An invoice may be a sales or a purchase invoice, depending on whose perspective it is viewed. It is a document issued by a seller to a buyer to indicate that money is owed by the latter for products or services that the former has rendered.

Invoices are usually paper-based to address the need for maintaining paper records. But electronic form of billing, or electronic billing, is already gaining acceptance in industries, mainly as a response to the incessant chorus on becoming more environment-friendly and the growing concern over climate change.

Electronic billing allows invoices to be transmitted electronically over the Internet. An electronic billing system usually sends out an email to a client directing him to a secure website. Using his password, the client will be able to access and download, control and archive his company’s electronic invoices. Invoice data are current and may be available in several formats. TNT, the global express service provider, offers einvoices in PDF and CSV among others; XML format will also be available by the end of the month.

TNT has been offering secured electronic invoicing service to TNT clients worldwide since January 2006. In the Philippines, e-invoicing has been in use since October of 2006.

But while electronic billing saves time and gives a high-level of efficiency, increasing incidents of fraud over the Internet pose a serious challenge. Says Jose Luis Romero-Salas, TNT Express Philippines Country General Manager, "With Internet fraud on the rise, customers ask for legally recognized techniques that authenticate the source of invoices and protect the integrity of documents." Thus, the introduction of the digital signature to TNT’s e-invoicing.

With "Express Invoicing," TNT Express takes electronic invoicing a step further through the addition of the digital signature feature. Beginning this month, the service becomes available, free of charge, to TNT clients in more than 30 countries. This includes most of Europe, Australia, Singapore, Hong-Kong, South Africa, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. TNT Philippines will immediately follow suit for the local implementation of the digital signature.

E-invoicing allows TNT clients to efficiently receive their invoice data on time, thereby shortening the invoice-to-payment time. "When clients can immediately get hold of their invoice data, they are able to accomplish their accounting before the monthly cutoff. This saves time and invoicing costs. It also reduces manual efforts in recording, checking and archiving large volume of transactions," Romero-Salas stresses.

The benefits of e-invoicing go beyond efficiency in the management of accounts-payable. Reduction in the use of paper in invoice issuance means more trees are saved. Romero-Salas explained that e-invoicing is already in use in 37 countries around the world, including the Philippines, and that ten other countries are preparing to introduce the paperless invoice in 2008. With the numbers, TNT estimates that it could eventually eliminate up to one million paper invoices a month.

TNT’s e-invoicing effectively addresses clients’ need for efficiency in invoicing operations, while pitching in to the endeavor of caring for the environment. With the addition of the digital signature through Express Invoicing, TNT addresses another client need: The need for greater security and protection. "Our plan to introduce digital signature through our Express Invoicing offers the convenience and efficiency of electronic billing with a high level of security," says Romero-Salas.