Catalog of Electronic Invoice
Technical Standards in the U.S.
October 6, 2017 Federal Reserve Bank
Business Payments Coalition
TOC Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Background ............................................................................................................................................................... 1
Business Payments Coalition & E-Invoicing Work Group .......................................................................................... 2
Purpose of Document and Cautions ......................................................................................................................... 2
Electronic Invoicing – Evolution, Definitions, and Models ............................................................................................ 3
Evolution of Electronic Invoices ................................................................................................................................ 3
Participants in the P2P and O2C Processes ............................................................................................................... 4
Definition of an Electronic Invoice ............................................................................................................................ 5
The Financial Supply Chain ........................................................................................................................................ 6
The Electronic Invoice Process .................................................................................................................................. 7
Sending and Receiving Electronic Invoices ................................................................................................................ 7
Automated Sending ................................................................................................................................................... 8
Manual Sending ......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Validation and Conversion ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Delivery ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Processing ............................................................................................................................................................... 10
Implementation Models .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Electronic Invoice Technical Standards by Syntax ....................................................................................................... 12
PDF .......................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Comma Separated Value (CSV) ............................................................................................................................... 13
ANSI X12 .................................................................................................................................................................. 14
ISO 9753 / EDIFACT ................................................................................................................................................. 16
W3C XML ................................................................................................................................................................. 18
JaveScript Object Notation (JSON) .......................................................................................................................... 21
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Next Steps ............................................................................................................................................................... 22
E-Invoicing Work Group .......................................................................................................................................... 23
Appendix ...................................................................................................................................................................... 24
References ............................................................................................................................................................... 24
Glossary of Terms .................................................................................................................................................... 24
1 Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
Introduction
The purpose of the Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S. is to lay the foundation
for the U.S. market on selecting an invoice standard to accelerate the adoption of electronic invoicing by
U.S. businesses. As this document presents, a large number of electronic invoice technical standards
exist in the U.S. market, resulting in a fragmented market and interoperability
1
challenges among the
standards. This impacts U.S. businesses negatively by driving up the complexity and operating costs
involved in sending and receiving electronic invoices.
Background
The concept of electronic invoicing has been around since the early 1970s with the introduction of
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) that allowed trading partners to exchange transactional information
for procurement, payment, and settlement. At the time, EDI was implemented primarily by large
corporations and government entities due to the high complexity and technical integration hurdles.
With the emergence of the web browser and commercialization of the internet in the 1990s, coupled
with new ways to express data, an expansion of electronic invoice syntaxes became possible.
Today, over 250
2
e-invoice service providers
3
operate in the U.S. market. They create, send, and receive
more than 15 different e-invoice formats
4
and 40+ different subsets, creating a complex and diverse
environment for electronic invoicing in the U.S.
This diversity of options creates a major barrier to adoption for U.S. businesses. The lack of
interoperability between the differing syntaxes
5
, formats, and subsets and the various service providers
and systems creates headaches for end users. Often times, U.S. businesses interested in electronic
invoicing are required to integrate directly with their trading partner’s system or join a network to which
their trading partner belongs, resulting in additional cost burdens to the business. Understanding the
diversity of the U.S. marketplace helps identify the challenges market participants face related to
interoperability, integration, and adoption and will help identify a unifying, open e-invoicing technical
standard that spans all sizes of businesses and all industry segments.
1
See Definition of Terms in the Appendix
2
Billentis, 2017 E-Invoicing / E-Billing Report
3
The term Service Providers is used to describe the vendors who offer ERP Systems, Invoice / Billing Software,
Accounting Software, Document Management Systems, Workflow Systems, Office Software, and Network
Providers.
4
See Definition of Terms in the Appendix
5
See Definition of Terms in the Appendix
C
atalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
2
Be
fore an e-invoice technical standard can be established, as called out in the U.S. Adoption of Electronic
Invoicing: Challenges and Opportunities whitepaper,
6
there is a need to catalog the current electronic
invoice (e-invoice) technical standards in use by U.S. businesses to understand the major obstacles that
exist in the current business environment. In response to the whitepaper, the Business Payments
Coalition
7
convened an E-Invoicing Work Group to accomplish this task. This paper is the result of the
effort by the Work Group.
Business Payments Coalition & E-Invoicing Work Group
T
he Business Payments Coalition consists of organizations and individuals working together to promote
greater use of electronic B2B payments and remittance data exchanges, as well as other ways to
increase B2B transaction efficiency across the Procure-to-Pay (P2P) and Order-to-Cash (O2C) processes.
A subset of members formed the E-Invoicing Work Group.
The Work Group is made up of 35 members who represent a cross section of U.S. businesses and
organizations servicing the U.S. market focused on solving e-invoicing problems in the O2C and P2P
business process. To accomplish this, the mission of the E-Invoicing Work Group is to explore and
identify opportunities to increase adoption of B2B e-invoicing by all types and sizes of U.S. businesses.
The E-Invoicing Work Group will promote unified e-invoicing standards, processes, and common
automated tools that support:
1. Originating and receiving electronic invoice information in standard, uniform syntax(es) and
semantic models that are easily integrated into existing software, platforms, and service
provider systems.
2. Identifying electronic document exchange methods and processes for transmittin
g
B
2B documents to support interoperability between software, platforms, and servic
e
p
roviders systems.
Purpose of Document and Cautions
T
his document is the work product of a group of experts representing corporations, payment operators,
standard bodies, payment service providers, and others. Its goal is to facilitate discussion with the
broader industry by framing industry challenges and business requirements and to suggest next steps to
achieve broader adoption of e-invoicing and straight-through-processing. It should be noted that certain
topics in this document have many variants and options, making thorough documentation a difficult
task. As a result, this document is intended to capture the majority of electronic invoice technical
6
https://fedpaymentsimprovement.org/wp-content/uploads/e-invoicing-white-paper.pdf
7
The Business Payments Coalition is group of volunteers from national associations, small, medium, and large
businesses, financial institutions, technology & software vendors, standards development organizations, and
consultants. The mission of the BPC is to collaborate on solving problems related to processing information
associated with B2B payments in order to promote use of electronic payments and straight-through-processing
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
3
standards in use in the U.S. market. However, the standards listed in this document are not exclusive to
the U.S., as many are in use globally, and have various versions or country specific variants. Finally, due
to the current market fragmentation, the catalog may not account for every variation that exists and in
use by market practitioners. The authors look forward to industry dialogue to refine ideas and gain buy-
in for potential paths forward.
Electronic Invoicing – Evolution, Definitions, and Models
Evolution of Electronic Invoices
As mentioned earlier, electronic invoicing traces its roots to the development of EDI. In the early 1960s,
Ed Guilbert pioneered the development of electronic message formats when computer systems
acquired the capability to exchange data. The first EDI message was transmitted in 1965 when the
Holland-American steamship line sent trans-Atlantic shipping manifests
8
. In 1968 the Transportation
Data Coordinating Committee (TDCC) was established and began to develop translation rules for existing
industry guidelines, and in 1975 the TDCC completed a set of industry standards that any company could
adopt for the purposes of exchanging transactional information with their trading partners.
9
In 1978 the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X12 committee was established and began publishing EDI
standards. By 1982 companies in the Automotive Industry and Retailers began mandating sellers to
transmit supply chain documents in EDI formats. Then in 1985 the United Nations established
UN/EDIFACT to assist with the development and global use of the EDI standard. Currently, more than
144,000 businesses use EDI (X12 or other EDI variants) in the U.S.
10
to communicate with their trading
partners or financial institutions.
The emergence of the internet browser in the mid-1990’s changed the entire landscape and provided
new ways for businesses to exchange electronic data. The introduction of new syntaxes such as Comma
Separated Value (CSV), Portable Document Format (PDF), and eXtensible Markup Language (XML) along
with new web-based software solutions and processes made it possible for businesses of all sizes to
exchange electronic business documents including invoices. Today, there are hundreds of service
providers in the market that have leveraged these technologies and offer a variety of solutions to
improve automation in the O2C and P2P processing of invoices.
8
EDI – A Brief History http://www.doc-process.com/docprocess/?p=1560&lang=en
9
The History of E-Invoicing – iPayables Blog Post http://www.ipayables.com/history-e-invoicing/
10
Implementation of GS1 EDI Standards in 2016
https://www.gs1.org/sites/default/files/docs/EDI/EDI%20Implementation%202016%20-
%20Detailed%20report.pdf
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
4
Participants in the P2P and O2C Processes
In this paper, the following terminology defines the organizational activities and process automation
enablers in the P2P and O2C processes.
1. Buyer – This is a generalized term used to describe the purchasing / procurement, receiving, and
accounts payable departments within a business.
2. Seller – This is a generalized term used to describe the sales, shipping, and accounts receivable
departments within a business.
3. Service Provider - This is the organization that enables automation of the P2P and O2C
processes. Other terms used in the market include AP automation providers, AR automation
Providers, Value Added Networks (VAN), Portal Providers, OCR vendors, AP Workflow, Network
Providers, Financial Institutions, Payment Service Provider, Electronic Invoice Presentment &
Payment (EIPP), and Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment (EBPP).
Cat
alog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
5
Definition of an Electronic Invoice
The d
efinition of an electronic invoice has evolved over time as new technologies were introduced into
the market. Currently, a number of definitions can be found including email, PDF, Optical Character
Recognition (OCR), and machine-to-machine. Two primary components must exist for an invoice to be
considered an “e-invoice”. First, the invoice information must be sent in an automated, electronic
manner from a seller. Second, the information must be in a format that is capable to be processed by
the buyer
system in an automated fashion.
Currently, in the U.S. market 25 percent
11
of invoices are sent electronically. However, few can be
considered to be true e-invoices. For example, many in the market today claim that an email is an
electronic invoice, however, the attached invoice does not contain structured data and the buyer must
manually download and / or print the invoice information for processing. Similar limitations exist when
the invoice is made available in an unstructured data or PDF format through a portal. When invoices are
delivered via fax, or the buyer needs to retrieve the invoice from their email and print it for further
processing, this approach cannot be considered a true e-invoice. To provide clarity to the U.S. market,
the e-Invoice Work Group has settled on a definition for an electronic invoice to mean “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.” Defining what a true e-invoice is critical to establish the basis for
defining a common syntax and semantics model for U.S. e-invoices.
11
Electronic Invoicing in the U.S.: Challenges and Opportunities https://fedpaymentsimprovement.org/wp-
content/uploads/e-invoicing-white-paper.pdf, June 2016
Definition of an Electronic Invoice:
“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.”
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
6
The Financial Supply Chain
The Procure-to-Pay and Order-to-Cash processes (Figure 1) are elements of the financial supply chain.
Generally, the processes outlined in Figure 1 represent the high level flows followed by businesses;
however, they may differ slightly depending on the type of purchasing (e.g. Direct Materials, Indirect
Materials, Services, etc.) and or recurring services being performed. For example, the buyer may call a
seller and purchase something over the phone without a purchase order. Or the seller may have a
contract to perform a service monthly and bills the buyer accordingly. In each of these instances, no
purchase or sales order is generated; however, an invoice is created when the seller delivers goods and
services to the buyer.
Consequently, the invoice is a vital bridge between the buyer and seller bring them together in the
financial supply chain. The invoice obligates the buyer to pay the seller, it confirms what was purchased,
at what price, the terms on when the seller will be paid, and any discounts the buyer may apply.
Accuracy of the data is critical to ensure on-time payments.
Figure 1: Procure-to-Pay & Order-to-Cash Cycles
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
7
The Electronic Invoice Process
Invoice processing (Figure 1) involves five core steps – creation, delivery, validation and conversion,
receipt, and processing. To enable these processes electronically, buyers and sellers need to coordinate
the integration and transmission of the invoice between many different systems, platforms, and
environments. The electronic invoice itself is expressed in various syntaxes, formats, data structures,
and technologies, resulting in a multitude of methods for buyers and sellers to send and receive
electronic invoices in the P2P and O2C process.
Sending and Receiving Electronic Invoices
Sellers initiate the electronic invoice process. Sellers have many options (Figure 2) to choose from to
send invoices.
Figure 2: Invoice Processing
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
8
Automated Sending
When the seller’s system has the capability to create electronic file output (e.g., cXML/EDI/etc.) for the
invoice, a file is generated automatically and can be transmitted either directly through a point-to-point
connection to the buyer or indirectly through a Service Provider using multiple protocols, including
Application Program Interface (API), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), or Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Connection. To establish a point-to-point connection, the seller must apply specific technical knowledge
to configure, test, and modify their system’s output to meet the buyer’s data format requirements.
When the seller is sending the file through a Service Provider, the Service Provider translates the file
format they receive from the seller into a file format the buyer system can accept.
Additionally, sellers can automate sending the invoice through email or fax using standard functionality
of their billing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), or accounting systems. The customer master
data is updated to indicate invoices should be sent by email or fax. For the seller, this capability
eliminates the need to perform additional configuration and testing required for file integration. It also
streamlines the transmission of the invoice and reduces the processing time and costs with printing and
mailing. However, this often results in additional manual processing on the buyer side, eliminating
efficiency gains in the overall invoice processing time. The exception to this is if the buyer has
implemented an e-invoicing solution that converts and processes PDF-A (structured, readable) files in an
automated fashion.
Manual Sending
Printing and mailing the invoice is the most common method in use by U.S. businesses. Sellers batch and
print invoices anywhere from daily to monthly. The seller then mails it to the buyer. However, there are
several other manual sending processes. Some sellers print, scan, then email or fax the invoice. Another
manual option is when the seller is asked by the buyer to send the invoice through a portal.
Portal solutions are used by both buyers and sellers. When the buyer uses a portal for invoice receipt,
sellers are required to log-in and process their own invoices. This could include uploading the invoice in
a specific format, manually keying the invoice data into a portal webpage, validating invoice data
captured through optical character recognition (OCR) software, or converting a purchase order into an
invoice (e.g. a PO Flip). In the case of a PO-flip, the buyer sends an electronic copy of the PO from their
procurement system to the portal, and the seller then converts the PO to an invoice, adding additional
data elements such as invoice number, or ship date.
When the seller uses a portal for invoice delivery, buyers are required to retrieve the invoice from the
portal. Buyers receive notification from the seller that an invoice is ready for approval. The buyer logs in
and retrieves the invoice to process in their AP software or accounting system. The invoice could be in a
CSV file, web enabled EDI file, or pdf format. Once the invoice is approved, the invoice moves to the
payment process.
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
9
Validation and Conversion
Electronic invoices not delivered through a direct connection between the seller and buyers are
processed through a validation and conversion step, where a service provider provides the connection.
Several different types of service providers enable sellers and buyers to send and receive the electronic
invoice, including Value Added Network (VAN) provider, e-Invoice provider, Portal provider, or Scan &
Capture provider (Figure 2).
The conversion from one file format to another is performed by the VAN provider or e-Invoice provider.
These types of service providers make up the “e-invoice networks” where sellers and buyers can enroll
and exchange invoices without directly connecting (from a point-to-point perspective). Portals and Scan
& Capture software facilitate data entry by automatically loading the invoice information into the AP or
accounting system for the buyer. Buyers benefit by either shifting the burden of data entry onto the
seller (in the case of a portal) or using the OCR software to capture the data from paper (or pdf) and
enter it into the AP or accounting system.
Delivery
Electronic invoices are delivered to the buyer in a structured data format, such as EDI or XML, to their
AP or accounting system. When invoices are delivered via email, fax, or sent in the mail, the buyer may
have a system (for example, in-house OCR capabilities) to help automate the data entry portion of the
invoice process.
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
10
Processing
In most cases, the invoice process ends once the invoice has been approved and readied for payment to
the seller. Exception to this are cases where dispute (such as price, quantity, quality, etc.) arise between
the invoice, the order, and what was received by the buyer. For payment to occur, the invoice needs to
be entered into the AP or accounting system. Processing time is dependent on how the invoice is
received, how it is entered, and how quickly it can be approved. Electronic invoices can be sent near
real-time and enable the buyer to process and approve invoices much faster. Electronic invoices can
initiate business rules and workflow for routing and approval, reducing the cycle time significantly from
receipt to ready to be paid over paper. For example, nearly 92 percent of invoices received electronically
are paid on time compared to only 45 percent when invoices are received in paper form and need to be
entered into the AP or accounting system by the buyer
12
.
In the financial supply chain, electronic invoice processing can be essential for effective working capital
strategies for buyers and sellers. Buyers receiving electronic invoices can develop different payment
strategies to capture early payment discounts or extend their day’s payable outstanding to settle the
invoice. Sellers who send electronic invoices can expect to receive early and on-time payments from
buyers giving them access to cash early and improving their day’s sales outstanding cycle. Sellers
sending a paper invoice are reliant on the buyer’s ability to process the invoice on time. Paper invoices
get lost, mutilated, damaged, sent to the wrong receiver, etc. and cannot be tracked until the buyer
enters them into their AP or accounting system. Sellers sending invoices through email or fax achieve
partial automation of the process, however, they suffer similar issues, with emails not delivered, not
opened, lost, waiting for someone to return from vacation, etc. All of these impact how quickly the
seller receives payment from the buyer.
Implementation Models
As previously mentioned, electronic invoicing involves the electronic exchange of the invoice data
between trading partners’ accounts receivable and accounts payable business processes and systems.
Figure 3 is an overview of organizational, technology, and legal layers a business needs to investigate
and consider when integrating e-invoices into their business processes.
12
Paystream Advisors. 2016 Data Capture and Mailroom Technology Insight Report. The 45% and 92% were
calculated by adding the invoice receipt to approval 20-30 day, 10-20 day, 5-10 day, and 1-5 day increments values
from the graph for manual data entry and invoice receipt by third-party provider.
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
11
Figure 3: E-Invoicing Implementation Models
13
From an organizational perspective, the business needs to consider the type of relationship they have
with their trading partner (consumer, business, or government), what e-invoicing model they intend to
use or are being asked to use, what type of software they use, and the business process integration that
is being considered.
From a technology perspective, the business needs to determine how the invoice will be transmitted
(i.e., what protocol and medium), the format the data will be received from or sent in (i.e., formats), and
in what message standard the invoice will be sent or received.
Underlying these are the various legal considerations that a business needs to contemplate regarding
the storage, retention, authenticity, and integrity of the invoice. This is not intended to be a one-time
event, rather, but part of the evolution of the business as it matures across the automation spectrum.
13
Cuylen, Kosch, & Breitner. Development of a Maturity Model for Electronic Invoice Processing, Electron Markets
(2016):115-127
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
12
Electronic Invoice Technical Standards by Syntax
Advancements in how computers present, express, and exchange data have resulted in six different
syntaxes
.
for electronic invoices. From each of these syntaxes, multiple formats and subsets have been
created to fit the business needs for the market segments and verticals they serve. Figure 4 depicts the
relationship of electronic invoice syntaxes and associated formats and subsets.
Figure 4: Relationship of Different Computer Program Languages and E-Invoice Syntaxes
14
14
Graphic modified from a post by Tim McGrath - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-cant-always-get-what-
want-tim-mcgrath October 2016 used with permission
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
13
This section of the catalog contains a brief description of each syntax, the associated format and subset, industry in which the format and subset
is primarily used, a description of the format and subset, and organization responsible for maintaining the format and subset.
PDF
Ubiquitous amongst industry providers, Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format used to present and exchange documents reliably,
independent of software, hardware, or operating system.
PDF invoices are commonly used as attachments to email in the market. For example, Microsoft Word and Excel have embedded invoice
templates that can be created in a PDF format, a low-cost invoicing solution for small businesses. Depending on the format of the PDF, the seller
can send the invoice as an email attachment and the buyer can process it through an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) reader or manually
open and print for input into Accounts Payable solution or accounting system.
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
PDF / A-1,
PDF/A-2, &
PDF/A-3
PDF was developed in the early 1990’s as a way to share
documents. Each format has different capabilities. For
example, PDF/A-3 allows for the embedding any
document format such as Excel, Word, HTML, CAD or
XML files.
ISO
®
32000-
1:2008
https://www.iso.org/standard
/51502.html
Comma Separated Value (CSV)
Comma Separated Value (CSV) is used for exchanging and converting data between various programs. The format is in common use with various
specifications and implementations; however, there are no formal specifications in existence. Due to the lack of a formal specification,
interoperability issues between various programs exist and usage of CSV files differ considerably among service providers. CSV files can be
constructed with or without a header line, with subsequent lines of data records. Each record can consist of one or more fields, with each field
separated by commas. Values may or may not be enclosed with double quotations. E-invoicing portal providers typically support the upload /
download of invoice information in the CSV format.
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
14
Format
Industry
Organization
Website
CSV
very common data exchange format that most
spreadsheet applications and database systems can
process. Also, many programming languages contain
N/A
N/A
ANSI X12
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X12 develops and maintains EDI supply chain message standards. Over 300+ transaction sets
exit, with 9 different invoices messages. For example, X12I Transportation transaction set has 6 invoice messages, including EDI 110 (Air Freight
Details and Invoice), EDI 210 (Motor Carrier Freight Details and Invoice), EDI 223 (Consolidators Freight Bill and Invoice), 310 (Ocean Freight
Details and Invoice), EDI 410 (Rail Freight details and Invoice), and EDI 859 (Freight Invoice). EDI 810 (Standard Invoice), 811 (Consolidated
Service Invoice / Statement), EDI 819 (Joint Interest Billing and Operating Expense Statement), and EDI 880 (Grocery Products Invoice) are
messages covered by X12F Finance transaction set. X12 also maintains a corresponding set of XML schemes to the various EDI supply chain
messages. EDI allows two organizations to exchange supply chain documents electronically, including invoices (EDI 810 messages).
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
X12
X12 maintains at least 10 different invoice messages,
including 110, 210, 223, 310, 410, 859, 810, 811, 819,
and 880. Several examples of usage include 210
Motor Freight Details and Invoice message is sent
from the carrier to the shipper to request payment of
freight charges. The 810 Standard Invoice message is
used for invoicing by sellers requesting payment for
goods and services.
ANSI X12
http://www.x12.org/
VICS
Retailers
The Voluntary Inter-industry Commerce Standard
(VICS) is used by the general merchandise retail
industry across North America. It is a subset of the
ANSI ASC X 12 national standards. VICS EDI is being
GS1 USA
https://www.gs1us.org/
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
15
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
utilized by thousands of companies, department and
specialty retail stores, mass merchandisers and their
respective sellers. In 1988 GS1 US became the
management and administrative body for VICS EDI.
UCS
Grocery and
Retail
Uniform Communication Standards (UCS) is used by
the grocery and retail oriented industries. It is a
subset of ANSI X12 standards and is used by a wide
variety of businesses including manufactures,
retailers, wholesalers, brokers, beverage (alcohol),
convenience stores, food service industries,
wholesale drug, mass merchandising, service
merchandising, and public warehousing.
GS1 USA
https://www.gs1us.org/
I/C
Industrial/Commercial Standard (I/C) is used in the
industrial sector. It is a subset of ANSI X12 and is
managed by GS1 USA.
GS1 USA
https://www.gs1us.org/
PIDX
Petroleum
Petroleum Industry Data Exchange (PIDX) Used in the
Oil & Gas Industry. The standard has broad adoption
in every continent with Operators, Sellers, and 3
rd
party solution providers. The standard addresses
specific data needs in the Oil & Gas industry that
generic B2B invoice standards do not cover such as
well name, location, field name, lease name, etc.
PIDX has EDI and XML syntaxes available for
members to use.
PIDX
International
http://www.pidx.org/
EDIX
Electronics
Electronics Industry Data Exchange (EDIX) develops
the requirements for the electronics industry.
ANSI X12
http://www.x12.org/
EAGLE
Hardware /
Houseware
An EDI standard developed for and used by the
hardware and houseware industry.
ANSI X12
http://www.x12.org/
AIAG
Automotive
Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) designs and
maintains the transaction set for the auto industry.
AIAG
http://www.aiag.org/
EASI810
Embellished
Embellished Active wear Standards Initiative (EASI) is
EASI Standards
http://www.easistandards.com/
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
16
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
Active wear
an EDI standard developed for and used in the
embellished active wear wholesalers, manufactures,
distributors, and software providers.
LEDES
Legal
Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard (LEDES) is a
set of e-billing formats to facilitate electronic data
transmission in the legal industry.
LEDES Oversight
Committee
https://ledes.org/
Proprietary
Company &
Industry Specific
Standards
Major manufacturers such as General Motors or
industry specific interest groups such as the Rail
Committee of Information Standards have
established their own set of EDI standards to be used
with their trading partners. These standards are all
based on ANSI X12.
N/A
N/A
ISO 9753 / EDIFACT
United Nations/Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (EDIFACT) is the international standard developed by
the United Nations. The work of maintenance and further development of this standard is done through the United Nations Centre for Trade
Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) under the UN Economic Commission for Europe. The EDIFACT standard provides a set of syntax
rules to structure, an interactive exchange protocol and a set of standard messages which allow multi-country and multi-industry exchange of
electronic business documents. EDIFACT is used by global Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and widely across Europe, mainly due to the fact
that many companies adopted it very early on.
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
GS1 EANCOM
Retail /
Healthcare /
Construction /
Publishing
GS1 EANCOM brings together the GS1 standards that
identify trade items with logistics units and global
location numbers (GLNs).
GS1
https://www.gs1.org/eancom
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
17
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
TRADECOMS
Retail
EDI standard primarily used by the UK retail sector.
Introduced in 1982, it was a precursor to EDIFACT.
UK Article
Number
Association (GS1
UK)
https://www.gs1uk.org
ODETTE
Automotive
The Organization for Data Exchange by Tele
Transmission represents the interests of the
automotive industry in Europe. They are the
equivalent of the Automotive Industry Action Group
(AIAG) in North America.
Odette
International
https://www.odette.org/
ITIGG
Transportation
International Transportation Implementation
Guideline Group (ITIGG) is an international group of
experts engaged in the development and
implementation of UN/EDIFACT standard messages
for electronic trading in the transport industry.
UN / EDIFACT
http://uic.org/_static/it/best/IT
IGG/main.htm
EDIFICE
High Tech
EDIFICE, is a non-profit organization that promotes
adoption and influence standards development for
global networks for B2B Integration in High Tech
industries.
EDIFACE
https://wp1.edifice.org/
EDIGAS
Gas Industry
EDIGAS is an EDI standard for the purchase, sales,
transportation and storage of gas developed by the
message and workflow design working group.
EDIG@S
https://www.edigas.org/
VDA
Automotive
Verband der Automobilindustrie, the German
Automotive Industry Association which manages a set
of EDI messages to exchange between German
automotive manufacturers and sellers.
VDA
https://www.vda.de/en.html
EDItX
Book Industry
EDItEUR is the standard used in the book industry. 2
different transaction document formats exist, with
EDItX Trade Invoice Transaction format is used by
publishers, distributers, wholesalers, and retailers.
The EDItX Library Invoice format is used by library
suppliers to libraries.
Book Industry
Study Group
(BISG) –
Commerce
Standards &
Optimization
http://www.editeur.org/88/EDI
tX-Overview/
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
18
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
working group
EDIFOR/EDITR
ANS
Transportation
EDI for the Transportation System. EDI 210 is sent
from the carrier to the shipper to request payment of
freight charges.
N/A
N/A
EDIWHEEL
Wheels & Tires
Used in the tire trade industry in Europe based
EDIFACT.
N/A
http://www.ediwheel.net/en/s
tandard.htm
W3C XML
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the standards organization for the World Wide Web. The W3C develops and manages Extensible
Markup Language (XML). XML is a defined set of rules for encoding documents in both human-readable and machine-readable formats.
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
UN/
EDIFACT-XML
UN/EDIFACT – XML is the XML version of the global
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards. The
standard is used internationally, across both the
public and private sectors, and in verticals such as
retail, transport and logistics, customs, healthcare,
agriculture and insurance. The UN/EDIFACT standard
was used by more than 100,000 entities in 2014.
United Nations
Centre for Trade
Facilitation and
Electronic
Business
(UN/CEFACT)
https://www.unece.org/cefac
t/edifact/welcome.html
Universal
Business
Language (UBL)
UBL is a series of open standards for XML based
business documents for procurement and
transportation. UBL is design to integrate into paper-
based business processes and is designed to
eliminate fax and re-keying of data in business
correspondence. UBL v2.1 was approved as an ISO /
IEC 19845:2015 standard, and current version
contains 65 document schemas. UBL can trace its
origins back to EDI standards and other derived XML
standards.
Organization for
the
Advancement of
Structured
Information
Standards
(OASIS)
https://www.oasis-
open.org/committees/tc_ho
me.php?wg_abbrev=ubl
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
19
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
XBRL
XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a
standard used to exchange business information and
is used primarily by corporations for reporting
business information such as financial results,
Security Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. XBRL is
also used in the automation of matching purchase
orders, receiving documents and invoices.
XBRL
International
https://www.xbrl.org/
ISO 20022 –
Trade Invoice
Messages
The ISO 20022 Trade Services Messages include a set
of messages Invoicing messages (tsin – trade Services
Initiation, tsmt – Trade Services Management, & auth
– Authorities) for the facilitation of invoice financing,
factoring, discounting, and invoice tax reporting.
ISO 20022
https://www.iso20022.org/tr
ade_services_standards_eval
uation_group.page
cXML
cXML (commerce eXtensible Markup Language)
Created by Ariba in 1999, is a protocol for
communication of business documents between
procurement applications, e-commerce hubs and
sellers. cXML is based on XML and provides formal
XML schemas for standard business transactions,
allowing programs to modify and validate documents
without prior knowledge of their form.
Ariba
http://cxml.org/
xCBL
xCBL (eXtensible Common Business Library) is a
collection of XML specifications (both the DTD and
XML Scheme) for use in e-business, primarily in B2B
procurement tools for buyers, order and invoice
management tools for sellers and document routing
tools for public and private marketplaces.
Perfect
Commerce
http://www.xcbl.org/
GS1/XML
Designed for information exchanged over the
internet. GS1 uses XML to create a set of standard
messages for the GS1 EDI. The GS1 XML messages
can be exchanged using any technical solution or
internet transport protocol.
GS1 / USA
https://www.gs1.org/edi-
xml/technical-user-
guide/11_Message_architect
ure
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
20
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
RosettaNet
High Tech and
Electronics
RosettaNet standards are used by the high-tech and
electronics community and have been developed to
implement industry-wide, open e-business process
standards to form a common e-business language
with the goal to align processes between supply chain
partners on a global basis.
GS1 / USA
https://resources.gs1us.org/r
osettanet
HL7
Healthcare
HL7v3 messaging standards are used to acquire
information used in the billing systems by the payer
for the purpose of aggregating financial transactions
to be submitted for claims or invoices for
reimbursement.
Health Level
Seven
International
http://www.hl7.org/
CIDX
Chemical
Chemical Industry Data eXchange CIDX was a trade
association and standards body focused on realizing
transactional efficiency throughout the global
chemical industry supply chain. At the end of 2008,
CIDX transitioned its standards and operations to the
Open Application Group, (OAGi) and the American
Chemistry Council’s Chemical Information Technology
Center (ChemITC).
Open
Application
Group (AOGi)
http://www.oagi.org/dnn2/
PIDX
Petroleum
Used in the Oil & Gas Industry. The standard has
broad adoption in every continent with Operators,
Sellers, and 3
rd
party solution providers. The standard
addresses specific data needs in the Oil & Gas
industry that generic B2B invoice standards do not
cover such as well name, location, field name, lease
name, etc. PIDX has EDI and XML syntaxes available
for members to use.
PIDX
International
http://www.pidx.org
OAGIS
Open Applications Group, inc. (OAGi) develops cross
industry standards and established the Open
Applications Group Integration Specifications
(OAGIS).
Open
Application
Group (AOGi)
http://www.oagi.org/dnn2/
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
21
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
Proprietary
Company &
Industry Specific
Standards
Proprietary standards developed by Software,
Enterprise Resource Platforms (ERP) for the purpose
of exchanging data, documents, etc. For example,
SAP
®
uses iDocs (Intermediate Document) as format
for business transaction data transfers. iDocs can be
used by Non-SAP systems as a standard interface for
data transfers. This has become a de facto standard
due to its market share. The document is similar to
XML, but differs in syntax.
N/A
N/A
JaveScript Object Notation (JSON)
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is syntax for storing and exchanging data. Similar to XML, JSON is a self-describing, human readable syntax,
structured in hierarchical fashion, and is easily parsed in many different programming languages. The main difference between XML and JSON is
JSON can by parsed by a standard JavaScript function, whereas XML has to be parsed with a XML parser. In the case of a structured document
such as an invoice, JSON can be faster and easier for the programs to process the data.
Format
Industry
Description
Organization
Website
UBL2.x
Universal Business Language (UBL)
Technical Committee has developed a JSON
version of the UBL specification.
OASIS
https://www.oasis-
open.org/committees/tc_home.p
hp?wg_abbrev=ubl
Proprietary
Company &
Industry Specific
Standards
Used by service providers typically through
an API to retrieve and post invoice data.
APIs may be published by the service
provider in order for others to pass invoice
data.
N/A
N/A
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
22
Conclusion
As stated earlier, the purpose of this document is to catalog the electronic invoice technical standards
used by U.S. businesses. Businesses have many different options and considerations they must choose
from in order to send and receive electronic invoices. Compounding the challenge are the many
different invoice technical standards that exist in the U.S. market. This results in in interoperability
issues to integrate with their trading partners to transmit and receive electronic invoices. To address
these issues will require a broad, coordinated effort among the many market participants. This
document helps lay the foundation to select an invoice standard for the U.S. market to accelerate the
adoption of electronic invoicing. The catalyst to do this will be the continuation of the Business
Payments Coalition E-Invoicing Work Group.
Next Steps
The Business Coalition E-Invoicing Work Group will re-convene in November 2017 and begin the work to
define an invoice technical standard and interoperability framework for the U.S. market in order to
accelerate the adoption of electronic invoices for all sizes of businesses while not disrupting current
implementations.
For further information about this project, please contact:
Todd M. Albers
Sr. Payments Consultant
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
90 Hennepin Avenue, P.O. Box 291
Minneapolis, MN 55480-0291
Email – mpls.psog.events@mpls.frb.org
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
23
E-Invoicing Work Group
The Business Payments Coalition would like to express gratitude to the following members of the E-
Invoicing Work Group for their contributions to this document. They represent a variety of financial
institutions, service providers, and other businesses:
Name
Organization
Michael Jasper
Basware
Tom Womble
CedarDocs
Ken Virgin
iPayables
Cassandra Gordon
TD Bank
Sandra Roth
J&J
Rich Urban
IFX, Inc.
Roger Hatfield
Cloud-Trade, Inc
Robert Blair
X9
Ernie Martin
Receivable Savvy
Manfred Neustifter
Rachel Quick
Greg Coulter
Cashbook
Margeet Peverelli
Cashbook
Keith Cowart
FIS Global
Candace Marton
Boost Payments Solutions
Elaine Nowak
High Radius
Charles Ellert
Verizon
Leilani Doyle
US Dataworks
Asnee Fernando
Shoptaki
Eric Froelich
Wells Fargo
Travis Lachinski
US Bank
Adam Potrykus
US Bank
Brenda Truett
Redding Bank of Commerce
James Nielsen
Atlas 44
Betsy Busby
Progressive Bank
Bryon Mauthe
Online Banking Solution
Donella Lyles
TAG USA
Stephanie Licht
Bankers Trust
Perry Wolkowitz
EIMC LLC
Pavita Murthi
US Treasury
Bo Shevchik
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Jennifer Robinson
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Chris Pfeiffer
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Patti Ritter
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
24
Appendix
References
Koch, Bruno. E-invoicing / E-Billing. Report. Billentis, June 2017. Web. http://billentis.com/e-
invoicing_ebilling_market_report_EN.htm
U.S. Adoption of Electronic Invoicing: Challenges and Opportunities. Federal Reserve Bank of
Minneapolis, June 2016. https://fedpaymentsimprovement.org/wp-content/uploads/e-invoicing-white-
paper.pdf
EDI – A Brief History, November 30, 2013. Web. http://www.doc-
process.com/docprocess/?p=1560&lang=en
Virgin, Ken. The History of E-Invoicing, February 6, 2015. Web. http://www.ipayables.com/history-e-
invoicing/
Iwicka, Ewa, & Garngard, Anders Implementation of GS1 EDI Standards in 2016.
https://www.gs1.org/sites/default/files/docs/EDI/EDI%20Implementation%202016%20-
%20Detailed%20report.pdf
PayStream Advisors. 2016 Data Capture and Mailrooms Technology Insight Report.
Cuylen, Kosch, & Breitner. Development of a Maturity Model for Electronic Invoice Processing, Electron
Markets (2016):115-127
McGrath, Tim. You Can’t Always Get What You Want. Web. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-cant-
always-get-what-want-tim-mcgrath
Glossary of Terms
Buyer Direct Model – Buyer require sellers to send invoices directly to an e-invoicing / invoice
management system.
EDI (VAN) Providers - Provide a network where EDI documents can be exchanged between business
partners typically through a mailbox service. The EDI provider connects the seller and buyer together to
enable the exchange of documents through the network.
Interoperability – Refers to the ability for computer programs to exchange data via a common set of
formats, to read and write the same file format, and to use the same protocols.
E-Invoice Providers – Provide a network where electronic invoices can be exchanged between business
partners, regardless of formats. The E-Invoice provider will map the incoming invoice file from the seller
and map the outgoing invoice file to the buyer. This process allows for the exchange of the invoice
across multiple sellers and buyers without the need to integrate directly with one another.
Catalog of Electronic Invoice Technical Standards in the U.S.
25
E-Invoice Portal Provider – Portal solution that a buyer or seller implements to enable sending or
retrieving invoices. Portals can also be built in house by the buyer or seller, which directly integrates into
their back office processes.
Format – Refers to the layout of the data. When a file is received by a computer program, the program
accepts the data as a input in a specific way, reads and processes the file, and provides an output that is
similar or an another format.
Network Model – Buyers and sellers interact through a network provider. Network provider
functionality frequently adds accounts payable and accounts receivable automation, including work
flow, approval, payment and ERP integration.
Scan & Capture Provider – Provider who recognizes key data fields on an invoice and reads the
information into a structured data file. Invoices can be received in multiple formats such as PDFs,
Scanned Images, and Emails).The file can then be fed into the accounts payable system for processing.
Seller Direct Model – Sellers distribute invoices via email, portal, or e-invoice to a buyer.
Semantics – Refers to the meaning of an instruction. For example, if you misspell the word “Enter”, it is
a syntax error. If the command is legal, however, it does not make any sense in the current context, it’s a
semantics error.
Syntax – Refers to the spelling and grammar of programing languages. Each program language defines
its own syntactical rules that control which words the computer understands, which combination of
words are meaningful, and which punctuation is necessary to be correctly structured document.
“ISO” is a registered service mark of the International Organization for Standardization.
“SAP” is a registered trademark of SAP SE in Germany and in several other countries.
Other product names and company names referenced within this document may be either trademarks or service
marks of their respective owners.
References to Third Parties and Third-Party Products or Services
The Federal Reserve Banks do not sponsor, endorse or recommend any third party or any third-party products or
services referenced within this document.