B2B Buyers Demand E-Invoicing Standards to Cut Invoice Errors
A Censuswide survey of 550 B2B buyers in five countries found incorrect invoices, limited ERP integration and approval delays, with buyers calling for common e-invoicing standards.
A Censuswide survey of 550 business buyers in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia, conducted for payment platform TreviPay and published in May 2026, found persistent friction in the order-to-cash process. Respondents reported incorrect invoices (30%), limited enterprise resource planning integration (31%), inconsistent invoice formats (31%) and delays in approval workflows (34%).
TreviPay said many order-to-cash processes span several systems and teams. While individual steps may be automated, the company reported that data and format mismatches often force manual fixes and slow payments.
Inez Berkhof-Hollander, vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at TreviPay, highlighted pressure on finance teams from cashflow demands and new invoicing rules. “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 commented.
The survey comes as the UK plans to require e-invoicing for all VAT invoices from 2029. Businesses that responded to the UK consultation raised standardization as a priority for rollout, saying shared technical formats can improve interoperability and ease cross-border trade. Peppol, an international framework with a common set of specifications for electronic documents, was frequently mentioned by respondents as a reference model.
A manufacturer operating in the Netherlands and the UK described how a shared standard would simplify its systems. Alex Harris, parts sales manager at DAF Trucks, said the company is awaiting the UK format decision and will adapt its systems accordingly: “We’re waiting for the UK authorities to decide exactly what the direction is in terms of the format, then we will incorporate that into our development.” DAF Trucks uses TreviPay for centralized billing and to offer customers a single credit line and nationwide invoicing options.
The survey showed differences by company size. Larger organisations placed more emphasis on ERP integration, purchase controls and governance, while mid-sized firms prioritized flexibility and speed. On artificial intelligence, 20% of respondents from companies with 500 or more employees said they were looking to use AI to streamline processes and reduce manual tasks, compared with 9% of firms with 100 to 200 staff. Nearly all participants reported concerns about limited internal AI expertise and meeting regulatory requirements.
TreviPay identified a gap between using AI for specific tasks and embedding it across the entire order-to-cash cycle. The company said narrower, tactical AI use often fails to deliver consistent improvements across invoicing, approvals and reconciliations.
Survey participants and vendors said standardised e-invoicing formats, improved ERP connectivity and clearer regulatory guidance would reduce administrative workload and lower cross-border friction. Respondents operating in multiple jurisdictions said harmonised standards could let them consolidate billing systems and cut duplicated development work, while finance teams expected fewer invoice disputes and faster cash conversion when formats and data flows were consistent.
