Plans for a whole-of-Government move to electronic invoicing have been announced by the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer.
Ms O’Dwyer said electronic invoicing, known as eInvoicing, would make it easier for industry to do business with all levels of Government as well as improve Government processes.
“Embracing eInvoicing is a win–win situation,” Ms O’Dwyer said.
“eInvoicing is approximately 70 per cent cheaper to process than traditional paper or PDF invoices … it means businesses will be able to spend less time re-entering invoice data for all levels of Government.”
She said an implementation study into the benefits for the economy from the Government adopting eInvoicing made three recommendations.
She said these were to encourage Agencies to adopt eInvoicing at a time that aligned with their business plans and needs; to adopt eInvoicing in a way that was consistent with the Digital Business Council’s interoperability framework; and to work with the Government’s Shared and Common Services program to implement eInvoicing where possible.
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Digital Transformation, Michael Keenan said eInvoicing aligned with the Government’s broader ambitions to deliver faster and easier to use digital services.
Mr Keenan said eInvoicing could result in economy-wide benefits of up to $28 billion over 10 years.
He said a trans-Tasman working group had been established to support industry to standardise eInvoicing processes in Australia and New Zealand.
He said the working group included members from the Australian Taxation Office, the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, the Department of Jobs and Small Business, the Digital Transformation Agency, the Treasury, and the New Zealand Government.
Representatives from State and Territory Governments will also be invited to take part.
