Overview of e-Invoice processes

The processing of an e-Invoice by the IBM Sterling e-Invoicing service begins when the agreement between the buyer and supplier is looked up to determine the required processing options. If supplier processing is enabled, the supplier process sends the unsigned e-Invoice to be signed. If buyer processing is enabled, the buyer process sends the signed e-Invoice to be validated.

If both supplier and buyer processing are enabled, the supplier process runs first, and then the buyer process. If archiving services have been purchased, archiving is performed for the signed e-Invoice on the supplier side, and the validated e-Invoice on the buyer side. The archived e-Invoice data also contains detailed information of the e-Invoice, which includes the policies used while signing or validating the e-Invoice.