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The transition to eInvoicing is changing how businesses transact in Australia and New Zealand

The concept of eInvoicing, or electronic invoicing, is sometimes confused with the sharing of invoices via email. Yet eInvoicing actually eliminates the use of emailed (or posted) PDFs and all the fraud threats they bring. In fact, it eradicates the need to send image files such as PDFs altogether.

eInvoicing is a system that allows the distribution of invoices between organisations — from computer to computer — in a structured data format. Both businesses and government agencies use it to create, manage and distribute invoices electronically.

As a standardised way to exchange invoices, e-invoicing removes the need to manually key data or for suppliers and buyers to log into multiple bespoke networks to share invoices securely.

Following the lead of countries across the world, the Australian and New Zealand governments are pushing for the widespread use of electronic invoicing. Their chosen system is the Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line) interoperability framework for eInvoicing.

Receive payments within five days

Payreq has been helping businesses and government bodies to embrace eInvoicing via the Peppol network. We’re a certified Peppol Access Point provider. So, as well as enabling businesses to receive PDF bills directly into their XERO, MYOB and Reckon accounting software, our customers can send eInvoices via Peppol.

Most major federal government agencies along with enterprises such as ANZ and Bunnings are now eInvoicing-enabled. This means they can send payments within five days to their business suppliers. State and territory governments are following in Canberra’s footsteps.

The prospect of receiving fast payments from government bodies has helped to motivate more than 18,000 Australian businesses to adopt eInvoicing.

After joining Peppol, primarily for their business-to-government (B2G) transactions, many go on to use it for their business-to-business (B2B) transactions at home and abroad. This was part of the Australian government’s plan all along – creating a network effect. As high-volume billers (such as utilities companies) send eInvoices to their business customers, the network effect will continue to accelerate.

Less fraud, better for the environment

The transition to eInvoicing is significantly reducing invoice fraud across Australia. It makes much less sense nowadays to send or accept invoices delivered via paper, PDF and Word files. They can be easily imitated, and details of deals can be obtained from email hacks, opening up the possibility of a common fraud in which a fake invoice with a supposedly new bank account number is shared with a business. By the time the real invoice arrives, the money has been paid into a nefarious account by duped accounting departments. eInvoices eliminate this risk.

Invoices are sent in data form directly from Payreq, the seller’s ERP, or other software to the customer’s system — eliminating the possibility of interference in the process. All Peppol users have a unique Peppol ID so the system is ultra-secure.

eInvoicing protects businesses from other online risks too as participating businesses no longer need to click on email links, or open PDFs, that contain viruses or scams.

The environmental benefits of moving away from print and post are clear, and the cost savings are significant. Paper invoices cost around A$30 to process. Peppol eInvoices cost less than A$10. When you factor in the reduction in the administrative burden, the case for eInvoicing becomes even clearer.

Peppol is an established and standardized global eInvoicing system that can bring countless benefits to businesses and economies as a whole. Payreq is proud to be playing a role in this ongoing transition – working with the government, businesses and utilities companies.

Recently, Adecco, the global recruitment business selected Payreq as their Access Point provider.

How to get started with Peppol

1. Check which of your customers are eInvoicing-enabled. Use our Peppol look-up tool to check which clients and suppliers in your ecosystem are already Peppol-enabled. If they’re not all already there, start planning how you’ll onboard them.
2.  Choose Payreq as a certified Access Point Service Provider. The access point manages the secure exchange of the documents between your systems and the Peppol network. Businesses can choose their preferred access point to connect to any participant on the Peppol network.

For more information, our eInvoicing experts are here to help. Get in touch with us if you need help or advice.