21st April, 2021
A lack of awareness and understanding of eInvoicing could be costing New Zealand’s small business community up to 400,000 hours in admin time each month.
A quarter of New Zealand’s SMEs could be holding themselves back from saving nearly 400,000 hours* combined each month on invoicing, massively impacting productivity, according to research from MYOB.
The new insights highlighted an estimated one-in-five SMEs spend more than six hours per month on invoicing – while also estimating 3.4 of those hours could be eliminated with eInvoicing.
But, more than a third (37 percent) of New Zealand SMEs haven’t heard about eInvoicing and 35 percent admit they’re not confident in their knowledge of how eInvoicing works.
Key findings from the research:
There’s also a strong recognition of the major benefits of eInvoicing among NZ’s SMEs – with top benefits of those surveyed including:
The findings from MYOB’s poll have been revealed as the leading business management platform announces the release of its own eInvoicing solution.
Part of the confusion that lies around eInvoicing is almost certainly tied up in the name, with many still believing the term is synonymous with a PDF or emailed invoice, when in fact there’s a bit more to it.
Electronic invoicing (eInvoicing) is defined as the automated, digital exchanged of invoice information between the buyer’s and seller’s accounting systems.
As a result, eInvoicing presents a more secure alternative to other invoicing methods, while also reducing the friction associated with paying invoices due to errors, miscommunications or delayed communications.
MYOB senior sales manager (SME), Krissy Sadler-Bridge, explained that overcoming a lack of confidence to embrace digital solutions like eInvoicing, will play a pivotal role in helping achieve and maintain positive cashflow.
“We know that time is money for our SMEs, and now more than ever, having the ability to focus on their business and plan for growth is key to their survival and success.
“Our last Business Monitor highlighted that nearly half (46 percent) of SMEs have struggled with late payments from customers.
“Following up these payments not only creates extra work for many of these smaller operators, but the subsequent financial impact of late payments can be a huge burden.”
A number of New Zealand SMEs are already beginning to think ahead when it comes to their adoption of eInvoicing.
Nearly a third have started to plan around implementing eInvoicing in their business, with more than half (54 percent) of this group discussing their plans with their accountant and more than a third (38 percent), with the owner or manager of the business.
“Planning ahead will be key to ensuring a smooth transition to eInvoicing for local businesses,” said Sadler-Bridge.
“Not only will this minimise any potential teething problems, but it will also allow SMEs to be truly ready to take advantage of the benefits of e-invoicing.”
While the preparation side of things is fairly minimal, Sadler-Bridge recommends small businesses get started sooner in order to take advantage of the benefits sooner, too.
“This preparation should include taking the time to improve any gaps in knowledge of how e-invoicing works and learning more about the digital tools available to facilitate the processing of e-invoices, sorting an NZBN if needed, checking access point providers are PEPPOL-certified, and ensuring that the chosen e-invoicing solution meets your business needs.”
To deliver flexible eInvoicing solutions for New Zealand SMEs and offer a range of options that meet their needs, MYOB has partnered with four PEPPOL-certified access point providers, including LINK4, LUCA Plus and MessageXchange, for the roll out of its eInvoicing offering.
Small businesses eager to start sending eInvoices will find a quick and easy sign-up process for eInvoicing within MYOB Business.