Why it's time to ensure your business is ready for the e-invoicing adoption wave

With government agencies in our region preparing to mandate the practice, making sure you can send invoices electronically is a critical imperative.

Is your business pondering the merits of replacing its aging billing software with an up-to-the-minute e-invoicing platform?

If part of your revenue comes from selling goods and services to public sector, you'd be wise to do so, sooner rather than later.

Across the Tasman, more than 120 government agencies are now e-invoicing ready, after the New Zealand government's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment imposed a deadline of Jan 1, 2026 for them to adopt the technology.  

Businesses that transact with these agencies have a little under a year to follow suit. Come 1 January 2027, using eInvoices will be mandatory for all large suppliers. Those that aren't equipped to do so will find themselves out of the running for major contracts and projects.

That's an incentive to get cracking if ever there was one. Many New Zealand businesses have begun the process; going to market for e-invoicing platforms and connections that are compatible with their ERP solutions, so they can continue to take advantage of what can be a lucrative revenue stream.

Here in Australia, whilst there's no official mandate for businesses, the mandates across Federal and State government mean that there are 128 Federal Government agencies and 314 State agencies ready to receive eInvoices. There are also 426,000 businesses registered for e-invoicing in Australia.  Even in an organic scenario, it can be concluded that Australian e-invoicing adoption is growing rapidly. 

Following the Kiwis' e-invoicing lead

However, while Australia's federal and state governments have yet to take as firm a stance as their Kiwi counterparts, it's likely, if not inevitable, they'll follow suit in the next year or two; adopting similar policies for major contractors and suppliers. 

And should that occur, there's the chance big businesses may take the same tack and insist their suppliers start billing them electronically too.

It makes sense for them to do so because e-invoicing offers a compelling range of benefits, for customers and suppliers alike. They include increased accuracy and efficiency, and a lower incidence of fraud.

The secure digital exchange of invoices between a business and its customer's accounting platform, e-invoicing can eliminate a string of manual and semi-manual processes, such as printing, storing and emailing.

Instead, customers can download their invoices within seconds of them being issued, with suppliers able to see exactly when they've done so, courtesy of end-to-end visibility.

Counting the savings

Meanwhile, the efficiencies generated by e-invoicing can help finance departments keep their costs in check.

The two parties concerned can share a saving of up to $20 each time an eInvoice is used to replace an emailed PDF invoice, according to a Deloitte Access Economics estimate.

If yours is a business that generates dozens or hundreds of invoices a month, that can quickly amount to a sizeable sum.

Indeed, according to a 2025 Avalara report in partnership with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) the average Australian firm adopting e-invoicing could realise around $970,000, in annual productivity gains.  Across the world, the research found that e-invoicing shortens payment cycles by an average of 1.4 days, reduces fraud and tax fines by around 30%, and saves approximately 39 minutes over the process for each invoice.

Selecting a solution that supports your growth

While businesses in the market for an e-invoicing solution have no shortage of options, it pays to choose wisely; selecting a platform that can accommodate your business' requirements now and into the future. 

That starts with understanding your existing invoicing flows and ERP stack, and identifying which markets have current or future e-invoicing mandates.

Select a vendor that offers a single global API and coverage across the Pan European Public Procurement Online (Peppol) network and you'll be able to forge ahead with ease, in Australia and New Zealand and more than 40 other countries and jurisdictions where it's the current standard.

Adopting a unified strategy, rather than pursuing piecemeal, country-specific solutions, has added benefits. As well as lowering your cost of ownership, it will reduce your risk exposure. 

So will partnering with a vendor that has a demonstrated commitment to optimising its platform and safeguarding customer data with a stellar track record supporting local businesses to expand successfully, at home and abroad.

Setting your business up for success in 2027 and beyond

e-invoicing will all too soon be standard practice across the ANZ region. Businesses that don't embrace this new normal, by adopting solutions that enable them to bill customers electronically, stand to lose market share to competitors more willing and able to move with the times.  

If you don't want your organisation to be left behind with the other laggards, it's past time to implement an e-invoicing solution that can support your future growth.