E-Invoicing Could Unlock Nearly £9 Billion for the UK Economy, Avalara Finds

• New global research from Avalara and Cebr reveals the transformative power of electronic invoicing adoption in the UK and across five other major markets
• Productivity benefits could create billions in economic gains for businesses and governments

BRIGHTON, England, June 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Avalara Inc., a leader in modern tax compliance automation, has released a landmark global report in partnership with the Center for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) quantifying the economic impact of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) adoption.

The study, covering the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France, India, and Australia, has found a combined annual economic opportunity of $616 billion, approximately £483 billion, through productivity gains, faster payments, and reduced fraud. In the UK alone, full e-invoicing adoption could unlock yearly economic gains of $11.2 billion, approximately £8.8 billion.

Economic & Business Value
The report reveals that switching to e-invoicing delivers measurable economic benefits for nations, as well as financial and operational efficiencies for businesses. The average UK firm adopting e-invoicing technology could realise $584,600 in annual productivity gains, around £460,000. Elsewhere, e-invoicing could add $116 billion in the U.S., $16.9 billion in France, $15.1 billion in Australia, $13.3 billion in Germany, and $3.7 billion in India.

"E-invoicing isn't just a compliance solution, it's a growth engine for global economies and businesses," said Ross Tennenbaum, President of Avalara. "Our research with Cebr proves that the faster we help businesses transition to electronic invoicing, the more we can do to help unlock billions in productivity and day-to day efficiencies."

Across the pond, U.S. businesses that adopt the technology save $15.16 for each invoice received. This amounts to $1.1 million in annual productivity gains per firm. In France, large businesses have been able to reclaim up to 54.4 minutes for each invoice, significantly reducing processing time and freeing up finance teams to do more effective tasks. Down under, Australia leads in the payment acceleration benefits. Firms have seen payments arrive up to 2.5 days faster, a 15% improvement on paper or more manual digital processes.

Across all six markets, e-invoicing shortens payment cycles by an average of 1.4 days, reduces fraud and tax fines by around 30%, and saves approximately 39 minutes over the process for each invoice.

"The UK has a golden opportunity to modernise its invoicing infrastructure and boost business productivity through this technology," said Alex Baulf, VP, E-Invoicing and Live Reporting at Avalara. "With HMRC and HM Treasury exploring e-invoicing, we were keen to understand its potential for economic growth, outside of its role in reducing fraud and improving payments. As momentum builds across Europe, the UK must put its businesses first and not get left behind."

Slower SMBs
While larger firms have embraced e-invoicing, SMBs lag with only 37% reporting full e-invoicing adoption. This reliance on manual methods could cost smaller businesses both time and money.

Unfortunately for SMBs, barriers to adoption remain. Notable difficulties include staff training and complexities around integration, impacting nearly half (43%) of respondents. Encouragingly though, momentum is building worldwide. Most firms (95%) using manual invoices are aware of e-invoicing, and three-quarters (73%) expect to adopt the technology within the next five years. In fact, a third of British firms (30%) plan to adopt e-invoicing in the next year.

Faster Payments, Stronger Cashflow
A key reason for this is the time savings associated with e-invoicing. By making payments typically 5% faster, the technology leads to substantial cashflow advantages. UK firms utilising the technology have significantly benefited, experiencing a 4.8% drop in late payments, the biggest improvement across all six surveyed markets. However, this trails behind trends in the U.S. and Australia, where firms experienced improvements of over 2 days in payment speeds. In the US, large businesses have unlocked over $14,000 annually in cashflow improvements, and Australian businesses using e-invoicing have reported average annual gains of $649,200. 

Lower Risk, Greater Confidence
E-invoicing is reducing financial and reputational risk too. Over the past year, 44% of global businesses were hit with tax fines and 34% experienced invoice fraud. That's not the entire picture, as businesses faced $23,500 on average for tax fines and $18,100 for fraud losses. Firms leveraging e-invoicing reported far fewer incidents, only 20% experienced fines or fraud.

E-invoicing's power to maintain financial operations and regulatory compliance helps businesses reduce tax fines by 27%. It also shores up businesses from threats, slashing fraud and data breaches by 30%, and lowers the number of lost invoices by 40%, providing businesses with even more operational confidence.

Policy Support Grows
While there is no national mandate in the UK, more than 50% of businesses support legislation to require e-invoicing. In Europe, France is currently preparing for a 2026 mandate, with 41% of firms actively taking steps. And in Germany, half of respondents (49%) do not feel fully equipped for the incoming legislation. Although, many have developed plans (42%), invested in technology (39%) or training (30%).

Today's research highlights the urgent case for businesses and governments to implement e-invoicing, paving the way for greater efficiency, security, and transparency. Avalara offers tailored solutions to accelerate compliance and unlock value for British businesses of all sizes. To find out more, head to: https://www.avalara.com/us/en/products/e-invoicing.html.

Methodology
The study surveyed 1,720 businesses across six major markets (U.S., UK, France, Germany, India, and Australia), analysing the productivity, financial, and compliance impacts of full e-invoicing adoption. Economic modelling, conducted by Cebr, focused on two main elements: to exclusively target B2B companies with at least 10 employees; and to quantify the impacts of e-invoicing at an individual invoice, per-business and ultimately economy-wide level, with all monetary figures converted and presented consistently in USD ($).

About Avalara
Avalara makes tax compliance faster, easier, and more accurate, reliable, and valuable for 43,000+ business and government customers in over 75 countries. Tax compliance automation software solutions from Avalara leverage 1,400+ signed partner integrations across leading ecommerce, ERP, and other billing systems to power tax calculations, document management, tax return filing, and tax content access. Visit avalara.com to improve your compliance journey.

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