Table 5 Typical phases in a Peppol implementation project
# |
Phase |
Description |
Responsibility |
1 |
Definitions |
Definition of information content and agreeing project timeline |
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 iPaaS service 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 |
The buyer and the supplier test that the agreed data is transferred between the systems without errors |
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 suppliers |
The buyer and the supplier actively invite other customers/suppliers to start exchanging Peppol messages |
R1: Owner of billing process (supplier organisation) R3: Owner of purchase invoice handling process (buyer organisation) |
The implementation is a one-off project, with only minor configuration and testing required when onboarding suppliers/customers. Generally, this will be true for suppliers and customers using bespoke systems.
On average, your setup cost can vary between $10,000 – $100,000. So, the payback and ROI calculations in this assessment are based on the average implementation cost of $50,000. However, your investment cost may be much lower if you are using an eInvoicing-ready product. For details, see How to get started.
The adoption of Peppol eInvoicing is currently in its early stages. However, the network is growing, with greater awareness and much stronger take-up observed since 2022. The Australian government and NSW state government are leading the way and have mandated their agencies to receive Peppol eInvoices, with eligible and valid eInvoices paid in 5 days. As the market develops, it is expected that implementation costs will decrease.
Change management
Once the setup is completed, customers and suppliers can be onboarded simply by exchanging their Peppol address information. This Peppol address is called your Peppol ID and includes your ABN.
This assessment doesn’t provide detailed costs for your change management because there are many variables. Attempting to accommodate for such variables, like your adoption rate and internal change management approaches, would overcomplicate this assessment.
You should assess any change requirements and include them in your project costs and resource this according to how quickly you want to transition your trading partners to Peppol. To minimise the change impacts as part of your transition to Peppol, the adoption rate applied in this assessment is limited to your top 5 suppliers and/or customers. You may want to set a higher target if you want to realise the full benefits of Peppol sooner.
The Peppol DirectoryExternal Link will help you find out which of your trading partners are registered on the network to receive eInvoices. Some software products have automated this process.
For more information, see Identifying Australian entities registered on the Peppol network.
The work involved in onboarding your trading partners should not be underestimated as their business requirements and systems will vary. Many businesses have benefited from dedicating staff and resources specifically to onboarding customers and/or suppliers to the Peppol channel. As the Peppol network matures and as more participants register and become more familiar with Peppol eInvoicing, the effort required to onboard trading partners will diminish.
For further information see Onboarding trading partners for large businesses.