Post-pandemic, we can see the remote work trend continuing, especially for knowledge workers. While much has been made of the changes to the way we work over the last couple of years, businesses were already adopting digital systems and incorporating them into their workplaces. Especially for governments and international businesses, the benefits have been clear for a long time:

a) facilitate greater cooperation and efficiency when working across offices.

b) automate repetitive manual processes.

While digital transformation is seen as one of the pillars driving efficiency, better value for customers and greater profits/ savings for businesses themselves, it is no longer just a smart alternative, but rather a matter of survival for businesses working in an increasingly international and competitive market that has been hit by wage stagnation, mass job losses and revised consumer spending habits.

In this article we will take a quick look at what digital transformation looks like, what Peppol is, how its benefits can be a part of your company’s digital transformation, and how to connect to the network.   

Peppol is being mandated in new countries and regions at an increasing pace. And being Peppol ready can make the difference between gaining more business and losing existing business.

As mentioned above, digital transformation is a necessary part of any business’ strategy, whether that be expansion, greater profits or simply holding a segment of the market in turbulent conditions. 

In a nutshell, digital transformation can be defined as digitizing the internal and/ or customer-facing processes that govern your business. This catch-all definition is about as granular as you can get when addressing public and private bodies of all shapes and sizes. Digital transformation looks different for everyone, depending on the customer and their needs, the employees, and of course, the sector that the organization operates in.

Here are just some of the considerations that can help guide the process:

Answering these questions can help you understand whether your business lends itself to digitalization and whether it is likely to be sustainable.

As Peppol experts, we´ll be looking at this issue through the lens of businesses that frequently send and receive e-documents, such as public sector organizations and private companies that are involved in trade, manufacturing, software services, and accounting, just to name a few.

For the organizations that are involved in procurement and the issuing/processing of invoices, we believe that Peppol satisfies the considerations above, and we will look at why that is in the next section. First, however, we need to explain what Peppol is and examine its general benefits.

Peppol (historical meaning): (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line)

Peppol started off as a project funded by the European Commission and 11 member states, in order to simplify eDelivery through a common standard across member states. In short Peppol is a set of standards and technical specifications ensuring the secure and rapid transfer of electronic documents globally. Peppol’s components ensure interoperability of for eg. eInvoices and other eProcurement documents, facilitating easier global trade and full compliance with the regulatory requirements and taxation laws of transacting parties’ respective countries.

OpenPeppol, the non-profit authority that governs the Peppol standards and specifications, highlights the following advantages that make Peppol practical and worthwhile for both public sector organizations and private companies.

Peppol’s freedom comes from the four-corner model, which means a business, through an Access Point, has equal access to every participant in the Peppol network, regardless of the service provider used to connect.

To read more about Peppol Access Points and the four-corner model look here

The Peppol standard’s benefits that were highlighted above were more theoretical in nature, mapped out at the start of the project. Many new projects can boast the same lofty ideals, but Peppol actually works, which is precisely why it is being adopted by governments around the world. Here we’ll provide some more tangible benefits that have been found by those who have been using the network successfully for years:

Reduced costs – eInvoice processing costs slashed – Handling paper or PDF invoices incur significant costs for both the sender and receiver. The Australian Tax Office (ATO),  a Peppol Authority, calculated that eInvoicing can cut costs by approximately 67%.

Fewer errors and faster payments – With Peppol, electronic business documents are guaranteed to reach the recipient, with automation and Peppol specifications making sure of good data quality and fewer manual errors. This means faster payments for the businesses that need it.  

Easy ERP integration – For companies using SAP or other ERP solutions, they can easily connect their system to Peppol without having to purchase a new system. As well as simple API integration. Peppol services such as Tickstar also offer intuitive interfaces that make interacting with the Peppol directory and network as easy as possible.

Lower risk of fraud – eInvoicing fraud costs organizations billions of dollars annually. Authentication processes and the security of the network itself lowers the risk of hacking and fraudulent transactions.

Environmentally friendly – eInvoicing eliminates paper, requires fewer energy resources, and makes no demands on physical storage space.

Going back to the five questions that should be considered when approaching digital transformation, we can now better see why Peppol passed the criteria with flying colors.

From 2018, Peppolhas gone from a pan-European initiative to a global network, with growth in the North American, Asian and Trans-Tasman regions, and the establishment of Peppol Authorities in Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

The birthplace of Peppol, there are now 18 Peppol Authorities in Europe that help set and manage local regulations. A Peppol Authority in a country is a sign that implementation is being encouraged, as seen with the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Belgium, which boast some of the highest numbers of registered Peppol participants, and widespread use throughout both the public and private sectors.

The first country outside of Europe to join the Peppol network at a governmental level, Singapore’s Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) joined as a Peppol Authority in 2018 and, has been encouraging B2G and B2B transactions through InvoiceNow since 2019. In addition to different grant programs, in February 2023 the country took another step forward, further promoting adoption by making InvoiceNow and Peppol the default choice for government vendors.

The strong push seems to be working, as an analysis of the Peppol directory from Singapore shows high numbers of registered participants. To support local requirements, Singapore is using an extension of Peppol 3.0 BIS billing.

According to an Australian Treasury assessment from 2021, 90% of businesses continued to fully or partly use manual processes when invoicing. While the situation has improved, we can still safely say that the majority of businesses, especially SMEs, are not taking full advantage of eInvoicing capabilities.
Currently, there are over 33,000 Australian entities registered in the global Peppol directory, with the B2B sector following in the footsteps of government agencies. In fact, over the 2022-23 financial year, Australia had the third largest growth (both in relative and absolute terms) of Peppol participants in the world.
As Peppol expands, Australian public and private sector businesses are poised to benefit, making good on the 2020 governmental estimates that predicted $28 billion saved over the next 10 years.

Unlike other countries, New Zealand has not put many hard regulations on public sector authorities or private businesses to start transacting through eInvoices. Central government agencies were required to be able to receive invoices electronically from March 31, 2022, but outside of that, New Zealand’s Peppol Authority, The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), has relied on simply promoting the many benefits of eInvoicing as a way to achieve the target of a 90% eInvoice rate from business to Central Government by July 2026.

So far, things seem to be working — in the past year, the Peppol network has gained over 10,000 new registered participants. This places New Zealand in the top 10 countries with the highest absolute growth, and the top 5 for the highest relative growth of participants in the world.

In 2021, Japan’s Digital Agency became the 17th country to have a local Peppol Authority. Supported by the E-Invoice Promotion Association (EIPA), both bodies advocate for the Peppol framework as the best option for B2G and B2B eInvoicing.

With the launch of Japan’s Qualified E-invoice system in October 2023, Peppol use will only increase, ensuring public and private sector entities can efficiently transact E-documents with complete compliance.

If your business is able to process Peppol formats then you may have the capabilities to get your own Access Point. However, accreditation with OpenPeppol is not an easy task, requiring fees, declarations, development, testing, certifications, and maintenance. We delve deeper into the accreditation process in this article.

The easiest way for big and small businesses is to sign up with an eInvoicing service provider, such as Tickstar. By implementing our service either as a white-labeled or shared instance, you can effectively implement Peppol in your business without any of the technical hassle associated with being part of the network. We handle onboarding, hosting, and support, so you can start transacting with private and public sector companies with the Peppol standard for invoice generation in a matter of days.

Contact Tickstar Team to see how Peppol can be an integral part of your company’s digital transformation.