Quality assurance (QA for short) is a complex topic and, in a rapidly changing environment such as software development, a real challenge, as well. QA plays an important role at our company, which is why we start the day with discussions about the quality of our coffee, apply the four-eye principle to our blog posts, put our fire protection equipment through regular tests, and never stop improving the work processes in departments and work groups.

Since its peak in 2017, the hype surrounding bitcoin has heightened interest in blockchain, the technology behind the cryptocurrency. Numerous academic articles and studies on blockchain have been published over the last few years, and in late 2019, the state of Bavaria decided to promote this technology by establishing the Bavarian Center for BlockChain, or [bc]2. In the light of these developments, we would like to examine whether blockchain technology might be deployed to improve procure-to-pay processes.

Big changes are currently affecting electronic invoicing in Europe. In EU states, these changes are being made in response to EU Directive 2014/55/EU, which stipulates that all public contracting authorities and entities in the EU must be able to accept and process electronic, machine-readable invoices.