According to the Government Programme, Finland wants to be a pioneer in terms of real-time economy. In practice, this means that information on business transactions can be transferred in electronic format and in real time from one company to another and from companies to the authorities. In order for the information exchange to work automatically, receipts and invoices need to be in electronic format, as the Government Programme prompts.
The new Government Programme states that authorities’ investments in e-services lay a foundation for new innovations from companies and, ideally, decrease the companies’ costs. The Nordic Smart Government project (NSG) established by the Nordic trade register authorities has the same aim, and expands the government’s goals to a cross-Nordic level. The purpose is to automatise the flow of financial information between companies in the Nordics.
In Finland, the NSG project is lead by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office in collaboration with the State Treasury and the Tax Administration. The Finnish State Treasury has been developing e-invoicing and electronic receipts, and now the work continues at a Nordic level through the NSG project. The Finnish Tax Administration actively takes part in the development, since the automatisation of financial administration would also simplify corporate taxation.
As part of the NSG project, a solution-oriented workshop (“Hackathon weekend”) is organised in Finland in November in cooperation with Aalto University and Accenture. The theme for the challenges to be solved revolves around facilitating business operations and new services that can be built by making use of electronic financial information. Right now, we are looking for companies and partners to participate in workshops in August to crystallise the contents of the Hackathon weekend in November. Interested parties are welcome to contact any of the persons providing further information.
The NSG project is financed by Nordic Innovation that works under the Nordic Council of Ministers. Read more about the project on the website of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.
Further information
Nordic Smart Government project:
Project Managers
Terhi Maijala
Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH)
Tel. 029 509 5300
Sanna Esterinen
Finnish Tax Administration
Tel. 029 512 4409
Deputy Director
Tanja Wistbacka
Finnish State Treasury
Tel. 029 550 3293
State Treasury e-invoicing and e-receipt project:
Payment Transactions Manager
Keijo Kettunen
Finnish State Treasury
Tel. 029 550 2408
See how the State Treasury promotes automated financial management and real-time economy in Finnish society:
- Financial administration automation
- Government Electronic Invoicing Website
- Financial reporting code lists and taxonomies
- Financial information service for municipalities
