SAP CONCUR: The solution that complies with the Certified Digitisation of Invoices

What is the certified digitisation of invoices?

The certified digitisation of invoices is the technological process of transforming a paper receipt into a digital and legal format, thus complying with the regulations defined by the local authorities (in France, the URSSAF, and in Spain, the Tax Agency, the AEAT). It is the responsibility of the authorities in each country to determine what constitutes an electronic document or copy according to published requirements. Most countries accept digital copies of paper invoices, as long as certain requirements (authenticity of origin, integrity of content, legibility and accessibility) are guaranteed. The technical measures to meet these requirements vary from one market to another. For now, the countries supported by SAP CONCUR are Japan, France and Spain. Support for additional countries to convert "paper to digital" is under development by the SAP Concur product management.

SAP CONCUR was recognised as approved digitisation software in June 2019 (regulations mainly contained in article 7 of Order EHA 962/2007). Thanks to this, many customers are currently implementing SAP CONCUR in Spain and the result is being very positive. The biggest advantage identified is the automation of the management process for both administrative staff and users without having to store paper copies. In addition, they highly value the reduction of handling times, material cost savings and compliance with the ISO 14001 environmental management standard.

How does the invoice digitisation process work?

Once it is understood what it is and before making the decision of such a transformation most companies consider the following: How does it work?

1. Capture: Users add receipts with Cancur Expense or ExpenseIT
2. Confirmation: Local digitisation rules are applied (conversion to PDF, metadata and digital signature)
3. File: The certified digital copy has been created with the stamp "certified" once the process has been completed.

The automated scanning process consists basically of three phases of document processing to ensure continuity so that the image cannot be modified: Capture of the digital copy, compliance of the digital copy with market rules (digitisation) and archiving of the copy in the system.

For Spain, the solution guarantees the complete and accurate reproduction of the documents, detailed below:

• Ensuring that no data is lost
• PDF or PDF/A-3 format (ISO 19005-3)
• The converted file includes an electronic signature based on a qualified electronic certificate. The certificate provider must use a list of EU trusted service providers (EU TSL; EU Trust-Service List).
• Record the date of creation of the electronic copy and the identification of the document and the approval.
• Recording of any amendments made to the document after conversion
• Each scanned document must be saved together with a data record containing all the necessary fields to be saved in the VAT logbook.

In conclusion, we can state that this transformation will positively benefit many sectors in your company thanks to cost savings, avoidance of manual errors, automatic checking of company expense policies and storage of paper receipts among others.

At SEIDOR, we help you to implement SAP CONCUR and the digitisation of invoices in your company. If you are already a SAP CONCUR user, the path is even easier, and at Seidor we will guide you to successfully make the transition to this wonderful digitisation in your company.