zugferd: the future of invoicing with pdf
TRANSCRIPT
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The future of InvoicingPDF Technical Conference 2015, San Jose (CA)
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing2
Why this talk2015: 42+ billion E-Bills/E-Invoices worldwide
Brazil: > 90%Mexico: > 75%Europe: about 28% (North: > 40%)Study for a handful of European countries: 75% e-Invoices are PDF
Australia: 50 competing solutionsAfter several years: only up to 10% adoption rate of eInvoices
Europe: 10,000 ERP / Accounting systems:But can they talk to each other?
Directive 2014/55/EU100,000 agencies and administration need to use “a certain standard” by the end of 2018No PDF/R allowed, but either XML or PDF + XML45% - 65% of businesses are suppliers to the public sector
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
Agenda
• Portable Document Format (PDF): focus on PDF/A and PDF/UA• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): focus on XML standards• ZUGFeRD: builds on top of the PDF/A-3 and the CII standard
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing4
The Portable Document Format (PDF)
An “umbrella” of StandardsPDF/A: Long-term preservationPDF/UA: Universal Accessibility
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing5
PDF: an umbrella of standardsPDFPortable Document FormatFirst released by Adobe in 1993ISO Standard since 2008ISO 32000
PDF/Eengineering
Since 2008
ISO 24517
PDF/VTprinting
Since 2010
ISO 16612
PDF/Xgraphic arts
Since 2001
ISO 15930
PDF/Aarchive
Since 2005
ISO 19005
PDF/UAaccessibility
Since 2012
ISO 14289
Related:• XFDF (ISO)• EcmaScript (ISO)• PRC (ISO)• PAdES (ETSI)
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing6
Focus on PDF/AISO-19005
Long-term preservation of documentsApproved parts will never become invalidIndividual parts define new, useful features
Obligations and restrictionsMetadata: ISO 16684, eXtensible Metadata Platform (XMP)The document must be self-contained: All fonts need to be embedded No external movie, sound or other binary filesNo JavaScript allowedNo encryption allowed
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing7
Three standardsPDF/A-1 (2005)
based on PDF 1.4Level B (“basic”): visual appearanceLevel A (“accessible”): visual appearance + structural and semantic properties (Tagged PDF)
PDF/A-2 (2011)Based on ISO-32000-1Features introduced in PDF 1.5, 1.6, and 1.7: Added support for JPEG2000, Collections, object-level XMP, optional content Improved support for transparency, comment types and annotations, digital signaturesLevel U (“unicode”): visual appearance + all text is in Unicode
PDF/A-3 (2012)Based on PDF/A-2 with only 1 difference: attachments do not need to be PDF/A
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing8
PDF is a binary format
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing9
XMP metadata in plain text
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing10
Fonts are embedded
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing11
Verify comformity…
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing12
There’s more!
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing13
Focus on PDF/UAISO 14289 (2012): AccessibilityImportant in the context of Section 508Requirements:
Tagged PDF Complete tagging of “real content” in logical reading order Tags must correctly represent the document’s semantic structures Other content is marked as “artifact”Problematic content is prohibited (e.g. undesired color contrasts)Graphics must include alternative text descriptionsFonts must be embedded and text mapped to UNICODE
PDF/UA complements WCAG 2.0PDF/UA is compatible with PDF/A
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing14
Accessible PDF?
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing15
Structure and semantics
title
list item
list item
list item
Label Content
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing16
How to read this chart?
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing17
Structure of the data
Person 2 1.7 1.4 1.3 1.9 2.1 0.8 2.2 1.8 1.6 1 1.4
Position 3 2.3 2 1.8 3.2 3.9 2.1 3.1 3.2 2.3 2 2.1
Risk
Man
agem
ent
Stru
ctur
ed F
inan
ce
Mer
gers
& a
cqui
sitio
ns
Gove
rnan
ce &
Inte
rnal
Co
ntro
l
Acco
untin
g O
pera
tions
Trea
sury
ope
ratio
ns
Man
agem
ent I
nfor
mati
on &
Bu
sine
ss D
ecis
ion
Supp
ort
Busi
ness
Pla
nnin
g &
Str
ateg
y
Fina
nce
Cont
ributi
on to
IT
Man
agem
ent
Com
mer
cial
Acti
vitie
s
Taxa
tion
Func
tiona
l Lea
ders
hip
Resolve
abbreviations
What goes into
rows / columns?
Make info color
independent
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing18
Structure of the dataPerson Position
Functional Leadership 2 3
Risk Management 1.7 2.3
Structured Finance 1.4 2
Mergers & Acquisitions 1.3 1.8
Governance & Internal Control 1.9 3.2
Accounting Operations 2.1 3.9
Treasury Operations 0.8 2.1
Management Information & Business Decision Support 2.2 3.1
Business Planning & Strategy 1.8 3.2
Finance Contribution to IT Managemen 1.6 2.3
Commencial Activities 1 2
Taxation 1.4 2.1
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing19
Applied to invoices
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing20
PDF/UA: verification?
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing21
PDF for invoices?Yes, because humans like PDF:
PDF Viewers are ubiquitousPDF is already the most widely used format for exchanging documentsPDFs are easy to copy, share, file,…PDF/A ensures long-term preservation: the visual representation remains identicalPDF/UA makes invoices accessible to all
No, because machines struggle with PDF:Parsing PDF isn’t trivial (and not all business software is PDF-aware)Not all PDFs are digitally born (scanned pages; OCR)Tagged PDF isn’t well-suited to store the semantics of an invoiceHumans want human language (“English”); machines need encoded data (“en-US”)
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing22
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
electronic business XML (ebXML)Uniform Business Language (UBL)Core Components Library (CCL)Cross Industry Invoice (CCI)
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing23
EDIRequires:
bilateral agreementsSoftware that Shapes the data the way the receiver expects itParses the data following the rules the sender used to provided it
Cost is only justifiable for large corporations with a large volume of invoices
How to reduce this cost? Introduce and use standards!
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing24
Electronic Business XML (ebXML)1999: Electronic Business XML initiative
United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT)Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS)
2004: ISO 15000Part 1: ebXML Collaborative Profile AgreementPart 2: ebXML Messaging Service SpecificationPart 3: ebXML Registry Information ModelPart 4: ebXML Registry Services Specification
Part 5: building blocks representing general types of dataISO 15000-5:2005: ebXML Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS)ISO 15000-5:2014: ebXML Core Components Specification (CCS)
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing25
Universal Business Language (UBL)Developed by OASIS in full conformance with CCTSFoundation for successful international frameworks such as ePrior, PEPPOL,…An XML-only specificationData model isn’t normative
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing26
Core Components Library (CCL)UN/CEFACT released several versions of a Core Components LibraryAlso based on ISO 15000-5:2005CCL = repository of easily reused business data components
Templates describing a postal address, tax information, payment information,…Syntax-independent (other formats than XML are possible)Resulted in ISO 15000-5:2014 (normative)
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing27
Cross Industry Invoice (CCI)UN/CEFACT:
Used CCS and CCL to create specific business document models: Cross Industry Order: CIO Cross Industry Order Response: CIOR Cross Industry Invoice: CIIAll models are syntax-independent (common language; mutual agreements on format)
European Committee for Standardisation (CEN):Created different Message User Guides (MUG)E.g. the Core Invoice Data Model MUG, derived from the CII standardCEN Workgroup Agreements about 100 field types related to invoices: CWA 16356-1: setup CWA 16356-2: content CWA 16356-3: data structures
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing28
ZUGFeRD: PDF/A + CII
A single invoiceFor humansFor machines
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing29
ZUGFeRD: closing the gapZentraler User Guide des Forums elektronische Rechnung Deutschland (June 2014)
Developed by FeRD (Forum elektronische Rechnung Deutschland) founded in March 2010Based on PDF/A-3: Archiving + AttachmentImposes an XML schema based on CII
Goal: electronically exchange invoicesReduce invoicing costOptimize processing costFor humans as well as for machinesFor SMEs as well as big corporations
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing30
ZUGFeRD profiles
BASICData fields (structured data)Free text fields
COMFORTData fields (structured data)Free text fieldsQualified free text fields (Tagged information)
EXTENDEDAll of the above and more…
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing31
Basic profile: free text
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing32
Comfort profile: qualified text
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing33
Basic profile: line items
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing34
Comfort profile: line items
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing35
XML in ZUGFeRDRequirements ISO 15000-5:2014 Core Component Specification
Definition of semantic requirements
Semantics
UN/CCL 13BUNECE Core Components LibrarySemantic component library (e.g. buyer)Including the definition of used codes
CCBDA 1.0 UN/CEFACT Core Components Business Document Assembly:Set of rules on how to build a semantic message data modelZUGFeRD data model:Applying cross industry invoice and MUG rule setfor profiling (CEN CWA MUG)
ZUGFeRD DM
SyntaxNDR 2.1 Naming and Design Rules:
Set of rules to create an XML schema out of the data model
ZUGFeRD schema:• A single schema for Extended, Comfort and Basic• Code lists are published separately
ZUGFeRD schema
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing36
PDF/A-3 and ZUGFeRDSpecific XMP extension schema for ZUGFeRD with identification of profilePDF/A-3 gives visual representation of invoice that is human-readable
Level of conformance doesn’t matterInvoice data is imbedded as XML in the PDF/A file: 1 document = 1 invoice
Name of the file must be “ZUGFeRD-invoice.xml”Mime-type text/xml; encoding UTF-8Relationship: “Alternative”Params must at least contain a ModDateOther attachments (e.g. “Data”) are allowed
© 2015, iText Group NV, iText Software Corp., iText Software BVBA
The Future of Invoicing37
BenefitsSave costs on printing, envelopes and postageNo need to copy, scan, OCR invoices (less errors)Approval process can be done digitally (*)Faster processing = faster payment?No need to file invoices as paper documentsDifferent software systems only need to understand a single format (choice!)SMEs can meet requirements of large corporations without former agreementMails with ZUGFeRD attachment could be detected and filed automaticallyBanks could read ZUGFeRD invoices and process them immediately…