B2B Buyers Call for Standard E-invoicing to Cut Errors

A Censuswide survey of 550 business buyers in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia, conducted for payments provider TreviPay, found persistent problems in order-to-cash processes despite digitization. Respondents reported incorrect invoices (30%), gaps in enterprise resource planning integration (31%), inconsistent invoice formats (31%) and delays in approval workflows (34%).

TreviPay attributes the issues to order-to-cash workflows that span multiple systems and teams. Partial automation in individual steps leaves the end-to-end process fragmented and often dependent on manual fixes when data or workflow rules do not align.

Inez Berkhof-Hollander, vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at TreviPay, noted: “Finance teams across all industries – B2B buyers and sellers alike – are under pressure. There’s a lot of pressure from a cashflow perspective. They are also very much challenged by new regulation and compliance with countries mandating how invoicing should be done.” She emphasized regulatory change as a factor in calls for clearer invoicing standards.

The survey found differences by company size. Larger organizations prioritized ERP integration, purchase controls and governance, while mid-sized firms placed more importance on flexibility and speed. On artificial intelligence, 20% of firms with 500 or more employees reported using AI to streamline processes and reduce manual tasks, compared with 9% of companies with 100 to 200 staff. Respondents also raised concerns about limited internal expertise and meeting regulatory requirements, and many reported using AI in isolated ways rather than embedding it across the order-to-cash cycle.

The findings come after the UK announced plans to require e-invoicing for all VAT invoices from 2029. Businesses responding to the government consultation highlighted the need for standardization to improve interoperability and reduce administrative burdens across borders. International frameworks such as Peppol were mentioned as reference points for a common format and technical specifications.

A TreviPay customer with operations in the Netherlands and the UK, DAF Trucks, said it is awaiting a UK decision on format before developing its own system. Alex Harris, parts sales manager at DAF Trucks, said alignment between countries would allow a single e-invoicing solution to support multiple markets. TreviPay says standardized e-invoicing and improved ERP connectivity would reduce manual interventions and speed approvals across international supply chains, outcomes buyers identified as priorities.