AR and Treasury Teams
How do organizations track e-invoice delivery and processing status in real time?
E-invoice status tracking provides visibility into where each invoice is in the delivery and processing lifecycle: sent, delivered, received by buyer's AP, under matching, approved, scheduled for payment, or paid. This visibility enables AR teams to proactively identify stuck invoices, reduces follow-up calls, and provides accurate cash flow forecasting. Peppol Application Response and PDP status APIs provide the technical basis for status tracking.
What are the key status stages in e-invoice lifecycle tracking?
E-invoice lifecycle statuses from issuance to payment:
- Sent: Invoice transmitted from seller's system to transmission channel
- Delivered: Transmission network (Peppol, PDP) confirms delivery to buyer's access point
- Acknowledged: Buyer's system confirmed technical receipt
- Under processing: Invoice in buyer's AP workflow for matching and approval
- Approved: Buyer AP approved the invoice for payment
- Disputed: Buyer raised a dispute or rejection on the invoice
- Payment scheduled: Payment date confirmed by buyer
- Paid: Payment received in seller's bank account
Frequently Asked Questions
- How does Peppol Application Response enable invoice status tracking?
- The Peppol Application Response (UBL ApplicationResponse) is a standard document that buyers send back to sellers to communicate invoice status. It can indicate: acknowledgement of receipt, acceptance (invoice approved for payment), conditional acceptance (pending clarification), or rejection (invoice rejected with reason code). Sellers' AP systems receive Application Responses via their access point and update invoice status in the ERP accordingly.
- What percentage of buyers send Application Response acknowledgements?
- Peppol Application Response adoption is incomplete. Not all Peppol participants send Application Response messages; receiving an invoice without a rejection notice does not guarantee it has been successfully processed. Businesses should not assume an invoice is accepted simply because no rejection was received. Proactive follow-up processes for invoices that have been delivered but not acknowledged within a defined period are a best practice for AR teams.