Storecove makes e-Invoicing move on APAC
SaaS e-invoicing solution provider Storecove, based in The Netherlands, has established its Asia-Pacific presence with the successful acquisition of Squirrel Street’s e-invoicing business. Initially based in Australia, the company plans to set up Singapore as its Asia-Pacific centre of operations.
Storecove has also announced the appointment of Squirrel Street’s founder and CEO, Simon Foster as Storecove’s APAC general manager.
He founded Squirrel Street (formerly Shoeboxed Australia) in 2010, and is also the Vice President and e-Invoicing Lead of ABSIA - Australian Business Software Industry Association, and the NSW chair of the Pearcey Foundation. Squirrel Street will continue to operate its core Receipt & Invoice Management solution, with Foster retaining a seat on the board.
Storecove’s e-invoicing solutions are used widely by companies, service providers and government agencies across the European Union, with the EU mandating the use of e-invoicing between government contracting authorities and their suppliers, and encouraging its broader use more generally across businesses in the EU.
The e-invoicing standard adopted by the EU – Peppol – has also been adopted by both the Australian and New Zealand Governments as part of a trans-Tasman agreement to create an interoperability framework for e-invoicing that will increase opportunities for ANZ businesses to integrate with the global trading environment. The Australian Government estimates that with 1.2 billion invoices exchanged in Australia each year, the adoption of e-invoicing will generate savings to the economy of $28 billion over 10 years.
“The Australian Tax Office has identified a number of key benefits from e-invoicing. For small to medium businesses, the biggest benefit will be reduced payment times and improved cash flow, especially with Federal and State Governments committing to faster payment terms for supplier invoices under $1 million from the start of 2020. Organisations are also expected to save up to 70% on invoice processing costs for e-invoicing compared to paper or PDF invoices,” says Foster.
Singapore adopted the Peppol e-invoicing standard in early 2019, and is currently in negotiations with Australia to facilitate digital trade through cross-border e-invoicing and other digital initiatives under the Australia and Singapore Digital Economy Agreement.