Mandatory e-invoicing for NSW agencies from 2022

E-invoicing will be mandatory for all NSW government agencies from 1 January 2022. The mandate will apply to the delivery of goods and services up to the value of $1 million.

The mandate will help reduce payment times, paperwork and manual errors, and save buyers and suppliers a significant amount of money, said NSW Minister for Digital and Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello.

“There is an estimated shared saving of around $20 each time e-invoicing replaces a paper invoice and around $17 each time it replaces a PDF invoice,” Dominello said.

“Based on the 4.2 million invoices across NSW Government in 2019, a shared saving between the suppliers and NSW Government is estimated to be $71 million.”

Funding was allocated through the Digital Restart Fund to set up an e-invoicing service.

Research suggests that e-invoicing rates in Australia range from 15% for small businesses to 23% for large businesses, compared to 28% across Europe and 40% in Denmark and Finland.

NSW Minister for Finance and Small Business Damien Tudehope said, “This mandate will enhance the government’s existing Faster Payment Terms Policy, by ensuring that the accounts payable teams in government agencies receive invoices within minutes, enabling payment to eligible small businesses within five business days.”

Suppliers will have the option to use e-invoicing or continue to invoice government agencies through existing means.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Andrey Popov