes.
This shift requires tax departments to develop a stronger understanding of data flows and system configurations. It also creates an opportunity to improve transparency and control over transactional data, which can support broader compliance and reporting objectives.
5) Strategy
What role do data analytics and real-time reporting play in an advanced e-invoicing strategy?
Data analytics and real-time reporting enable you to monitor transaction flows, identify anomalies, and respond to issues as they arise.
Real-time reporting also aligns with the direction of many regulatory frameworks, which increasingly require immediate or near real-time submission of transactional data. Organisations that invest in these capabilities will be better positioned to adapt to future requirements.
How does KPMG define an effective e-invoicing strategy?
An effective e-invoicing strategy creates a setup where compliance, technology, and internal processes work together seamlessly, while remaining flexible enough to adapt to future regulatory changes. This means combining a provider with broad regulatory coverage, scalable integration architectures, and governance structures that support cross-functional collaboration.
At the same time, a good strategy should ensure strong data visibility. Organisations need to be able to access and analyse invoice data in a consistent and reliable way, both to support compliance and to improve operational control.
What e-invoicing trends should companies be aware of, and how can they prepare?
One of the most significant trends is the continued expansion of clearance and real-time reporting models. More and more jurisdictions are moving towards systems where invoices must be validated or reported before they are considered legally valid.
Another trend is the increasing standardisation of formats and networks, particularly in regions adopting frameworks such as Peppol.
To prepare, organisations should focus on building flexible architectures that can accommodate different regulatory models, as well as investing in data quality and governance.
What are the most important steps businesses should be taking to improve readiness?
The first step is to gain visibility into existing processes and data flows. Without this, it’s difficult to assess readiness or identify gaps.
Organisations should also establish cross-functional teams, combining tax, finance, and IT expertise, as this will ensure more effective decision-making and implementation.
Finally, selecting the right technology partners is critical. Providers that offer strong regulatory coverage, reliable integrations, and ongoing support can significantly reduce the complexity of e-invoicing migration and transformation projects.
