e-Invoice formats in Finland

The European e-invoice, or e-invoice standard, refers to the standard published by CEN (European Committee for Standardization). The European e-invoice standard is also referred to as a semantic model. The official name of the standard is EN16931.

In an e-invoice based on a semantic model, there are core elements that must always be included in every electronic invoice. Then the e-invoice can be transmitted from one system to another without altering any essential information.

The Europesn standard is independent from technical and commercial ties and takes into account the specific needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as of procurement authorities.

The standard can be obtained free of charge from the SFS (Finnish Standards Association) website.

More information about the standard is available from the EU.

Usage of the European e-invoice requires the use of code lists approved by the EU. Information on the code lists can be found on the EU commision website.

The e-invoice law states that contracting entities are obliged to accept and process electronic invoices. On the other hand, ccontracting entities and private companies both have the right to request electronic invoices from another contracting authority or private company.

An electronically formatted invoice refers specifically to an e-invoice adhereing to the European e-invoicing standard.

The law on electronic invoicing for contracting authorities and economic operators is available in Finnish on FINLEX.

In Finland, there are two national e-invoice formats: Finvoice and TEAPPSXML. The latest versions of the Finnish e-invoice formats, Finvoice 3.0 and TEAPPSXML 3.0, follow the semantic model compliant with the European e-invoice standard.

Finvoice is a common presentation format for e-invoices used by banks. Finvoice guidelines, technical files, and descriptions can be found on the website of Finance Finland.

Older versions of the Finvoice format (1.3 and 2.0) are still in use, but these versions do not meet the requirements of the European e-invoice.

There are also industry-specific implementation guidelines available for Finvoice.

The Finvoice format is used only in the so-called Finnish bank network, where banks transmit e-invoices between bank customers.

The TEAPPSXML format is an e-invoice format developed by the TietoEVRY Corporation.

The TEAPPSXML format is in use for e-invoice exchanges between e-invoice operators. When an e-invoice is sent to a bank’s customer, the e-invoice operators convert the invoices to the Finvoice format.

The TEAPPSXML and Finvoice formats are fully compatible.

More information is available on the TietoEVRY website.