A PDF invoice has a number of things in common with an electronic invoice. Both are wise environmental choices, they eliminate the printing, enveloping and postage of the paper invoice and are easy to send over the web.
But only one of them is fully digital.
While the E-invoice is full of data that can be handled electronically, the PDF invoice is a digital image only and therefore generates a large amount of post-processing for the recipient of the PDF invoice.
Extensive manual handling
Of course, a PDF invoice is significantly better than sending paper invoices, but the difference is not really that big. In terms of characteristics, a PDF invoice is almost the same as a paper invoice.Just like a paper invoice, it must be scanned and interpreted, and for the customer, receiving it involves a great deal of manual handling.
In addition to the fact that the PDF invoice must first be interpreted, either via a scanning provider or via a proprietary program, these necessary manual steps create great risks of an invoice being interpreted incorrectly.An invoice for SEK 1000 risks being interpreted as SEK 100 and a reference type ABC risks being interpreted as ABB.
What we know for sure is that an interpreted invoice contains significantly fewer information carriers than an e-invoice does. The information in an interpreted invoice needs to be validated.In addition, much must be entered into the recipient's system before the invoice can be certified and paid.
Faster payment with e-invoices
E-invoicing eliminates these types of costly errors. In the e-invoice, all information is included and correct. In fact, only the amount needs to be reconciled with the agreed price to be on the safe side. Otherwise, everything runs automatically. All the information is in the right place, so the invoice can go straight into the recipient's system.
The effect is therefore faster processing and significantly less manual time. This in turn leads to shorter payment times and the supplier receiving his money several days earlier than if the invoice had been sent as a PDF.
The Swedish Financial Management Authority (ESV) has chosen to investigate how much time the e-invoice manages to free up. According to their calculation, a time saving of 22 minutes per invoice was achieved if the recipient switches from completely manually handling the PDF or paper invoice to receiving the invoice as an e-invoice instead. ESV included a number of typical routine elements in their time calculations, such as extra work in the form of crediting, manual scanning, misinterpretation and reference errors.
The e-invoicing law
Another aspect is the 2019 E-invoicing Act, which makes electronic invoicing mandatory for transactions with public authorities. The PDF invoice is not an e-invoice. Therefore, it does not meet the legal requirement either.