NZBNs & eInvoicing – what you need to know

What is an NZBN?

A New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) is a globally unique identifier, which most New Zealand businesses can apply for. The NZBN helps businesses connect to each other, share reliable information, create efficiency and verify whether a business is legitimate. Companies are automatically allocated an NZBN and it is included on the Companies Register. Other types of entities can apply for an NZBN eg. partnerships, trusts, sole traders, charitable trusts, incorporated societies, etc.

Other countries have similar identifiers. The NZBN and ABN (Australian Business Number) will be mutually recognised in each country.

What is eInvoicing?

eInvoicing is more innovative than simply receiving a pdf invoice by email and uploading it into your software. Instead, eInvoicing works by automatically bringing the supplier’s invoice into your software via Peppol’s secure public network, direct from the supplier’s software. For example, if Xero is your software, the invoice from the supplier is brought in as a draft bill with fields such as date, due date, invoice number, supplier, amount, GST and invoice detail/line items automatically populated where possible, ready for you to approve. For the customer, this minimises manual data entry and reduces the risk of errors. Benefits for the supplier include more prompt payment by customers.

Can my business use eInvoicing?

Both the customer and supplier need to be registered for e-invoicing to take place for a particular transaction. Several popular software companies, including Xero and MYOB are equipped with eInvoicing capabilities. Check if your software is registered and ready with eInvoicing. You can then register to receive eInvoices through your software provider. There are a few steps involved to get ready to send eInvoices. You can refer to einvoicing.govt.nz for further information on this topic.

At this stage, much of the benefit of using eInvoicing is in dealing with government agencies. This is because currently, it is mostly these larger agencies that have eInvoicing enabled. When assisting clients with eInvoicing we have discovered that not many small to medium businesses are registered for eInvoicing yet. Both sides to the transaction are required to be registered, so the benefits of registering for eInvoicing will grow over time as the number of smaller businesses registering increases. There is a list of the government agencies that currently have eInvoicing enabled on this website page.

Links for further info:

Applying for an NZBN

eInvoicing

eInvoicing with government

eInvoicing with Xero

eInvoicing with MYOB

For more information or help with NZBNs or eInvoicing, please contact your Nexia advisor or get in touch via our general contact information.