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eInvoicing value assessment questionnaire

A questionnaire to help you develop a value case to decide the potential return on investment (ROI) of eInvoicing.

Last updated 2 November 2022

This questionnaire will help you develop a value case to decide the potential return on investment (ROI) for adopting Peppol eInvoicing.

The insights gained should be developed in partnership with contract managers, procurement and IT teams, and shared with your Chief Financial Officer and other decision makers. It should guide your approach to eInvoicing adoption and its value proposition.

If you need support or have questions about the eInvoicing value assessment questionnaire, email eInvoicing@ato.gov.au.

Questionnaire

Read through the questionnaire below or download the PDF version eInvoicing value assessment questionnaire (PDF 913 KB)This link will download a file.

Section 1: Business profile

  1. How many full-time equivalent (FTE) employees does your business have?
  2. How many FTE employees are engaged in invoice processing?  
    1. Only incoming invoices (accounts payable).
    2. Only outgoing invoices (accounts receivable).
    3. Both incoming and outgoing.
  3. How much time in FTE hours/days does your business spend on invoice processing each month?
  4. How much money does it cost your business to process each invoice? Include staffing and other resource costs.
  5. Do you use another business or third party to provide accounts payable services?
  6. Do you use another business or third party to provide accounts receivable services?
  7. Who are your key external influencers? For example, industry association. Consider who you can turn to for support and guidance where needed.
  8. Who are your key stakeholders? For example, Chief Financial Officer or head of procurement.

Section 2: Invoicing profile (provide estimates if numbers are unknown)

  1. What proportion of your purchases do not require an invoice?
  2. As a supplier, how many invoices did you send to non-consumer customers in the last financial year?
  3. As a buyer, how many invoices did you receive in the last financial year from suppliers?
  4. Which services/suppliers cause you the most difficulty when processing accounts payable invoices? Why? Provide a brief description.
  5. What volume and proportion of invoices cause difficulties in payables? Why?
  6. What volume and proportion of invoices cause difficulties in receivables? Why?

Section 3: Invoice processing

Supplier invoices (accounts payable)

  1. How do you receive invoices from your suppliers and in what proportion?
  2. In what format/s do you receive invoices from suppliers and in what proportion?
  3. How many internal processing systems do you use to process invoices? How would you describe each?

Note: You may need to answer the questions below for each internal processing system. This may help you identify the best place to start a Peppol eInvoicing pilot.

  1. How do you capture supplier invoice data?
  2. What data extraction and related software tools do you use?
  3. What is your invoice data extraction error/exception rate?
  4. How do you verify invoice data?
  5. How do you verify that the goods have been received?
  6. How do you approve invoices for payment?
  7. What workflow system/tools do you use to process invoices for payment?
  8. What are the usual payment terms for your suppliers?
  9. How often do you pay your suppliers?
  10. What percentage of your supplier payments do you make on time?

Customer invoices (accounts receivable)

  1. How many systems do you use to generate and send invoices? How would you describe each?

Note: You may need to answer the questions below for each system. This may help you identify the best place to start a Peppol eInvoicing pilot.

  1. What software do you use to generate invoices?
  2. What software do you use to manage outstanding invoices and payment receipts?
  3. What channels do you use to send invoices and in what proportion?
  4. In what format/s do you send invoices to customers and in what proportion?
  5. What proportion of invoices you send are matched to a purchase order?
  6. What are your standard payment terms for customers?
  7. What percentage of your receivables are paid on time?
  8. Do you offer early payment discounts?

Section 4: Awareness and willingness to adopt

  1. What would motivate decisionmakers in your business to adopt eInvoicing?
  2. What reason(s) best describe the barriers or any reluctance you or others in your organisation might have to adopt eInvoicing?
  3. Does the Australian Government’s Payment Times Reporting SchemeExternal Link apply to your business? eInvoicing may assist with compliance.
  4. Are you aware of the Australian Government’s Supplier Pay On-Time or Pay Interest PolicyExternal Link?
  5. When do you think your business is likely to implement eInvoicing?

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