Case Study: E‑Invoicing AP flow for Zijin Mining

Zijin Mining Group is a global Chinese mining company ($47bn AR; 2025) with major copper operations in Serbia, supported by a Shared Service Center (SSC) to centralize finance and AP across entities, which is integrated with the SAP ERP.

As operations expanded, Zijin needed to comply with Serbia’s mandatory SEF (Sistem e‑Faktura) platform. With approximately 12,000 incoming invoices processed each year, invoices available in SEF did not flow into the SSC and then into SAP, forcing manual data entry and slowing down operations.

Zijin’s approach shows how enterprises can meet local e‑invoicing compliance requirements without turning SAP into a collection of country-specific rules. Instead of embedding SEF logic into core systems, DDD Invoices handles compliance externally, keeping SAP and the SSC clean and scalable.

Background

Zijin already operated a mature finance setup:

• SAP as the core ERP system globally
• A Shared Service Center managing AP & AR and other business operations across entities
• SEF as the mandatory platform for Serbian invoices

Instead of modifying SAP or SSC logic, DDD Invoices integrates as a compliance layer between SEF and the SSC.

Problem: Local SEF compliance and manual AP

Zijin needed to process incoming supplier invoices via SEF for Serbian entities while keeping AP operations centralized and scalable.

The situation looked like this:

• SEF received e‑invoices from Zijin partners a structured format.
• The Shared Service Center and SAP did not receive these invoices automatically.
• AP teams manually re‑entered invoice data from SEF into the Zijin systems

This caused:

• Extra time and effort in AP.
• Higher risk of data entry errors and inconsistent handling.
• Slower approvals and weaker group‑level visibility.
• No easy path to onboard additional entities or countries onto the same AP flow.

Zijin wanted to repair the SEF → SSC → SAP  flow, introducing basic & advanced (multi-staged) approvals, and prepare for later multi‑entity and multi‑country onboarding.

Solution: DDD Invoices as the compliance and integration layer

DDD Invoices connects Serbia’s SEF platform with Zijin’s Shared Service Center (SSC). It retrieves, transforms, and delivers incoming invoices, while SAP and the SSC remain Zijin’s core standartized finance systems.

Supplier invoices are received through SEF, Serbia’s official e-invoicing platform. DDD Invoices retrieves the structured invoice data, then delivers it in a standartized format (.JSON)to the SSC for AP processing.

AP teams can then continue with their usual accounting process, with approved invoices posted in SAP. This keeps Serbian compliance requirements separate from Zijin’s core systems.

AP team also desired standartization of visualization & translation of documents to the same PDF format & language, in order for the workflow of the team to be streamlined and allow multi-cultural team to operate efficiently.

AP users view and process SEF invoices directly in the SSC. They can approve or reject invoices through workflows controlled by department and individual team-member roles.

Approved invoices move to SAP for posting and accounting, while the SSC remains the central place for AP decisions.

Beyond Serbia: multi-entity and country compliance

The same integration can support additional Zijin legal entities, countries, and both AP and AR flows without rebuilding SAP or SSC logic.

Incoming invoices can be standardized into one PDF view and translated into a single working language. This gives Zijin a scalable foundation for centralized global invoicing, supported by collaboration between the Chinese SSC integrators and Serbian subsidiary teams.

Outcome: One SAP ERP, one SSC, and one scalable invoicing layer

By integrating DDD Invoices, Zijin keeps SAP and its Shared Service Center as the centre of finance operations while Serbian entities receive and process invoices through a compliant, automated path from SEF.

DDD Invoices acts as a single compliance and integration layer, connecting SEF to SSC and SAP without Serbia‑specific ERP changes, and giving Zijin a standardized, scalable platform for:

• Centralized AP automation and approvals.
• Standardized invoice visualization and language.
• Onboarding new countries and legal entities through simple configuration.

Now, Zijin Group has a unified integration ready for centralization, consolidation, and automation of global invoicing operations. The same integration can support additional Zijin legal entities, countries, and both AP and AR flows without rebuilding SAP or SSC logic.

DDD Invoices: One compliance layer for every market

DDD Invoices helps businesses manage e‑invoicing compliance across countries through one integration. It connects ERP systems, accounting platforms, and Shared Service Centers with local tax authority platforms, networks, and invoice delivery channels.

The platform handles local invoice formats, validation rules, tax authority connections, and document delivery requirements, while businesses keep their existing finance systems and workflows. This makes it easier to add new countries, entities, and e‑invoicing processes without building country-specific logic into the ERP.

FAQs

Can you add e‑invoicing compliance without replacing your ERP or shared service setup?

Yes. Zijin retained SAP and its Shared Service Center as the system of record and operations hub and connected SEF to DDD Invoices for retrieval, transformation, validation, and delivery of incoming AP invoices, plus approval and rejection flows.

Why keep local e‑invoicing rules outside ERP and SSC?

Keeping country rules in an external compliance layer avoids building and maintaining separate local logic in SAP and the Shared Service Center as formats, validation rules, and tax‑authority requirements change.

How does one SAP ERP and SSC support different e‑invoicing models and entities?

SAP and SSC send and receive invoice data through one standard integration. The compliance layer then applies the relevant country route, for example, Serbia via SEF for incoming AP, and can be configured to onboard new legal entities and markets without changing core ERP logic.