Over a third of big businesses in Europe are shying away from electronic invoicing because of a perceived complexity and lack of standards, according to a survey commissioned by vendor Iron Mountain.
YouGovStone polled 200 senior staff at firms in the UK, Germany, Spain and France. A fifth of respondents from France and a third of those from Spain say the current situation around e-invoicing is overly complex and confusing, and that this is a barrier to implementation.
Just over a third of respondents from the UK and Spain said they would introduce the technology if there was a standard format, rising to 40% for respondents from Germany.
Bettina Wonsag, general manager, BPM division, Iron Mountain, says: "Our research reveals that almost one in three respondents across Europe would introduce e-invoicing if there was a single standard for formatting. In the meantime, they are missing out on huge savings and efficiencies."
The vendor commissioned the research as it launches its BPM services, hoping to cash in on a need for invoice management. It claims to offer secure and structured document management, supplemented by a range of accounts payable specific services.
In December, the European Commission set out a series of actions designed to encourage broad-scale adoption of electronic invoicing by 2020 as part of its 'Digital Agenda for Europe' initiative.