Facturation électronique en Finlande : loi 241/2019, EN 16931 et liste de contrôle de la mise en œuvre

An e-invoice is an electronic invoice sent in a structured format, qui est transférée directement de l'émetteur's system to the recipient's system without manual processing.

An e-invoice is not the same as an email invoice or a PDF invoice. The key difference:

• E-invoice: structured data (e.g., Finvoice, TEAPPSXML, Peppol BIS), machine-readable
• PDF invoice: an image of an invoice, requires manual processing or OCR reading
• Email invoice: PDF as an email attachment – does not meet the requirements of an e-invoice

The Act on Electronic Invoicing for Contracting Entities and Businesses (241/2019) came into force on April 1, 2020. It is based on EU Directive 2014/55/EU.

The key content of the law:

• Invoices sent to the public sector (state, municipalities, joint municipal authorities) must be e-invoices
• The recipient must be able to receive e-invoices compliant with the EU standard (EN 16931)
• A business has the right to receive an e-invoice from another business upon request
• The law does not yet mandate all secteur privé invoicing to be e-invoices, but the direction of development is clear

EN 16931 is the common EU standard for the data content of e-invoices. It defines what information an e-invoice must contain and in what format.

In practice, EN 16931 means that a Finnish e-invoice is compatible with a German, French, or Spanish system – as long as both adhere to the same standard.

In Finland, the most common e-invoice formats are Finvoice (used by banks) and TEAPPSXML (used by operators). Both are EN 16931 compliant.

1. Choose logiciel de facturation that supports facturation électronique (e.g., Eemel Invoicing)
2. Obtain an e-invoice address (OVT ID or Peppol identifier)
3. Enter into an agreement with an facturation électronique operator (or use the logiciel de facturation's built-in operator)
4. Update your invoice template to include all statutory information
5. "Test sending e-invoices to a few customers"
6. "Inform your customers of your e-invoice address and update it in TIEKE's e-invoice address directory"

• "E-invoice address not registered: customer cannot find your address"
• "Mandatory information missing from invoice template: invoice recipient rejects it"
• "VAT number not marked correctly: incorrect identifier causes problems in EU trade"
• "PDF invoice mistaken for e-invoice: PDF in email is not an e-invoice"
• "Operator agreement missing: invoice does not move through the operator network"

"A five-person renovation company received its first public sector contract from the municipality. The invoice had to be sent as an e-invoice – otherwise, it would not be accepted."

"The company implemented Eemel Invoicing, which has built-in facturation électronique:"

1. "The e-invoice address was automatically created during implementation"
2. "The invoice was sent directly to the municipality's system in Finvoice format"
3. "Payment was received in the account in 7 days (previously 21 days with paper invoices)"

"Now the company sends all its invoices as e-invoices – even to private customers' electronic banks."

"This article is general in nature and is not legal advice."