Moving Forward with an E-Invoice Standard in the U.S.

Transcription

1 Moving Forward with an E-Invoice Standard in the U.S. Todd M. Albers Payments, Standards, and Outreach Group Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis 2018 Exchange Summit - Berlin

2 Disclaimer The opinions expressed are those of the individual presenters & not those of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal Reserve Bank 2

3 Todd M. Albers Senior Payments Consultant Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Federal Reserve Banks Tasked with advancing the FRS mission in payments by supporting work in standards, research, education, and other initiatives that increase the efficiency of businessto-business (B2B) transactions Standards Work: ISO Payments SEG U.S. Mirror Group to TC 68/SC9/TG01 W3C Web Payments Commerce Group OASIS Universal Business Language (UBL) & BDXR Technical Committees Provide financial services to depository institutions & U.S. government Supervise & regulate financial institutions Establish & execute U.S. monetary policy Maintain a stable financial system & contain systemic risk 3

4 Topics for our Discussion Update on Federal Reserve Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payment System Key findings from our research on e-invoicing in the U.S. Business Payments Coalition Driving Towards a Standard(s) for e-invoices 4

5 Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payment System Five strategies in pursuit of five desired outcomes 1. Actively engage with stakeholders on initiatives designed to improve the U.S. payment system. 2. Identify effective approach(es) for implementing safe, ubiquitous, faster payments. 3. Reduce fraud risk and advance the safety, security and resiliency of the payment system. SECURITY SPEED EFFICIENCY 4. Achieve greater end-to-end efficiency for domestic and cross-border payments. INTERNATIONAL 5. Enhance Federal Reserve Bank payment, settlement and risk management services to address identified gaps. COLLABORATION 5

6 Focus on B2B Payment Efficiency Specifically calls to explore the possibility of developing and implementing a standard, ubiquitous B2B electronic invoice and processing platform Exploration resulted in a whitepaper reporting on the current global activities with e-invoices, potential benefits, and the barriers to greater adoption in the U.S. market 6

7 Federal Reserve Next Steps in the Payments Improvement Journey Summarizes progress toward desired outcomes Outlines the Federal Reserve s planned next steps Serves as a call to action for all stakeholders 7

8 Next Steps Towards B2B Payment Efficiency Calls out to support industry efforts to develop and promote adoption of standards that enable end-to-end electronic processing of business invoices, payments, and remittance information. As part of the Business Payments Coalition, the Federal Reserve will support cataloging the technical invoice standards in use and a 3-year initiative to design an electronic invoice Interoperability Framework for the U.S. Market. 8

9 Key Findings on e-invoicing in the U.S. Inertia What s in place works. Business case needs to be compelling. Lack of industry led coordination, collaboration, or leadership to broaden adoption Many Integration Points Service providers and businesses have created isolated islands of e-invoicing, increasing the difficulty and expense to integrate. Interoperability No common definition of what an e-invoice is. Many different syntaxes, formats, and methods. 9

10 Business Payments Coalition Mission: Work together to solve problems related to processing information associated with B2B payments in order to promote use of electronic payments and straight through processing (STP). Participation: Formed in 2011, the coalition members consist of National group of associations, small & large businesses, financial institutions, technology and software vendors, standards development organizations and others. 10

11 What is a e-invoice in the U.S.? Business Payments Coalition e-invoice Work Group defined a electronic invoice in the Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S. E-Invoice Definition An invoice that has been issued by the seller, transmitted and received by the buyer in a structured digital format which allows for automated processing. 11

12 e-invoice Interoperability Framework Activity Plan Timeline Business Payments Coalition. Materials are not to be used without consent. 12

13 Business Payments Coalition: Themes from the Preliminary Assessment Is technically feasible for the U.S. market Invoice semantic model is important and valuable Security, trust, and privacy are Important Independent governance organization Impartial 3 rd party should lead the industry U.S. e-invoice Interoperability Framework Cost and benefits will need to be understood 13

14 Business Payments Coalition: Detail Assessment Work Group Update Semantics Completed 1 st pass through semantic model 1 o 80 to 90% of the EU semantic model is applicable to the US o Main gap identified was in the tax area (Sales and Use Tax versus Value Added Tax) Next Step: o Create a strawman semantic model for work group members to review with internal SMEs and customers over the next 4 to 6 weeks Technical Completed review of the e-delivery 2 requirements for European and Australian frameworks o No technical barriers were uncovered during the review Next Step: o create a strawman network to test the set up and configuration 1 Semantic model defines parties and roles; business functions, processes, and rules; business term, cardinality, and data type used in invoicing and invoice processing 2 Technical review of a e-delivery messaging network included identifiers, directories, messaging transport protocols, messaging envelopes, and security 14

15 Momentum? Composite of the assessment work groups 29 organizations, 48 members, and 9 countries Strong interest amongst work group members to create a North America e-invoice semantic model, based on U.S. requirements Discussions are percolating on the need for global interoperability X12 is expressing interest in the work, especially the semantic model 15

16 Questions? 13

17 Thank You! Contact me with additional questions or interest in joining the Business Payments Coalition at 14

18 Resources 15

19 Publications Federal Reserve Websites & Publications: Fed Payments Improvements Website: Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payments System (SIPS) paper Federal Reserve s Next Steps in the Payments Improvement Journey paper Business Payments Coalition Website: U.S. Adoption of Electronic Invoicing: Challenges and Opportunities paper o Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S. paper o 15

20 E-Invoicing Resources Standards: OASIS Universal Business Language: OASIS Business Document Exchange: Europe: European E-Invoicing Service Provider Association (EESPA): Pan European Procurement Online Portal (PEPPOL): Australia: Digital Business Council: 16

21 Business Payments Coalition: Workgroup Structure Federal Reserve Role 13