The project ended, the work continues
The Real-Time Economy project under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and coordinated by the PRH was completed this year. The project was implemented with funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and as part of Finland’s Sustainable Growth Programme.
The aim of the project was to promote the transfer of financial information in a digital, structured format automatically between different parties. This reduces manual work, streamlines processes and enables significant cost savings for both companies and public administrations.
In addition, the project promoted the goals of the Nordic Smart Government and Business programme in Finland.
The cornerstones were created for the digital economy
The project created the preconditions and structures for the extensive implementation of the digital economy.
A co-management model and tools were developed for the digital financial administration network. They ensure the continuous development of the network in cooperation between private and public actors. The joint management model includes actors’ responsibilities, roles and cooperation principles. The solutions were designed to be compatible with international and EU standards, which promotes businesses’ international competitiveness.
The project facilitated conditions for the sharing of financial data and the automation of financial administration processes. A Finnish authority was established to promote the use of the international Peppol information exchange infrastructure. Production capabilities were built for central government for the processing of digital procurement messages. The utilisation rate of business vouchers was significantly increased during the project: quantitative targets for the utilisation rate of e-invoices and e-receipts were achieved. The reporting and reception of digital financial statements to the Trade Register was developed. Read more about promoting digital financial statements.
Structured business documents, opportunities for companies to use digital wallets, data sharing and use of data were tested in dozens of trials. In addition, several customer insight studies were conducted. The implementation of the solutions was promoted through instructions, training and communication campaigns. In addition, a number of preliminary legislative studies and studies related to information security and data protection were carried out.
The project also prepared a plan for future developments in 2025–2030.
The majority of cost benefits for businesses
In the studies carried out in the project, the functionality and benefits of digital solutions were found to be significant for businesses and authorities.
According to the studies, the extensive use of digital receipts would benefit society by nearly €6 billion per year by 2030. Most of the cost benefits go to businesses.
The costs of deploying the solutions were found to be moderate in the experiments.
The PRH coordinates development from 2025
The full utilisation of the foundation created by the project requires further action and cooperation between different actors.
The Finnish Patent and Registration Office has been responsible for the steering of the digital financial administration network by means of a legislative amendment from the beginning of 2025.
A new unit was established in the PRH to perform the new coordination task. Its tasks include maintaining the situational picture and plan for development, coordinating cooperation and ensuring the interoperability of the overall objectives and development.
Read more about the digital financial administration: www.yrityksendigitalous.fi/enOpen link in a new tab
