Are you ready The revolution of electronic invoicing is here and it is inevitable

Invoices on paper and email will disappear in Australia as federal agencies introduce an electronic invoice within the next three months.

This mandatory shift in federal billing has made it almost impossible for Australian businesses and other levels of government to ignore the fact that e-invoicing is the future, so organizations need to prepare now. SAP Concur.

Australian businesses need to be prepared for the electronic invoicing revolution

The Australian Tax Administration (ATO) has announced that all Commonwealth agencies must accept electronic invoices by 1 July 2022 as part of a national digital business plan.

Serious work has begun to support the e-invoicing mandate and ensure a smooth transition, with the ATO developing a number of tools and templates to help federal agencies meet their e-invoicing obligations.

Australia has also committed to a pan-European online public procurement system as a common standard for electronic invoices. PEPPOL is an international e-procurement structure that allows for the cross-border digital exchange of procurement data and documents.

Thanks to the availability of support resources and an internationally recognized structure for authorized institutions, the electronic exhibition of invoices is approaching wider implementation.

The ATO estimates that the Australian economy could save about $ 28 billion in ten years based on 1.2 billion invoices exchanged annually.

Jonathan Bibi, managing director of SAP Concur Australia and New Zealand, said: “The ATO mandate for federal government agencies to adopt electronic invoicing is not a vague idea of ​​where the future of invoicing may go. This is a clear sign that the boat is already here and businesses will also soon need to board aboard before they are left behind.

“Electronic exhibition of invoices is the next stage in the evolution of transactions and purchases. Australian businesses, large and small, will be able to reap a wide range of benefits to help promote short-term success and long-term growth as they adapt to an electronic invoicing system. ”

Benefits of electronic invoicing

One of the biggest benefits of electronic invoicing is business optimization and cost reduction as it replaces printing, storing, sending or sending traditional invoices. It will also save businesses from having to manually sort, scan and switch invoice information in internal software. This will ultimately reduce the likelihood of human error or fraud that can occur when manually invoicing, which is costly for businesses to correct.

Jonathan Bibi said: “Electronic invoicing will facilitate faster payments to suppliers by significantly improving payment times and increasing participants’ cash flows. Electronic invoices are also exchanged more securely than via email, which reduces the risk of email fraud and ransomware attacks».

For businesses that are reluctant to replace the practice of invoicing, which may have existed for many years, the electronic invoicing system uses a common open standard that will allow you to combine different software platforms. This is especially important for large enterprises that use closed internal electronic data interchange (EDI) networks.

Australia’s adoption of PEPPOL e-invoicing will also allow small businesses to use their own software to send and receive e-invoices, while large businesses will be able to use PEPPOL with existing EDI systems.

Jonathan Bibi said: “Ultimately, businesses and government agencies at all levels, regardless of their size, will be able to accept electronic invoices without having to start from scratch. It is important that businesses take some time to reflect on their current systems and how they can benefit from switching to electronic invoicing. With safer, more accurate and faster invoicing, which simplifies transactions and improves cash flow, it provides many benefits to Australian business. However, the key to achieving these benefits is to prepare your business. ”

Want more? Receive our newsletter directly to your inbox! Keep an eye out for Kochie Business Builders Facebook, Twitter, Instagramand LinkedIn.

Now read this:

How an electronic invoice can help solve the problem of late payments