E-invoicing for CFOs: Everything you need to know
With wider economic and pressures around mandates mounting, how can CFOs cut through the noise and identify ways to deliver real strategic value in 2025?
Without a doubt, things have rarely felt so challenging. Rising inflation, workforce shortages and increasingly complex compliance rules are combining to create a seemingly never-ending to-do list for CFOs. All the while, the resources you need to tackle these headaches are shrinking.
The key question is how to do more with less—or how can you find the golden formula to boost efficiency and cut costs, without increasing headcount? For many CFOs, the solution is simple: digitise and automate. Research published in the Financial Times shows that 75% of CFOs now view digital transformation as a strategic priority to drive growth and build financial resilience.
Why e-invoicing is a CFO priority in 2025
Of course, digital transformation is a wide category, so what should be top of your agenda? Upcoming e-invoicing mandates offer a clear and definitive answer. Across Europe, countries are introducing rules that require e-invoicing for business-to-business and business-to-government transactions.
One major driver is ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) — a European Commission initiative to modernise VAT reporting across the EU. ViDA proposes mandatory e-invoicing and real-time or near real-time e-reporting, giving tax authorities immediate access to invoice data. This move aims to close tax gaps, increase transparency and simplify cross-border trade. For businesses, it means change is coming — fast and non-compliance could lead to fines, payment delays, lost business and damage to supplier relationships.
Beyond the mandatory imperative, e-invoicing offers major operational incentives. Moving to e-invoicing can enable you to gain real-time visibility into your cash flow, providing insights that support smarter decisions around suppliers and contracts that will help to enhance financial performance.
In some cases, suppliers now offer early payment discounts to businesses that process and pay invoices before their due date. By accelerating the payment cycle, e-invoicing can help you to take advantage of discounts, improve relationships with suppliers, and even access better deals.
From the technology viewpoint, e-invoicing can form a natural step in your wider digitalisation and ERP modernisation programmes. An e-invoicing solution seamlessly integrated with your ERP and finance and accounting systems will help to streamline processes and optimise operational efficiency.
75% of CFOs now view digital transformation as a strategic priority to drive growth and build financial resilience.*
According to Financial Times research
What ROI can CFOs expect from e-invoicing?
By embracing e-invoicing, you can expect a significant return on investment:
- Cost savings:
Research suggests that switching to e-invoicing from traditional paper-based processes will unlock cost savings of between 60% and 80%. Furthermore, figures released by the EU indicate that e-invoicing will save EUR 5.28 per invoice issued and EUR 8.4 per invoice received. - Faster payments:
Automated e-invoicing can eliminate time-consuming manual data entry steps, accelerate the payment cycle, and unlock productivity gains for finance teams. Research shows that e-invoices are settled five to seven days faster than when using manual processes, and at lower cost per transaction. - Reduced errors:
Naturally, manual invoice processing carries a greater risk of human error, potentially leading to payment delays and costly remedial action. Using a more robust and reliable automated workflow minimises the risk of incorrect formatting, duplication, and similar errors. - Stronger compliance:
Integrated e-invoicing helps to ensure that every step in the Accounts Payable (AP) and Accounts Receivable (AR) process is fully documented and compliant with local and regional mandates—including audits—helping to avoid penalties and enhance business relationships. - Drives growth:
Quicker, highly automated processes enable you to handle higher volumes of invoices without having to add headcount to your finance department. Instead, your existing teams enjoy more time for value-add work, such as analysing vendor costs and implementing cost-control measures.
Opening the door to broader finance automation
With e-invoicing in place, you can build out end-to-end automated processes, such as matching and validation of incoming e-invoices against purchase orders and delivery notes, saving additional time and effort. For example, EU research reports cost savings of up to EUR 65 per purchase-to-pay cycle.
With data integration and automation, you can monitor your finances in near real time, helping to guide fact-based decision making for improved business performance.
Delfin Wellness: the real-world impact of invoice automation
To see how automated invoicing can help to optimise efficiency and cut costs, just take specialist construction company Delfin Wellness. Previously, the company processed thousands of invoices each year using manual workflows that consumed huge amounts of time and increased the risk of error. Plus, the slow process meant the company missed out on early payment discounts.
Delfin Wellness worked with Ricoh to design and implement fully digital, automated processes, tightly integrated with its ERP systems. The new workflow supports the processing, validating and archiving of invoices and enables the company to grow rapidly, without needing to increase finance team headcount.
The impact has been transformational for Delfin Wellness: improved efficiency and productivity, reduced administrative overheads, faster payments to suppliers to obtain discounts, lower error rates and simplified compliance. Plus, the company can pull data with the click of a button during auditing.
How to get started
With new mandates rapidly approaching, now is the time to review your invoicing processes and begin your journey to e-invoicing. With a systematic approach and the right e-invoicing solution, you can hit your compliance targets, streamline your financial processes, drive efficiencies and improve cash flow—helping to build a more-resilient business model for 2025 and beyond.
For more practical tips, download our step-by-step guide to make the transition to e-invoicing easier.
Let’s connect
Talk to a Ricoh expert
Transform your workplace with Ricoh’s Business solutions.
Boost efficiency, reduce costs, and accelerate your journey towards digital transformation.