Government strengthens eInvoicing and payment rules to drive efficiency and support for small businesses

In October Hon Minister Nicola Willis announced the fifth edition of the Government Procurement Rules (Rules) which introduces 2 new requirements aimed at supporting small businesses and encouraging large businesses to adopt eInvoicing. These rules take effect from 1 December 2025.

Government Procurement Rules(external link) — NZ Government Procurement

Under the Rules government agencies are required to:

• Ensure suppliers pay subcontractors on government contracts on terms no less favourable than those they receive from government.
• From 1 January 2027, ensure large suppliers send eInvoices. Large suppliers are defined as entities (including subsidiaries) with total annual revenue exceeding $33 million.

“These new rules will further improve payment times to small subcontracting businesses and accelerate eInvoicing adoption with our large businesses,” says Alan Carnaby, Director Smart Data Economy.

“They will help ensure the government continues to lead by example in supporting better cashflow and fairer payment practices for suppliers and now their subcontractors.”

These changes build on the rules introduced in November 2024, which require mandated government agencies to:

• Pay 90% of domestic trade invoices within 10 business days from 1 January 2025, increasing to 95% by 1 January 2026.
• Implement eInvoicing send and receive capability by 1 January 2026 if the agency sends or receives over 2,000 domestic trade invoices annually.
• Pay 95% of domestic trade eInvoices within 5 business days from 1 January 2026 and report payment times via Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

What this means for suppliers to government

Suppliers must now pass on the payment terms above, that is if a supplier is benefiting from a 5 or 10-day payment from government, then their subcontractors on government contracts, should also benefit from the same terms.

These new rules provide further confidence for businesses to adopt eInvoicing and realise the benefits already being experienced by many New Zealand organisations. Businesses trading with government agencies will increasingly be required to send eInvoices instead of emailed PDFs, and eInvoicing requirements will progressively be included in contracts.

This means suppliers should begin preparing to implement eInvoicing capability to meet future contractual obligations.

“Businesses who trade with government organisations can expect eInvoicing to become the norm,” says Alan. “Once implemented, these rules will provide an extra cash flow incentive to send eInvoices to government. It will also help accelerate wider adoption of eInvoicing.”

“The more businesses who send and receive eInvoices, the more they’ll benefit from time-savings, no lost invoices, faster payment, and reduced risk of invoice fraud. Our economy will perform better,” Alan Carnaby adds.

Get started

Check if your software supports eInvoicing and ask your provider how to get set up:

• eInvoicing software products
• eInvoicing Access Point providers

For more information:

• Advice for large businesses
• Advice for government agencies
• Advice for businesses trading with government

Webinars for large businesses

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s eInvoicing team will be offering webinars to support large suppliers in their transition to eInvoicing. 

You can register for an initial webinar “Transition to eInvoicing: Preparing large suppliers for government requirements”, which will take place on 19 November 2025. This webinar will cover the Government Procurement Rules, eInvoicing 101 and implementation pathways.

Register for “Transition to eInvoicing: Preparing large suppliers for government requirements”(external link)

You can also register an expression of interest for other potential eInvoicing webinars. These expressions of interest close 7 November 2025.

Register an expression of interest for other webinars(external link)