Guide for software providers

Getting started – Network accessibility

Access point providers are secure gateways that connect businesses to the eInvoicing network. To offer eInvoicing services you can:

• work with a third-party access point provider
• apply to become your own access point.

There is a common network approach across New Zealand and Australia that brings consistency in the way eInvoicing standards are incorporated into existing or new software products.

Find out more about the eInvoicing framework (Peppol)

Work with a third-party access point provider

Partner with an accredited access point provider to connect your product to the Peppol network. To do this you can:

• incorporate the common Peppol data standards in your software and pass the data through the access point provider’s gateway, or
• keep your current data format and your access point provider converts the data and passes it through their gateway.

View the list of accredited Access Point providers

Be your own access point

To do this you need to complete the New Zealand (NZ) Peppol Authority accreditation process. You'll then be published on our eInvoicing accredited access point providers list.

You can also choose to be recognised by the Australian Peppol Authority as an accredited Australian access point provider.

Find out more about becoming an Access Point provider

How to become an eInvoicing enabled software provider

Send solutions

Software must be able to send eInvoices on the Peppol network to any buyer that is registered on the Peppol network, using the A-NZ extension to the Peppol specification.

To promote interoperability, we strongly recommend that software be able to support the following Best Practice fields:

1. Invoice Payment Due Date
2. Supplier GST identifier
3. Supplier contact details
4. Payee financial account
5. Payment remittance information
6. Additional description for item
7. Reference number (Purchase Order, Buyer Reference, Contract, Project, Tender)
8. Document attachments.

Industry Practice Statement – Invoice Content: Download page(external link) — GitHub

Also consider the following:

• To send an eInvoice, users need to know their trading partner’s New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) – does your software have a place to record this? 
• How will users know which of their customers are registered to receive eInvoices? We recommend providing look-up capability to check if a customer NZBN is registered with Peppol
• Consider how you will remember customer eInvoicing preferences (for example, a tickbox to trigger eInvoicing as the default future send channel)
• Plan your data mapping carefully - the A-NZ Peppol eInvoicing Business Guide covers some tips and common pitfalls from an end user perspective
• Consider how references used on your interface will translate in an eInvoicing context and try to name them accordingly. For example, a reference called “customer order” ideally will map to the order reference field
• Work with your access point provider to ensure any delivery issues are communicated to end users in a clear and timely manner (error messages)
• Let your customers know eInvoicing is available and how to get started (user guides/ instructions).

Business Guide [DOCX, 2.2 MB]

Receive solutions

Software must be able to ingest Peppol eInvoices from suppliers on the Peppol network, using the A-NZ extension to the Peppol specification.

Consider the following:

• To promote interoperability, we recommend that software should be able to ingest data contained in the Best Practice fields listed above.
• Users must complete a one-time Peppol network registration to receive eInvoices – ideally you will keep this simple (note that senders are not required to register to send eInvoices). You may wish to complete a one-time registration of all customers initially.
• Your users need a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) to register for eInvoicing – does your software already have a field to record this?​
• Consider how you will display a ‘natural view’ of an eInvoices within the user interface of your software (for example, a rendered invoice mock-up of the XML eInvoice, or rendered PDF invoice that sits alongside the eInvoice).​
• ​Let your customers know eInvoicing is available and how to get started (user guides/ instructions).​