With an estimated volume growth of 26% for 2013, Billentis describes e-invoicing in Europe as one of the few growing markets.“The processed B2B volume is expected to reach around 3,350 million e-invoices this year, corresponding to 20% of all European business-to-business, business-to-government and government-to-business invoices,” says Bruno Koch, CEO, Billentis. Business-to-consumer volume is expected to reach 2,100 million, equivalent to 13% penetration.

Koch suggests that the EU Directive 2011/7/EU, which aims to combat late payments and must be transposed into national law of member states by 16 March 2013, will further boost e-invoicing volumes. Public authorities will have to pay for the goods and services that they procure within 30 days or, in very exceptional circumstances, within 60 days. Enterprises will have to pay their invoices within 60 days, unless they expressly agree otherwise.

At least 23 operators of e-invoicing networks are each expected to process more than 20 million e-invoices/e-bills this year. “For the vast majority of today’s 550 operators, the annual e-invoicing volume still lies below two million,” says Koch. “The profitability of each operator differs greatly, which is why I expect the first phase of a market consolidation to proceed. For this year, I anticipate about 15 merger & acquisition deals.” Koch also expects some 30 operators to leave the market. He points out that the past few years have witnessed a number of exits. “These are often smaller and relatively unknown providers, but there are also larger firms among them,” says Koch. At the same time, the market is still attracting new entrants, with Koch expecting up to 60 new operators this year.