eInvoicing

This release introduces support for eInvoicing. eInvoicing is a joint Australian and New Zealand government initiative that facilitates electronic exchange of invoices directly between a biller’s and a debtor’s software.

eInvoicing uses the PEPPOL international eProcurement framework, which provides a standardised format for exchange of invoice data. An invoice is sent from the biller’s software to an eInvoicing gateway, which then forwards the invoice to the debtor’s receipting system over the PEPPOL network.

Some of the benefits of eInvoicing are:

• Improved security

eInvoicing reduces the possibility of fraud as invoices are delivered over a secure network by approved gateway providers. Senders and receivers are identified on the eInvoicing network by the company Australian Business Number (ABN) or New Zealand Business Number (NZBN).

• Improved payment terms

Due to the reduced administration overheads, in many cases debtors offer better payment terms if they are billed through eInvoicing, which has positive cash flow effects for your business.

For example, Australian government departments offer five-day payment terms if invoices are delivered via eInvoicing.

• Cost reductions

Paper and PDF invoices cost approximately between A$27 and A$30 to process. That cost can be reduce to less than A$10 per invoice when using eInvoicing.

• Single Delivery Point

Invoices can be delivered to a range of debtors through a single delivery gateway without the need to integrate with a variety of Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) systems.

Important information about eInvoicing

The following must be noted about eInvoicing and the implementation of eInvoicing functionality in FastTrack360:

• Debtors may require specific data to be provided in an eInvoice to facilitate automatic processing of eInvoices in the receiving systems. FastTrack360 cannot necessarily cater for all combinations of data that various receiving systems might require. Therefore, before you commit to using eInvoicing to bill a debtor, please read Debtor eInvoice Processing Requirements to understand the limitations of eInvoicing in FastTrack360.

• eInvoicing supports delivery of invoices to debtors with an Australian Business Number (ABN) or a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) only. eInvoices cannot be delivered to debtors outside of Australia and New Zealand.

• Because connection to the PEPPOL network is through a gateway marketplace partner, and because use of the PEPPOL network is not free of charge, there is an additional cost to using eInvoicing in FastTrack360. Usage is billed on tiered, estimated volume basis. For more information, see What you need to do before commencing eInvoicing below.

• To receive an eInvoice, the debtor must register their ABN or NZBN as a receiving party on the PEPPOL network. Therefore, before attempting to send eInvoices to a debtor, ensure you check with the debtor that they are registered. Alternatively, you can search the PEPPOL directory to check if the debtor is registered.

• Because FastTrack360 is not an accounts receivable system, receipting of eInvoices must be done in your 3rd party financials system.

• The PEPPOL standard does not support negative bill rate (price amount) values. If an invoice includes an invoice item with a negative bill rate, delivery of the invoice will fail due to PEPPOL validation. Because of this, it is important that negative bill rates are not used if an invoice is to be delivered via eInvoicing. However, negative bill quantity values are acceptable.

• Monetary amounts on an eInvoice must be rounded to two decimal places, which may result in rounding differences. Because of this, FastTrack360 may inject rounding lines into eInvoices to ensure the invoices balance and are not prevented from being delivered by the PEPPOL network. For more information, see Important Information About Rounding On eInvoices.

What you need to do before commencing eInvoicing

Before you commence using eInvoicing in fastTrack360, you must contact your FastTrack account manager and inform them of your intent to use the functionality. Your account manager will:

• Discuss which pricing tier is appropriate for your expected invoicing volumes and what the associated costs will be.

• Arrange for the Access Client Success team to issue you with an Access Workspace ID. The Access Workspace ID is required to track your usage volumes through the PEPPOL network gateway so that your usage can be billed.

Once you have been issued a Workspace ID, you will need to do the following in the FastTrack360 Billing module:

• for each Billing Company that is to issue eInvoices, complete the registration process (for more information, see Billing Company eInvoicing Registration)

• for each Debtor who is to receive eInvoices, configure the invoice delivery details to set eInvoicing as the delivery mechanism (for more information, see Debtor eInvoicing Delivery Enhancements).