Business Networks Remove Friction from Global Commerce While Adhering to National Electronic-Invoicing Standards
At a time when business-to-business commerce can be orchestrated with the touch of a screen, buying and selling across geographic borders has become increasingly frictionless.
But what happens when the bill comes due, so to speak, from local jurisdictions? How may a business transact commerce globally while adhering to an emerging set of electronic-invoicing requirements that differ among countries?
Global visibility across multiple tiers of the supply chain
As global supply chains weather shifting tariff policies, geopolitical tensions, and climate events, business leaders have turned to cloud-based business networks to instill operational resilience, extend transparency, and foster collaboration. The convergence of data, applications, and artificial intelligence capabilities enable businesses to manage supply chains, procurement, logistics, asset maintenance, working capital, dynamic discounting, and other crucial interdependencies with comprehensive reach. Yet just as digital platforms foster connected commerce, they also facilitate regulatory oversight of the very same activity. That which simplifies business processes can at the same time invite complexity in the regulations governing them, particularly when the fine print varies by jurisdiction. Call it a paradox of procurement, or an irony of the intelligent enterprise.
The proliferation of legislation mandating electronic invoicing reflects a desire on the part of governments to bolster tax compliance, streamline financial reporting, combat fraud, and document the ethical sourcing of product components. To aid with compliance in the jurisdictions where they transact, SAP Business Network can support buyers and suppliers alike with the necessary workflows for invoice generation, submission, receipt, and storage—all while safeguarding otherwise confidential data. Our electronic-invoicing strategy prioritizes business-to-business collaboration by providing localization support for 41 countries, tailoring requested data to required format, and connecting businesses directly with trading partners and tax authorities. SAP Business Network can integrate seamlessly with government electronic-invoicing portals through partners as well as through SAP Document and Reporting Compliance.
Electronic-invoicing capabilities take shape around emerging legislation
Already in 2026, new electronic-invoicing mandates have taken effect in Belgium, Brazil, and Poland, with the United Arab Emirates and France set to follow suit later in the year. Though it takes shape differently around the world, the trend toward electronic invoicing is unmistakable. Requirements range from periodic reporting to continuous transparency, from preapproval of transactions by tax authorities to notification after the fact, from country-specific formats to continent-wide platforms, and so on. In India, Malaysia, and Romania, for example, suppliers must clear invoices with tax authorities, whereas in Belgium, Germany, and Japan invoices must conform to a particular format. In France and the United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, a specific platform or network must be engaged. Italy requires businesses to issue and receive invoices via its Sistema di Interscambio (SDI) platform, using a country-specific XML format called FatturaPA. By contrast, Germany permits UBL, CII, and ZUGFeRD formats but takes an ambivalent approach as to method of transmission.
For each of these countries, SAP Business Network can provide a solution. Connectivity to Italy’s SDI portal is natively embedded, obviating any need for additional licensing. For Germany, invoices sent through SAP Business Network arrive in the UBL format. Organizations with a license for the cloud edition of the SAP Document and Reporting Compliance solution can even receive invoices originating outside SAP Business Network, such as via e-mail or the pan-European Peppol procurement system.
Not only can SAP Business Network accommodate the different formats set into law, but other invoicing attributes as well. Consider the obligation to archive. In Germany, invoices must be kept on hand for eight years. In France, it’s a decade. Elsewhere, mandates vary or may not apply. SAP Business Network offers the flexibility to match business rules, or the parameters set by organizations within which transactions may proceed with trading partners, to all manner of regulatory requirements. This can prove especially valuable with orchestrating documents and processes that span sourcing, procurement, and finance—corporate functions that, prior to the advent of cloud-based networks, had often operated in relative isolation. SAP Business Network can also provide businesses with the end-to-end visibility and—equally important—the analytics to assess performance, gauge against benchmarks, and identify opportunities for growth and collaboration.
For the emerging set of electronic-invoicing mandates across the globe and other compliance-related processes, businesses must prepare. That’s because no matter where commerce takes place or in which local currency, C-suite leaders understand one thing is priceless: peace of mind. Only a cloud-based network supple enough to carry out operational processes on a global scale yet sufficiently nimble to adhere strictly to electronic-invoicing requirements and other regulations that typically arise on a national level can instill the confidence that businesses need to thrive in these turbulent times.
Learn how SAP Business Network can accelerate value for suppliers by streamlining business processes, increasing visibility, and connecting to new buyers.
Jörn Keller is executive vice president and chief product officer for SAP Business Network.
