Finland's right to e-invoices and what it means for foreign clients and suppliers

A Tampere industrial IoT company invoices three kinds of clients. Finnish clients receive e-invoices through its operator, addressed with an OVT code. A Swedish distributor receives them through Peppol. A client in Ohio receives a PDF, pays by international wire two weeks late, and the amount lands short.

Finland's e-invoicing right

Finland passed its Act on Electronic Invoicing in 2019, with the main rule in force from April 2020. It gives every business and public contracting entity the right to require e-invoices from its suppliers. Suppliers with annual turnover of €10,000 or less are exempt.

The request must be made explicitly. In practice most Finnish companies above a small size now send and receive e-invoices through operators, with addresses based on the business ID.

How the invoices travel

Two networks matter:

• Finnish operator networks, with e-invoice addresses such as OVT codes. Operators exchange invoices with each other.
• Peppol, the international network used across Europe. Finnish operators connect to it, so a Peppol-capable foreign supplier or client can exchange invoices with a Finnish company.

Foreign suppliers

A foreign supplier billing a Finnish client may be asked for e-invoices. The law's reach over a business established abroad is limited, but the commercial reality is that the client's accounts system is built for e-invoices. Peppol is the usual answer.

Foreign clients

The Finnish law does not bind foreign clients. A company in Ohio does not have a Finnish e-invoice address and does not need one. What it needs is an invoice its accounts payable team can process and pay without friction:

1. Prices and totals in its currency, usually dollars.
2. The VAT treatment: for most services to businesses outside the EU, no Finnish ALV, with the reason stated.
3. Payment details it can pay domestically.

For EU business clients, add both VAT numbers and the reverse charge wording.

Payment details that work

A US client paying a Finnish IBAN sends an international wire. It may lose intermediary fees and is converted at the receiving bank's rate. US account details in your company's name let the client pay by ACH instead, in full, in dollars.

Paying into Finland: the local rail

Source: European Payments Council: SEPA Instant Credit Transfer. Checked when this guide was last updated; the scheme's own page has the current figures.

Where Rivet fits

Rivet is not an e-invoice operator. A Rivet business account gives a Finnish Oy US account details in its own name on every plan, and euro details with an IBAN plus sterling details from the Growth plan. Payments are matched to invoices, and balances can be held or converted at a rate shown before you confirm. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds.