Build it or Buy it...? - Things to consider when providing PEPPOL Access Point Services

Now that both the Australia and New Zealand governments have committed to the PEPPOL e-invoicing network, many businesses across Australasia are faced with the task of getting connected as well.  With PEPPOL being a very new solution to almost everyone in the region, there is a degree of uncertainty around what e-invoicing entails as well as what the best approach to take will be. While this is true for every company, the ERP Vendors and Solution Providers in particular will need to make some decisions, and make them quickly. These companies know that they need to be part of this conversation and provide PEPPOL e-invoicing options to their clients, but the problem is that many don't know where to start.

In order to send or receive e-invoices each entity needs to be registered to an Access Point. At this stage there are only two ways to do this. The first is to partner with someone that is accredited by the regional authority you are based in. At the time of writing this article there are three accredited commercial providers in NZ and six in Australia (note: All three of NZ accreditations are also on the Australian list meaning there are only 6 unique companies at this point in time). The second way is to attempt the accreditation process yourself in order to stand up your own access point.

Basically the choice boils down to whether you ‘want to make it yourself’, or ‘buy it from someone else’.

When it comes to the ERP Vendors and AP Solutions Partners, the knee-jerk reaction for both will be to go through the certification process themselves. After all, software development is already an integral part of what they do. However just because you can do something, that doesn’t mean it’s the best option for either the software vendor or their customers.  The certification route is one that carries both immediate upfront expenses as well as ongoing costs. There are also some practical elements to such a project that are worth considering before heading down that path.

Subscription Costs

Part of both attaining and maintaining accreditation includes joining OpenPEPPOL. This membership carries with it initial sign-up fees as well as ongoing annual subscription costs.  In some scenarios, depending on volumes, this cost alone could be more than the cost of an Access Point as a Service partnership.

Scalability

The process of becoming an accredited access point provider requires demonstrating technical capability and security compliance. It’s not surprising then that there are several providers in various regions who have achieved PEPPOL accreditation, but who have yet to make their solution work in a commercial model that can scale with the demand. In short, they are allowed to provide a solution, but don’t yet have one that actually works. 

If you are an ERP Vendor or a Solutions Partner providing AP/AR services, the solution you provide your clients will need to be flexible enough to scale with the growing volumes as more companies begin e-invoicing, yet it still be robust enough to be dependable.

Platform

Once that you have accreditation and your API is ready, you then need to consider the platform on which to host it. It needs to be something secure enough to meet various customer compliance requirements, yet accessible enough that it doesn’t require investment in hardware or proprietary software

For a corporation seeking to provide their own solution this doesn’t carry the same degree of risk as for a software vendor supplying services to multiple customers. For the latter, they not only need to address challenges like duplication, multi-tenanting, platform, etc; but they also have to contend with the data transformation challenges of dealing with multiple systems.

Implementation

Once you have your accreditation, you then have to determine how to onboard your new and existing clients without having to start the integration from scratch each time. This likely means creating an API as a fixed touchpoint for their workflows. This is also going to mean documenting the API in such a way that it is accessible and easily understandable. 

If you are an ERP Vendor or a Solutions Partner, you also need to consider staffing requirements. There is no point having a marketable solution unless you also have the capacity to implement it.

Support & Maintenance

OpenPeppol releases minor updates twice a year which require implementation within 7 days of release. New document types are also regularly released, and major updates to underlying protocols occur every few years. So, after the significant investment of time and money to get a scalable, secure, robust and API-based solution available to market, you also need to keep up-to-date with all these changes, retain accreditation and adjust your API. Having your own bespoke Access Point solution means you have to keep it maintained.

In addition to maintaining an Access Point Solution, you also need to maintain the trained state of your support to ensure your customers have no issues. Accredited Access Points are required to report volume and other data to OpenPeppol monthly which is another administrative task that needs to be factored in.

Speed

While building a solution and gaining accreditation is a possible route, you also need to consider the time it is going to take. Not just in terms of your time-to-market, but also the opportunity cost for your management, R&D and implementation teams.

 An Access Point as a Service could literally be up and running in days. Why wait months while your customers are evaluating other solutions, and your competitors are progressing? The question then becomes one of whether your company is leading the conversation, or reacting to market changes. Would you rather catch the wave or float on the tide…?

If you have considered all these aspects and still want to travel this route then I applaud you and look forward to seeing your name on the accreditation lists. The more accredited providers there are, the more end-users and volume there will be on the network, and the more everyone realises the benefits of PEPPOL e-invoicing. 

However if the implications of such a project seem daunting, costly, time-consuming, or perhaps they fit your business model, then Storecove would be happy to help enable your solutions.

Kris Elliott

Sales Manager – AUS/NZ