Import an issued invoice into B2Brouter

If your management system or your ERP already produces invoices in an electronic format, you do not need to create them again in B2Brouter: you can import them as they are and send them from the platform.

How to import an invoice

From the Invoices section of the main menu:

Click the arrow next to Create Invoice and choose Import.
On the next page, attach the invoice file.
Finally, use the Import option.

If the file is correct, the invoice is created in your list of issued invoices with all the data from the original file, ready to be sent.

You can import invoices on any plan. With the Basic Plan and the Professional Plan you import invoices one at a time; with the Business Plan you can import several at once.

Accepted formats

Structured formats

Structured formats let the system interpret 100% of the information in the file. The invoice is created with all its data, and you do not need to add anything manually.

You can import invoices in:

UBL / Peppol BIS: the European electronic invoice format, the one used on the Peppol network.
CII, and its national variants Factur-X (France), ZUGFeRD and XRechnung (Germany).
Facturae: the Spanish format, including the signed version (.xsig).
FatturaPA: the Italian format.
KSeF: the Polish format.
eSLOG: the Slovenian format.
Svefaktura: the Swedish format.
ABW and IDoc: exchange formats used by certain ERPs.

If you issue invoices in a structured format that is not on this list, get in touch: we can often add it.

PDF with an embedded invoice

Some PDFs carry the structured invoice embedded inside the file itself, as Factur-X and ZUGFeRD do. In those cases the system reads the data from inside the PDF, so the result is the same as with a structured format: the invoice is complete and it also keeps the PDF as its visual representation.

A PDF without an embedded invoice cannot be imported as an issued invoice. If you try, you will see the message The PDF can only be uploaded as a received invoice. Text recognition from a PDF is only available for received invoices.

Options when importing

Once you have attached the file, these options are available:

Skip invoice validation: imports the invoice even if it does not pass validation. This is useful to register older invoices or to review them later, but the invoice cannot be sent until its data is correct.
Update existing contacts with invoice data: if the customer data in the file does not match your contact record, it updates the contact instead of creating a new organisational unit for it.
Send after import: issues and sends the invoice automatically once imported, through the channel set on the contact. This option is not compatible with the custom signature setting.

After the import

When it finishes, the screen shows the result for each imported file, with a link to the invoice that was created. If a file could not be imported, you will find the reason there.

A common case is a duplicated document: if the file had already been imported into the same account, the system does not create a new invoice and links you to the existing one.

Which file is sent

If you have not modified the invoice since you imported it and the contact’s Format is the same as the format of the imported file, B2Brouter sends the original file as it is, without changes.

In that case, any format validation errors that appear when you send the invoice come from the file your ERP produced. For example, a unit code that is not on the UN/ECE Recommendation 20 list, such as UNIT instead of C62.

Correct the error in your ERP and import the corrected invoice again. If you send the same invoice again, the same file is sent, with the same error.

In all other cases, B2Brouter generates the document again from the invoice data. For example, if you edit the invoice in B2Brouter, or if the contact receives invoices by Peppol or by email in a format different from the imported file. You choose the format of each contact on its record: see Create a contact.