What is eInvoicing? 5 Things to Know

eInvoicing is quite the buzzword in Australia and New Zealand, with adoption of Peppol eInvoicing rising rapidly and organisations reaping the benefits of greater data accuracy in invoice data capture, higher quality data through invoice line-item data and fraud protection through the secure Peppol network. Given the excitement and momentum it may be a topic that you get asked about in your business, to help we answer the question: What is eInvoicing – the 5 things you need to know.

#1 It’s not sending a PDF invoice

Sending a PDF invoice is, unfortunately, not an eInvoice – why? Well let’s compare the difference, when you send an PDF invoice, the invoice delivered in a digital format (email as opposed to post) and when your customer receives it they still have to manually review the invoice, re-key the invoice information into their own system and then start to process it. eInvoicing is the system-to-system exchange of invoice data, where invoices are sent directly from a supplier to a buyer – no manual data entry required at either end of the invoice.

#2 peppol is the adopted standard to send and receive einvoices for australia and new zealand

Peppol which stands for Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine is a globally recognised standard for sending eInvoices (and eOrders) and is used in several countries across the globe. It provides a standard, secure and scalable way to send and receive eInvoices without the need for multiple integrations. Once you’re connected to Peppol, you’re connected to everyone else on the network. Peppol is the eInvoicing standard that has been adopted in Australia and New Zealand through the Australian Taxation Office and New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

#3 you need a peppol access point provider to be able to send and receive einvoices

The Peppol standard works by businesses integrating with a ‘gatekeeper’ that directs traffic around the network making sure that the data is secure and meets the Peppol standards. These gatekeepers are known as Peppol Access Point providers,  there are several certified Access Point providers across the country that you can utilise to join the network.

#4 you do not need a new finance system to be able to send or receive einvoices

Many finance systems are already eInvoicing ready (they are pre-configured to be integrated with an Access Point) like Xero, MYOB, Quickbooks to name a few. For those that use other, usually older platforms, you will need to integrate with a Peppol Access Point. Many Access Point providers offer integration services regardless of your finance system so check with them first before paying huge amounts to upgrade your finance system.

#5 peppol is the fastest growing einvoicing network in the country

Not a huge surprise given the support that State and Federal governments have put behind eInvoicing in Australia. There are over 12,000 businesses already registered to use eInvoicing and its growing by around 100 businesses per day. Pretty impressive when there were only 200 in 2021. There is also far more information in the market about eInvoicing in Australia, a simple google search of “eInvoicing Australia” returned over 326,000 results a stark increase from 2 years ago.

conclusion

Peppol eInvoicing is a viable and trending solution to drive greater automation in your finance processes, businesses are including Peppol capabilities on tenders as well as part of new contracts that they are signing with suppliers. It’s likely that you or someone in your business has been in a conversation where eInvoicing has been discussed. With these 5 things you need to know about Peppol eInvoicing you can be better prepared to discuss it when it comes up in your business.

Keen to understand whether Peppol eInvoicing is right for your business? Feel free to reach out to us today for a no-obligation discussion.