04.28.22

The journey of e-invoicing

Back in 2018, Australia and New Zealand government signed the Trans-Tasman Electronic Invoicing Arrangement, with the objective to create and maintain a common Australia and New Zealand e-invoicing approach, so to improve invoicing productivity and reduce the costs of doing business for both governments. One year later, it was officially announced that both governments will adopt PEPPOL standards in the e-invoicing implementation.

Following Australia’s lead, New Zealand has also made the first step towards mandating B2G e-invoicing. Starting from March 31, 2022, large businesses and government organizations must begin receiving PEPPOL e-invoices in New Zealand. To exchange e-invoices between suppliers and buyers, businesses must have a PEPPOL access point and a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN). The invoice format should follow PEPPOL XML standard (PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0) and must be archived for 7 years.

According to the New Zealand government, the country would save approximately $4.4 billion by implementing e-invoicing in business-to-business over the next decade. Therefore, the government is attracting Small-Medium businesses to use PEPPOL e-invoicing by offering a 10-day payment term for all e-invoices.