What do you need to prepare for eInvoicing? Your readiness checklist

So, you’re interested in implementing eInvoicing but unsure where to start? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve put together a few things you’ll need to think about.

Look at your business processes

This is to understand your current business processes and where eInvoicing could fit. Ask yourself:

• How many invoices are you processing?
• Are you sending invoices, receiving them or both?
• Do you work with suppliers or customers overseas?
• Are you looking to implement this with customers or suppliers, or are you complying with a partner’s requirement?

You’ll need this information to determine what solution is best for your business.

Gather information

If you’re going to send eInvoices, you’ll need to gather your trading partners’ eInvoicing identifiers – it’s usually an ABN or NZBN, but can be a GLN. The identifier is used by your eInvoicing Access Point to find your customers in the eInvoicing network. Your Access Point will also need your own identifier to register you in the network.

Get the relevant teams involved

It’s easy to have just one team take ownership of the project but it’s best to get all relevant business departments involved. By getting them involved, you’ll ensure that the solution suits everyone. The main departments are normally the finance and procurement teams, but it’s also important to include the IT team as it will involve your software.

Define your objectives

It’s important to think about what you’re trying to achieve – your business objectives – and how eInvoicing will help you achieve them. Defining these up front will help you keep on track throughout the project.

Review your software for eInvoicing

Before getting started with eInvoicing you will need to make sure your software is ready. Here are some things you should ask your invoicing software provider. Your Access Point may need this information to get you setup.

• Does your software support eInvoicing?
  • If so, to what extent? Some software providers will offer a fully-integrated solution, while others might produce a file and customers will have to find their own Access Points.
  • Does eInvoicing require an update or an additional cost?
• Does your software produce the Peppol file? If it doesn’t, your Access Point may be able to translate the file to the Peppol format.
• Is your software cloud based or on-premise?
• What connection protocol your software can work with?

Find an access point

There are a few things you should think about when looking at Access Point providers. These include:

• Technical capability
  Make sure they can get you connected with your partners and the Peppol network quickly and easily. You should also be looking for a provider that can offer other services to future proof your investment.
• Experience
  It is important to know about your provider’s experience and how they keep up to date with eInvoicing developments.
• Pricing and support
  Understand exactly how you will be charged and what support you will receive to avoid any conflict in the future.

Having the information in all the sections above will help you start the process of enabling eInvoicing.