A/NZ govts consulting on common e-invoicing framework

The Australian and New Zealand governments have launched a public consultation into the proposed introduction of an interoperable trans-Tasman e-invoicing standard that has the potential to deliver economic benefits in excess of $28 billion over 10 years.

The consultation on the Trans-Tasman Framework for e-Invoicing proposes to modify the existing e-invoicing framework developed in Australia in 2016 to introduce a trans-Tasman approach to standardisation.

The proposed new framework would be based on international information exchange standards, and be used by both governments for developing e-invoicing capabilities that will allow businesses to eliminate the manual handling of billing processes.

“To emphasise the scale, New Zealand and Australian businesses process around 1.3 billion invoices annually, and e-invoicing aims to help them save time and money by allowing the direct exchange of invoices between suppliers’ and buyers’ financial systems,” commented New Zealand Small Business Minister Stuart Nash.

Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell said research suggests that adopting e-invoicing could deliver potential benefits to the Australian economy of $28 billion over 10 years.

“Research shows it costs $30.87 to process a paper invoice, $27.97 per PDF invoice and only $9.18 per e-invoice; a significant saving,” she said.

“E-invoicing helps to eliminate processing errors as your core business details are stored online and can include a direct link to your bank account for payments. Research reports around 20% of invoices today are sent to the wrong person and 30% contain incorrect information, delaying payment.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/momius

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