Australia Tries Its Hand At E-Invoicing

Electronic invoicing within government entities is a proven way to reduce fraud and wasted federal funds. Research shows countries in South America are leading the charge, while Europe and the United States have lagged behind.

Now, the Australian government is trying its hand at eInvoicing. Reports Monday (May 1) said Australia’s federal Industry department has just sent its first invoice to a private sector supplier following regulatory efforts to standardize government eInvoicing.

The agency is reportedly using the MessageXchange B2B cloud messaging service to send eInvoices; the platform is already used as an electronic data interchange for large corporations in the country.

“E-invoicing will deliver benefits to our suppliers, including grant recipients, but it will also allow the department to streamline its internal accounts payable processes,” said agency Chief Operating Officer Michael Schwager in a statement. “These, in turn, will generate efficiencies and improve the timeliness of payments to suppliers.”

The government approved eInvoicing standards last year by the Digital Business Council, which estimates that eInvoicing could save Australian businesses up to $7.5 billion every year. Eventually, the standards could apply to international transactions in the future, reports said, though added that they have not yet gained widespread adoption.

The eInvoice standard uses a digital framework that supports message-level encryption, receipt and delivery notifications and other features, reports said.