Implementation project overview

Implementing eInvoicing in your organisation

The scope, features, and timeline of an eInvoicing implementation project will largely depend on your organisation’s technology architecture.

To help estimate the level of effort required, the eInvoicing value assessment calculator provides an indicative assessment based on your selected system type.

Note: This tool doesn't account for change management related to people and processes, which should be evaluated separately based on your organisation’s specific circumstances.

Commercial off-the-shelf products

Some software products are already eInvoicing enabled, which means that they can connect you to the Peppol network to send and receive eInvoices ‘out of the box’.

If your software product is eInvoicing ReadyExternal Link your eInvoicing implementation project should be relatively fast and straightforward.

This may depend on several factors, such as:

how the product supports eInvoicing – for example, does it only send or receive invoices, or both
whether you are required to upgrade your software to use eInvoicing – for example, move to the latest version of the product, migrate to their cloud product, or enable a particular module of a product.

If you're planning to procure a new software product, you should consider whether it is eInvoicing Ready.

Procuring an access point to eInvoice

If your software product is not eInvoicing Ready or is unable to connect to the Peppol network natively, you will need to procure the services of an Australian–New Zealand accredited access point to connect to the Peppol network.

The procurement of an access point will take more effort and may include:

a tender process to select an access point
integration and configuration between the access point and your software, including agreeing to
- the format of data and possible conversion of data to the Peppol xml format
- the data elements to be sent or received
- the protocol used to send or receive data– for example, SFTP or API
testing of the integration solution between your access point and your software.

The indicative implementation project complexity, timeframes and resourcing are listed in the following table.

Table 1: Implementation project complexity
Product type	Product characteristics	Complexity
eInvoicing Ready product	Peppol connection and native format available	Low
AP automation software/OCR	Multiple integrations plus access point setup	Medium
AR automation/billing software	Multiple integrations plus access point setup	Medium
Document management software	Multiple integrations plus access point setup	Medium
ERP	New modules and upgrades may be required, plus access point setup	Medium
Industry-specific software	New modules and upgrades may be required, plus access point setup	Medium
Bespoke or custom software	Changes to software plus access point setup	High
EDI solution	Remapping each EDI connection to Peppol plus access point setup	High

For further information see How to get started with eInvoicing.

Table 2: Implementation project in calendar days
Peppol eInvoicing implementation project complexity	Days
Minimum	14
Maximum	90
Typical	30

Table 3: Internal resourcing for connecting to the Peppol network
Resourcing profile for a Peppol eInvoicing project	% work time
Finance resource	20
IT resource	20

Implementation project phases

Table 1: Typical phases in a Peppol implementation project
Number	Phase	Description	Responsibility
1	Definitions	Definition of information content and agreeing project timeline and scope.	R1: Owner of billing process (supplier organisation) R2: Supplier’s service provider R3: Owner of purchase invoice handling process (buyer organisation) R4: Buyer's service provider R5 and R6: ERP vendor consultants R7: Integration consultant (rarely)
2	Integration	Enable and exchange integration information.	R2: Supplier’s service provider R4: Buyer's service provider R5 and R6: ERP vendor consultants R7: Integration consultant (rarely)
3	Conversion from ERP format to Peppol format	Typically, this work is done by the Peppol service provider. Less often, this work is carried out by an ERP supplier or an Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) provider.	R2: Supplier’s service provider R4: Buyer's service provider R5 and R6: ERP vendor consultants R7: Integration consultant (rarely)
4	User acceptance testing	Using a test trading partner, test that the agreed data is transferred between systems across the Peppol network without errors and as intended.	R1: Owner of billing process (supplier organisation) R3: Owner of purchase invoice handling process (buyer organisation)
5	Moving to production	Functionalities are transferred to production use. The parties will make the necessary changes.	R1: Owner of billing process (supplier organisation) R2: Supplier’s service provider R3: Owner of purchase invoice handling process (buyer organisation) R4: Buyer's service provider R5 and R6: ERP vendor consultants R7: Integration consultant (rarely)
6	Extend the use to other trading partners	Actively invite other customers or suppliers to start exchanging Peppol messages.	R1: Owner of billing process (supplier organisation) R3: Owner of purchase invoice handling process (buyer organisation)

eInvoicing setup costs

Phases in a Peppol implementation project and change management.