Government departments and agencies have been urged to step up adoption of eInvoicing using the pan-European Peppol framework.

Peppol is being used in 40 countries worldwide for global business interoperability.

However, the Irish government-led strategy to exploit this critical business infrastructure has not yet materialised with current usage well below 10% of that anticipated 3 years ago.

The Pan-European Public Procurement Online eInvoicing payment system was designed to enable businesses to get paid faster, improve cashflow and reduce cyber fraud.

It automates and standardises processing of invoices for suppliers and buyers. This exchange of information happens through a standard eInvoicing network that allows different systems to talk to each other through an international standard.

In Association with

According to Ken Halpin, CEO of Celtrino: “Digital business practices such as Peppol eInvoicing are used widely in other countries to help business to improve cashflow management, reduce business costs and deliver greater business efficiencies.

“The Peppol system also helps reduce the size of the black economy and grow VAT revenues.

“However, Ireland has yet to move its economy down a transformative path of capturing these benefits for all companies.”

Celtrino is Ireland’s leading provider of digital eInvoicing and a Peppol access point certified provider.

Halpin (pictured) instanced the example of Michael Hayden, who runs a small construction company in Co. Carlow.

He was introduced to the Peppol eInvoicing system as part of a pilot project with the Office of Public Works.

“As a small business I did all my invoicing after work in the evenings,” says Hayden. “I had to print off invoices and store them, and time was also spent chasing up on invoices and payments.

“Peppol eInvoicing helps us get our invoices submitted correctly, allows you to track them and get paid on time.”

Since April 2020, all public sector bodies in the EU are required under law to receive Peppol invoices.

Celtrino provides services to a diverse number of sectors including, FMCG, retail, entertainment, pharma, agricultural, government and finance who use Celtrino platforms and portals for supplier management, invoice finance, procurement, accounts payable automation, electronic billing, eInvoicing.

The company is an official Crown Commercial Services Provider on the NHS framework and can provide suppliers to government bodies with the access point which is now a requirement within public sector procurement by the NHS.