F E AT U R Epolicy to support businesses that aree-invoicing-enabled.He notes that another key benefit is thatthere is less complexity “because businessescan use their own software to send thee-invoices, such as QuickBooks, MYOB,Xero or others, and there’s no need to logon to various portals or to navigate differentsystems”.There is also the aspect of increasedsecurity. “It operates 24 hours a day, sevendays a week. The address database is basedon the ABN [Australian Business Number]to make sure that the invoices go to theright people, and there is inbuilt securitybecause it does not rely on email.”In addition, the Australian accreditationprocess relies on “stringent securityrequirements, above and beyond the globalrequirements”. There is also an ABNvalidation process.“All these factors combined greatlymitigate the risk of fraud by usinge-invoicing.”HELPING CLIENTSKrunal Patel CPA, founder and partner ofCountX Business Solutions, is one of theearly adopters of e-invoicing in Australia and48 INTHEBLACK February 2023has helped many of his business clients makethe switch from paper-based invoicing.“I rolled out e-invoicing to my clientswell before COVID-19,” he says. “I like theidea of it, because I have seen it workingsuccessfully in other countries, like India.“There is a benefit for every level ofgovernment, business and industry.”For businesses to be able to adopte-invoicing, he says they need to have“all their ducks in a row”.“Your business name has to be up to date.Your ABN has to be up to date. You can’tsend an invoice from one system to anotherunless you have the ABN, business name andother system identifiers in place.”Patel says there are significantly morebenefits from the adoption of e-invoicing,such as greater efficiency and faster paymentprocessing, than there are challenges.“Practitioners need to take the lead withtheir clients. I’ve started a program with myclients – because some of them have beenfrustrated by not being able to relate their oldsystem to the new system – by training themon how to do it.“It’s important to do some hand holdingand to work closely with your clients, rightdown to the granular level.”ACCESSCPA Australia’sPublic Practicee-learning programLISTENto a CPA Australiapodcast one-invoicing
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