B2B e-invoicing in Sweden: why invoice flows slow down growth - Superior

E-invoicing is often highlighted as a self-evident part of the future of B2B commerce. Yet, Swedish research shows that many companies still work with manual or semi-manual invoicing processes. This leads to unnecessary administration, slower payments, and a poorer purchasing experience for business customers.

E-invoicing in Sweden: a divided reality

According to the Network for Electronic Business, NEA, approximately 860 million invoices are sent each year in Sweden. In the public sector, e-invoicing is already the standard, while private B2B companies lag significantly behind in digital maturity.

At the same time, analyses from Qvalia show that the introduction of e-invoicing is rapid when clear standards like PEPPOL are used, especially in the public sector and larger organizations.

Why invoicing has become a competitive issue

Invoicing is no longer an administrative after-process. It is part of the customer journey. When the checkout and invoicing process do not connect, friction arises in the form of manual steps, incorrect information, and longer payment times.

Gartner shows that a majority of B2B buyers today prefer to complete the entire purchase digitally, without contact with a seller. Suppliers who make the process complicated are eliminated early.

What modern B2B payment solutions need to solve

For e-invoicing to work in B2B e-commerce, corporate identification, payment, and invoice distribution must occur in a coherent flow. When this happens in real-time, administration decreases and payments are processed faster.