In April this year, the Austrian Parliament passed a new law which will force any organisation working with the federal Austrian government to use e-invoicing, via a dedicated Government portal. 

The portal will force suppliers to deliver structured e-invoices for all goods or services delivered.  So Austria is joining the growing number of EU Governments mandating the use of e-invoice portals (a move pioneered in Scandinavia). 

One potential issue is that the majority of these portals are proprietary – meaning that different formats may have to be used when dealing with different Governments.  This seems to be in conflict with the upcoming EU e-invoicing directive that is expected to come into effect next year.

It will be interesting to see how these fragmented, country-specific moves to e-invoicing will resolve themselves into more coherent, unified solutions.  But one thing is certain – the drive towards e-invoicing is becoming unstoppable.

There’s more about Austria’s move here: http://eeiplatform.com/7889/austria-mandates-structured-e-invoicing-as-from-1-january-2014/