At the initiative of the Minister Olivier Chastel and the Secretary of State Hendrik Bogaert, the Belgian federal authorities this week received their first electronic invoice.
This electronic invoice was not a PDF e-invoice, but an e-invoice whose data were delivered to the federal e-invoicing platform using the UBL (Universal Business Language) standard. This should allow a very significant reduction in processing time which has obvious advantages in terms of efficiency, both for the government and the supplier.
The non-PDF UBL e-invoice was sent by Electrabel via “Mercurius”, which is a centralized platform for receiving electronic invoices. Electronic invoices received via this platform are automatically integrated into Fedcom, the accounting system of the Belgian Federal Public Services.
Receiving the first electronic bill marks the official launch of the pilot phase of this project enabling suppliers to digitally transmit their invoices to three Federal Public Service (FPS Budget and Management Control, fedict and Chancellery). At the end of the pilot phase and after an evaluation, this project will be gradually extended to other federal departments and suppliers.
Parallel and to make life easier for suppliers, a protocol was signed with the Regions to enable businesses to use the same single platform regardless of the level of power of the invoice recipient. Note that providers transmitting only few bills (SMEs …) have not been forgotten: a portal has been developed allowing them to pass their bills electronically.
