Everything you need to know about e-invoicing terminology

Not sure where to start with understanding the most important e-invoicing terms and concepts? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

E-invoicing is one of those things that eases a company’s daily business flow by digitising invoicing processes through automation and structured standards. It is an increasingly important cog in the wheel of financial management but the constantly evolving terminology can be hard to keep up with. In this blog post you’ll learn the most important terms of electronic invoicing and electronic document exchange.

Pro tip:  Feel free to bookmark this page and come back to it anytime you need inspiration and support to navigate through the terminology jungle of e-invoicing.

List of e-invoicing terminology in A-Z

AvtaleGiro

A Norwegian direct debit service allowing automatic payments of bills and invoices.

API documentation 

A set of documents providing details about how to interact with an application programming interface (API). We’re particularly proud of our own free and public API documentation, which you can check out here.

Accounts payable 

The amount of money a company owes to its suppliers or creditors for goods and services received.

Business ID / BID

A unique identification number assigned to a business entity for legal and administrative purposes.

Business-to-business invoicing / B2B  

The process of issuing invoices and conducting financial transactions between businesses.

Consolidated invoicing  

Combining multiple invoices into a single statement for simplified processing and payment.

Business-to-consumer invoicing / B2C  

The process of issuing invoices and conducting financial transactions directly with individual consumers.

Credit note  

A document issued by a seller to a buyer, indicating a reduction in the amount owed due to returned goods or other reasons.

Debit note  

A debit note is separate from an invoice and informs a buyer of current debt obligations. A debit note is also a document created by a buyer when returning goods received on credit

Digital postkasse innbygger / DPI  

A Norwegian digital mailbox service for citizens to receive and manage official digital communications.

E-billing  

The electronic delivery of invoices and billing information, often replacing traditional paper-based billing methods.

E-billing address  

An electronic address used for the delivery and reception of electronic billing documents.

E-invoice address registry  

A database or system containing electronic addresses used for sending and receiving e-invoices.

E-invoice compliance  

Adherence to the regulatory and technical requirements for the electronic exchange of invoices.

E-invoice operator  

An entity responsible for facilitating the exchange of electronic invoices between parties, e.g. Maventa

E-invoice Operator ID  

An identification code assigned to an e-invoice operator for recognition and tracking purposes.

E-invoicing  

The electronic creation, delivery, and processing of invoices between business partners.

EIA (Electronic Invoice Address)  

An address used for the electronic transmission of invoices between business entities.

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)  

The computer-to-computer exchange of business documents in a structured format.

EHF (Elektronisk Handelsformat)  

The Norwegian standard for electronic invoicing and document exchange.

ELMA  

ELMA is a Norwegian electronic recipient address register of companies and public entities capable of receiving electronic documents.

Email invoice  

An invoice sent via email in a PDF or other format for payment processing. An email invoice is not an electronic invoice as it lacks structured data.

EN16931  

European standard specifying the semantic data model for the electronic exchange of invoice information. Used to streamline invoicing between the EU nations.

Enterprise Resource Planning / ERP  

Integrated software applications for managing business processes, including invoicing and financial functions.

Extensible Markup Language / XML  

A markup language that defines rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.

Finvoice  

An XML-based standard for electronic invoicing used in Finland.

Financial management system / FMS  

Software designed for managing an organisation’s financial transactions, including invoicing.

Business-to-Government invoicing / B2G  

The process of issuing invoices and conducting financial transactions between businesses and government entities.

Invoice image  

A digital representation or scan of a paper invoice, often used for archiving and record-keeping.

Kivra  

A Swedish digital mailbox service for secure and convenient receipt of digital documents.

NEA register  

A Swedish register of electronic addresses used for the exchange of e-invoices.

Nemhandel  

A Danish e-commerce platform facilitating electronic trading and invoicing.

Org nr  

Organisation number, a unique identification number assigned to businesses in Norway.

Peppol  

Pan-European electronic procurement network facilitating standardised e-invoicing.

Peppol Access Point  

A service provider connecting businesses to the Peppol network for the exchange of electronic documents. Maventa, for example, serves as a Peppol Access Point.

Peppol Directory  

A directory providing information on Peppol participants and their electronic exchange capabilities.

Peppol Network 

A secure network infrastructure supporting the exchange of electronic documents using the Peppol specifications.

Peppol Service Metadata Publisher (Peppol SMP)  

Service Metadata Publisher in Peppol is a registry that hosts the participant information: which document types are they receiving and which Peppol service provider are they using.

PeppolBIS  

Business Interoperability Specifications defining the requirements for Peppol-compliant documents.

PDF invoice  

An invoice saved in Portable Document Format, mostly used for sending and receiving invoices via email or to scanning.

Print invoice  

A traditional paper-based invoice intended for physical delivery.

Print service  

A service providing physical printing and delivery of invoices.

Purchase invoice  

An invoice issued by a seller to a buyer for goods or services purchased.

Receivables  

Amounts owed to a business by its customers or clients for goods or services provided.

REST API  

Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface, a set of rules for building web services.

Routing  

The process of directing electronic documents to the appropriate recipient or system.

Sales invoice  

An invoice issued by a seller to a buyer for goods or services sold.

Schema validation  

Checking the structure and adherence to a predefined schema of electronic documents.

Scan service  

A service providing scanning and digitization of paper documents, including invoices.

SI-UBL  

A Dutch standard for the use of UBL (Universal Business Language) in electronic invoicing.

SOAP API  

Simple Object Access Protocol Application Programming Interface, a protocol for exchanging structured information.

Svefaktura  

A Swedish standard for electronic invoicing.

TeApps  

A structured approach, known as TEAPPSXML description, developed by Tieto and utilising XML technology, is employed for the presentation of invoice messages.

UBL 2.0  

Universal Business Language version 2.0, a standard for the representation of business documents in XML.

Value-added tax / VAT  

A consumption tax added to the value of goods and services at each stage of production and distribution.

Vipps  

A Norwegian mobile payment application.

VismaUBL  

A standard for electronic invoicing developed by Visma, a software company.

XML format  

The format for representing documents in Extensible Markup Language. Psst. Did you know that Maventa can support many e-invoicing XML formats to ensure conversions from the format of your choosing to the one your recipients handle? Pretty neat!

There you have it – a comprehensive list to navigate the world of electronic invoicing terminology. We hope this post has shed light on the often complex jargon associated with e-invoicing, providing clarity on the terms you might hear tossed around the financial management forums. 

Take your understanding of e-invoicing to the next level  

Now that you have a comprehensive understanding of e-invoicing terms, it’s time to dive deeper into the world of e-invoicing. If you’re looking to learn the basics of e-invoicing, we recommend checking out our blog post, ‘What is e-invoicing? Here’s everything you need to know from basics to benefits’.