Kiwi businesses are on track to achieve up to NZD 800 million in annual productivity gains once eInvoicing is fully adopted, with uptake already more than doubling in the past year as businesses get paid faster and spend less time on paperwork.
Around 113,000 businesses are now registered to receive eInvoices, up from 52,000 earlier this year. eInvoicing lets businesses send and receive invoices directly between their accounting systems, without printing, emailing, or manually entering numbers.
"For small businesses, cash is king. Late payments choke cashflow, and that's exactly what this fixes. eInvoicing helps you get paid faster, cuts the admin, and reduces invoice fraud and scams," said Small Business and Manufacturing Minister Cameron Brewer.
The NZD 800 million figure comes from new research by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), which finds businesses can save at least 16 minutes on every invoice, or around NZD 11 each, just by making the switch.
"It's one of the simplest, proven productivity wins going. If you've got cloud accounting, you've already got eInvoicing sitting there ready to switch on.”
According to Brewer, the Government has led the charge with its own prompt payments, which it initiated and continued to closely monitor.
“The results speak for themselves and mean more cash into our local communities, faster.”
Government agencies have set a target of paying 95 percent of invoices within 10 working days, and last quarter they beat it, paying 95.9 percent on time across more than 1.6 million invoices.
"We're not just asking businesses to make the switch; we're doing it ourselves. When the government pays on time, that money flows straight through to the small businesses and subcontractors down the chain.”
To lock in that lead, from January 2027, large businesses will be required to send eInvoices when billing government agencies, with subcontractors paid on terms no less favourable than those large firms receive.
"This is about making it easier to do business in New Zealand. It's fixing the basics and building the future, so Kiwi businesses have the incentives and the tools to get paid faster and lift productivity.”
More local FMCG news here
