Basware hosts e-invoicing event in Canberra, Australia
Recently Basware partnered with the Embassy of Finland in Canberra, Australia to hold an event focused on e-invoicing and enabling a greater level of global open commerce.
The breakfast event, held on Wednesday 24 August, welcomed attendees from government and private industry who took part in discussions about the way forward for e-transactions both overseas and in Australia.
Giving the opening presentation was Basware’s CEO, Ilkka Sihvo, who was in Australia visiting customers and staff. Ilkka provided an overview of the global e-invoicing landscape, including current volumes, breakdown by industry and the outlook for the near future of e-invoicing adoption. Along with the retail and healthcare industry, the public sector is leading organisations with one of the highest volumes of inbound invoices.
Ilkka also provided some great background information on what constitutes a genuine e-invoice, the tangible benefits of e-invoicing and how making the switch can significantly decrease an organisation’s carbon footprint. In fact, the carbon footprint of an e-invoice is less than one third of a paper invoice! He contrasted efforts in different regions to implement e-invoice delivery and noted that Europe is still by far the most pro-active proponent of the e-invoice, with an EU wide effort to remove barriers towards adoption. The presentation ended with an explanation of the market evolution and how the public sector has really driven this development.
I then spoke about the Basware Open Network which aims to enable e-transactions around the globe. Despite the challenges to open commerce, such as trade regulations, tax compliance and currency volatility amongst others, millions of transactions are being made every minute from nation to nation and connecting with suppliers has never been more important. In Australia, Basware is actively engaging with government organisations in discussions about following Europe’s lead in mandating e-invoices between government suppliers and government organisations. Whilst Australia still has a lot of catching up to, the event was a success in connecting those with an interest in e-invoicing development in the local market, and Basware hopes this event will pave the way for a greater understanding of the need for more pro-active adoption of e-invoicing technology.
- Karri Lehtonen, Vice President of Basware Australia and New Zealand