eInvoices for Austria's Shopping Queen!
Austria's largest purchasing service provider
Procurement law specialist BBG handles procurement for the public sector - and relies on automated eInvoice processing from DIG.
Electronic invoicing with a wide range of partners
As a service provider for the federal government in Austria, Bundesbeschaffung GmbH (BBG) handles procurement matters for regional authorities, outsourced companies, and institutions in the education and healthcare sectors. Electronic invoicing has been mandatory for suppliers since January 1, 2014 (pursuant to § 5 IKTKonG). However, in order to do justice to the different sizes of companies and their requirements, they can determine the type of contribution themselves.
eInvoicing via DIG's eInvoicing portal covers a maximum range of formats and transmission paths that can be freely selected by the respective company as the eInvoicing party. More than 3 billion euros in call-off volumes pass through the BBG every year, and customers have access to almost three million products and services. As a specialist in public procurement law, BBG handles all tendering work - and also provides the necessary infrastructure for the required e-billing.
Two options for eInvoice insertion
In addition to regional authorities (federal, state and local governments), it is primarily outsourced companies (private legal entities that provide government services) as well as educational and healthcare institutions that use the BBG's procurement expertise. Orders can also be placed directly with suppliers via the eShop, with the eInvoice then being sent via the BBG. Invoices are submitted electronically via the corporate service portal (USP) or via the SFTP server of DIG (secure file transfer protocol).
A suitable path to eInvoicing for every company
The basis is the registration of the supplier at the USP, whereby the BBG partner number is assigned. In addition, the company also defines here how the invoices will be introduced in the future (format, transmission route, etc.). This results in an extreme variability of combinations: In addition to ebInterface (4.3. to 6.1), invoices can also be processed in IDoc-XML, CII, EDIFACT and many other formats. All possible variants are also available as transmission protocols, such as mail, SFTP, SOAP, etc. An overview of the most important eInvoice transmission formats and protocols can be found here. These defined framework conditions are replicated into DIG's system, where the appropriate technical requirements for each company are defined for the
The eInvoice submission process has been created. Likewise, each invoicing company receives access data and details for the submission (e.g. to which e-mail address must be sent, the URL to the SFTP server, username, password, etc.). In addition, it is possible to receive invoices in special formats such as various CSV or in-house or proprietary ERP formats - these are then converted at the portal via a separate data transformation in a BBG-compatible manner.
Comprehensive substantive audit
Before the invoices are forwarded to the BBG system, they are checked on the DIG eInvoice portal. The check is split in order to optimize resources: For example, the check as to whether the BBG partner number is productive is carried out in the eInvoice portal. If it is determined that this number only has test status in the BBG system, an error message is sent to the sender. If the invoice is sent as a PDF attachment, the DIG system also checks whether the document contains content, whether the BBG partner number assigned to the sender matches the number in the invoice, whether invoices have been sent twice, and much more. In the case of invoices sent in the unified XML standard ebInterface, a check is made of the correct structure, the invoice features are also checked in accordance with § 11 UStG (German VAT Act) and the contents of the invoice are automatically checked right down to the plausibility of the values and totals. Only after these various checks is the e-invoice forwarded to the USP of the BBG, where further contents are checked automatically. This division relieves the system of the BBG and shortens the entire processing process.
Advantages for all involved
The BBG eInvoice gateway operated by DIG prevents media breaks between the individual systems and ensures continuous, automatic processing of eInvoices. This leads to a massive reduction in costs (paper and printing costs, postage and handling), a high level of process reliability through standardization and transparency. The invoice and process run is precisely documented, throughput times are massively accelerated, which enables faster payment. The BBG procurement controlling also opens up new possibilities for obtaining information.
Information on eInvoice processing
You would like to use the advantages of an eRechungsportal? We will be happy to advise you - free of charge and without obligation!
