Government eInvoicing and prompt payment rules take effect

Under the new rules, mandated agencies must send and receive eInvoices and pay 95% of them within 5 business days and other domestic trade invoices within 10 days.

“eInvoicing and prompt payment go hand in hand to deliver benefits for businesses,” says Michael Alp, General Manager New Zealand Government Procurement and co-Chair of the Australian New Zealand eInvoicing Board.

“That’s what these new rules are designed to do, improve cash flow to businesses – especially small businesses – as well as setting a high standard for financial efficiency and transparency across the public sector.

What is eInvoicing

eInvoicing is the direct digital exchange of invoice information directly between buyers’ and suppliers’ systems via the secure global Peppol network (Pan-European Public Procurement Online interoperability framework).

It eliminates the need for paper or emailed PDF invoices, reduces manual data entry and significantly improves accuracy, security and processing speed.

The NZ Government adopted Peppol in 2019, managed by MBIE, and is committed to the widespread adoption of eInvoicing. MBIE estimates that it is expected to deliver productivity savings of $4.4 billion over the next decade. (Source: Deloitte Access Economics (2016): The economic impact of eInvoicing.)

eInvoicing and prompt payments making momentum

“eInvoicing is growing rapidly with more than 52,000 businesses already registered, up by more than 400% over the last 24 months, and more than 650,000 eInvoices exchanged to date” says Alan Carnaby, Director Smart Data Economy at the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

“Over 100 agencies must make prompt payments, and more than 60 are equipped to send or receive eInvoices, with additional agencies expected to follow - there is a significant incentive for more business to become eInvoicing capable.

Under the new rules, agencies must also report quarterly to MBIE on payment times, with results published on the MBIE website.

“Publishing agency performance data reinforces accountability and provides a clear signal about expected payment behaviour.

Accelerating Momentum

Large businesses are also driving eInvoicing adoption with significant volumes of eInvoices being sent and received in New Zealand. Some of which include Xero, Bunnings, OfficeMax, Datacom, NXP, FarmSource (Fonterra), and Robert Walters. *

Other high-volume invoice senders including those from the energy and telecommunications sectors are also set to join early 2026.

“The telcos and energy sector ramping up their focus on eInvoicing with billing over the next 6 months will be great for Small and Medium Enterprises. With these businesses receiving telco eInvoices it will help reduce their administration time with no need for manually entering invoice details into their accounting systems.

Likewise, New Zealand businesses that send eInvoices to large corporates such as Westpac, and Woolworths, among the top receivers of eInvoices from New Zealand suppliers, will benefit from no lost invoices and less chasing payment.

“Ultimately, eInvoicing is pivotal to a better future for small businesses in New Zealand as part of a range of Government digitisation initiatives such as NZ Business Number, Digital Identity, Credentials, and the new prompt payments rules. The more businesses and organisations that use it, the more everyone will benefit, particularly our small businesses,” says Mr Carnaby.

*Many of these developments are highlighted in published case studies (OfficeMax, Datacom, Woolworths, Westpac, Xero) on our website.

Government payment times(external link)

Case studies

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