If you haven’t already heard the terms ‘Peppol’ and ‘eInvoicing’, you’ll be hearing a lot more about them in coming months. 

The Australian Government has adopted the Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) framework for eInvoicing and mandated that all Commonwealth agencies adopt eInvoicing by 1 July 2022.  

The government first flagged its intentions to adopt Peppol in 2019 and has been working with the New Zealand Government on a joint approach. Peppol has since become a central pillar of the Australian Government’s digital business plan designed to transform the nation into a leading digital economy by 2030. 

Other government jurisdictions and the private sector are expected to follow as part of a wholesale shift to eInvoicing for B2B transactions. 

Why Peppol? 

The Peppol framework is not new. It’s been widely used in public procurement in Europe since 2011 when it was first piloted. Its aim was to simplify electronic procurement across borders by developing common technology standards that would increase efficiencies and reduce costs. 

Seventeen European countries were involved in the 2011 Peppol pilot but it was the Norwegian Government that was first to mandate that all suppliers selling to it from 1 July 2012 must send their invoices electronically through Peppol.  

Other governments have quickly followed and it is now an accepted eInvoicing platform for more than 30 countries including Germany, Ireland and Italy. Outside Europe, Japan is considering Peppol as the nationwide eInvoicing standard and Singapore’s national eInvoicing initiative is based on Peppol. The US and Canada have also foreshadowed the development of Peppol-based eInvoicing. 

In Australia, the Australian Taxation Office is the Peppol Authority with responsibility for overseeing Australia’s eInvoicing framework but the ATO notes that “eInvoices do not go through or are viewed by the ATO”. 

What’s the difference between eInvoicing and digital invoicing? 

Generally, digital invoices are emailed.  

eInvoices are directly transacted between the accounting systems of purchasers and suppliers utilising an agreed and unified format. 

The benefits of eInvoicing through Peppol 

Being able to exchange invoice information between accounting systems offers a range of benefits to both purchasers and suppliers. These include: 

• faster and more efficient payments 

• 100% accuracy

• greater security 

• less paper 

• more reliable and timely data 

• removes late payment penalties

The Australian Government also expects that there will be downstream benefits from introducing Peppol, including greater productivity in the economy and increased tax transparency and compliance as well as the ability for businesses of all different sizes to get paid quickly. 

How does it work? 

In simple terms, Peppol is a software platform for transferring invoices between suppliers and purchasers.  

To access Peppol, you must first register to get a unique Peppol ID number. Registration is free. 

Then, when you transfer an invoice through the Peppol platform, the receiver can easily identify you or your company by your Peppol ID. 

1. The supplier generates an invoice in their accounts receivabale system and sends it electronically to their Certified Peppol Access Point.
2. The supplier's Peppol Access Point validates the invoice to make sure that it can be sent via the Peppol network.
3. The supplier is validated and the CBS Access Point is found and the supplier sends the invoice to it electronically. 
4. The CBS Access Point receives the validated invoice where the raw invoice data is consumed into our systems.
5. We will verify the invoice information by comparing it against reference data from the customer's purchase order inlcuding the line items.
6. We then take all the invoice data and generate an output file based on the requirements defined, if not per the Peppol format. 
7. Invoice data will be transacted via the customer's ERP for processing or payment.

Canon Business Services ANZ: connecting you with Peppol

It’s important to understand that you can’t register for an ID at Peppol directly. 

You’ll need to register through a Peppol access point. Access point providers are responsible for transforming documents to meet Peppol protocols, standards and regulations and to ensure they reach recipients correctly.  

As an Australian adopter of Peppol and accredited Access Point provider, Canon Business Services ANZ (CBS) is well-placed to help you with the Peppol registration process. 

Level up your automated accounts payable with Peppol-eInvoicing

CBS’s Automated Accounts Payable solution already accommodates paper and digital invoices.  

Now, the solution is also Peppol eInvoice ready. 

That means no matter the format of your invoices, our AAP solution seamlessly applies all of your business rules and routes invoices through the right workflows, reducing processing delays, eliminating high-cost invoice handling and meeting all of your compliance commitments. 

For Peppol-ready Automated Accounts Payable, contact us today.