With Terje Vestad, Country Manager for Norway at efacto.
How are regulation, digitalisation, and emerging technologies like AI influencing our work with electronic invoicing? What trends are shaping our industry? And how do we navigate them in practice?
These are some of the questions we’ve asked five different employees at efacto. In the coming weeks, we’ll share their insights and perspectives, each based on their specific professional role. We hope you’ll follow along.
The e-invoicing industry is constantly evolving. And efacto is evolving with it.
In our first interview, our Country Manager for Norway, Terje Vestad, shares his perspectives on a rapidly changing industry.
In many ways, the Norwegian and Danish markets are quite similar. Especially in terms of digital maturity. However, there are still differences in how electronic invoicing is regulated and implemented in practice.
In Norway, it has been mandatory since 2012 for all public authorities to receive invoices in the EHF format, which is based on the European PEPPOL BIS standard. Suppliers to the public sector are similarly required to send invoices in this format. In the private sector, however, there are no legal requirements. Even so, by August 2025, 340.000 companies had registered in Norway’s national recipient register (ELMA) and are receiving EHF invoices. This underlines the widespread adoption of the format. Not because it’s mandatory, but because it offers significant benefits in terms of automation, traceability, and data quality.
In Denmark, the OIOUBL format is still the primary standard for public sector invoicing, and suppliers are required to use it. The PEPPOL standard has been introduced in parallel, but it has yet to become dominant. In the private sector, there is greater variation, and it’s still very common to send and receive PDF invoices, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises.
Manual processes in invoice handling are still prevalent in both countries. We are not yet at the point of fully automated invoice workflows. At efacto, we’re working hard to change that. Because e-invoicing not only improves data quality and reduces errors, it also saves time, reduces administrative overhead, and increases control.
I’ve only been with efacto for a relatively short time, but even in that period, I’ve noticed growing interest in solutions with AI capabilities. At the same time, there is a clear desire for greater automation of invoice processes. Fortunately, those two developments go hand in hand, and communicating that to the market is an exciting part of my role. Legislation also plays a key role in shaping customer needs. Increasing regulatory pressure for digitalisation is naturally pushing customers toward solutions like ours.
We’re also seeing rising demand for solutions like InvoiceFirewall. It’s encouraging that more organisations are recognising the importance of having control over incoming supplier invoices. With the most advanced functionality on the market and the deepest experience, we are in a strong position when engaging with both partners and prospective customers.
Thankfully, many things bring value to our customers. One of the most important is the quality of our invoice validation and all the benefits that come with it. Our solution, InvoiceFirewall, intelligently ensures that an invoice is fully validated and ready for final processing as soon as it reaches the customer’s ERP or workflow system. That’s extremely valuable because incomplete invoices or invoices with errors result in time-consuming manual work for accounting teams and can cause delays in the invoice flow.
We distinguish ourselves by not just stopping faulty invoices. Instead, we take responsibility for getting the invoices through correctly, from receipt to delivery. Many solutions use “best guess AI” to interpret and correct invoice data. While we also use AI, we combine it with actual master data lookups, which significantly increases accuracy. Combined with competitive pricing, this makes for a very strong offering.
Norway is facing several major developments that will shape the e-invoicing landscape in the years ahead. First, the transition to PEPPOL BIS 3.0 is still underway. This version replaces earlier formats and sets stricter requirements for data quality and structure.
Second, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance has just proposed that electronic invoicing be made mandatory for B2B transactions from 2028 for all accounting-obligated companies. From 1 January 2028, sending e-invoices will become mandatory, and from 1 January 2030, so will receiving e-invoices and keeping digital accounting records. This is, of course, something we at efacto already support for our Norwegian customers.
I know that’s two predictions, but in my view, the completion of the transition to PEPPOL BIS 3.0 and the upcoming B2B e-invoicing mandate are both important and exciting developments.
We’re working towards doubling the number of InvoiceFirewall customers through strategic partnerships – both within and outside the Visma group.
My vision is that InvoiceFirewall becomes a solution companies actively choose because it delivers measurable value. The solution is unique, and we must be able to document and communicate that to the market. At the same time, we must continue to develop functionality based on our deep domain knowledge. Knowledge gained through many years of experience and from understanding our customers’ complex needs.
Our goal is also to strengthen both our presence and visibility. There are still many who are unaware of the substantial benefits and opportunities that come from an efficient invoice process. We want to change that.