4 Reasons Why E-Archiving Should Be the Foundation for a Global E-Invoicing Strategy

Gustavo Jiménez
January 28, 2019

This blog was last updated on March 11, 2019

No global e-invoicing strategy is complete without functionality for e-archiving. In fact, far from being an afterthought or add-on, e-archiving should be at the core of any organization’s e-invoicing plans. There are a few reasons why:

E-archiving makes up a large percentage of a global e-invoicing strategy

If a government wants to audit an organization’s invoices, it accesses the e-archive. That’s where the evidence of compliance, or lack thereof, ultimately rests. It’s the proving ground for the rest of the e-invoicing strategy, so setting it up correctly goes a long way toward completing an entire e-invoicing plan. E-archiving represents probably 50 percent of an e-invoicing strategy in general.

E-archiving centralizes e-invoicing operations and consolidates fragmented solutions

With an e-archiving strategy in place, multinational companies will ultimately save money by being less vulnerable to pressure from subsidiaries or departments that want to quickly, and perhaps sloppily, deploy e-business solutions from local solution vendors. Without an archiving strategy, companies invariably end up with a fragmented archiving landscape and vendor lock-in; at that point, getting out of such relationships can be close to impossible and definitely expensive. Centralized e-archiving, then, becomes a money-saving technology component.

E-archiving provides a common architecture for all applications

Organizations that can quickly pinpoint where they store their original e-invoices can more easily trace a “compliant path” back from the archive to the different applications, service providers, trading partners, processes, product lines, and countries where e-invoices originate. Archiving facilitates the entire compliance process.

Most countries with e-invoicing require e-archiving

E-archiving is a common denominator among countries that require e-invoicing. Just about every jurisdiction that mandates e-invoicing also requires e-archiving, but with a welcome twist: Whereas e-invoicing regulations can vary wildly country-to-country and change rapidly, e-archiving mandates tend to be fairly stable and similar from one nation to another. So, it’s possible to employ a “superset” approach to country rules, which requires relatively little country-specific logic.

E-archiving should be a priority rather than an afterthought

Because it lacks some of the constant change and compliance pressure of e-invoicing, e-archiving can seem like a mere accoutrement in a global e-invoicing strategy. In fact, it is the bedrock of any successful plan.

Sovos Global Compliant eArchiving solution provides one universal, compliant e-invoice archive regardless of the number of service providers and e-invoicing software solutions a company uses. It consolidates invoices and supporting documents via a single API in more than 60 jurisdictions.

Take Action

Read more about e-invoicing and e-archiving in this comprehensive industry report from Sovos. Or contact Sovos about establishing a foundation with eArchiving solutions.

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Author

Gustavo Jiménez

Gustavo Jimenez is the Product Marketing Manager for Sovos’ e-invoicing solutions and is based in Atlanta. Gustavo is responsible for go-to-market strategy for Sovos LatAm e-invoicing solutions in countries with existing and upcoming mandates. He has more than five years of experience in e-invoicing, middleware integrations, and regulatory research. He works closely with the product management and development team as well as sales and marketing to facilitate compliance process transformations for Sovos clients. Prior to joining Sovos, Gustavo was responsible for marketing activities and strategy at Invoiceware International, a leading e-invoicing solution for businesses with operations in Latin America. He focused on the go-to-market strategy of their solutions as well as communications with the LatAm market about regulatory changes and new solutions.
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