Peppol Access Point in Australia: What ATO Accreditation Requires
What a Peppol Access Point does in Australia and what the ATO requires to accredit one: PINT A-NZ conformance, SMP, incident reporting and annual review.
An Australian Peppol Access Point in one sentence
A Peppol Access Point connects a business to the four-corner Peppol network, and in Australia an Access Point provider must be accredited by the ATO — passing PINT A-NZ conformance, running an SMP, and meeting ongoing operational obligations. If the four-corner model is new to you, start with what a Peppol Access Point is.
The role of an Access Point
Peppol uses a four-corner model. You (corner 1) send through your Access Point (corner 2); it routes the document to the buyer's Access Point (corner 3), which delivers to the buyer (corner 4). Neither side needs a bilateral connection — the Access Points and the shared network do the interoperability.
An Access Point's job is to:
- Map your invoice data into a valid Peppol document.
- Validate it against the correct profile before sending.
- Route it to the right receiving Access Point.
- Receive inbound documents on your behalf.
In Australia, that role is regulated. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is the Peppol Authority and accredits the providers allowed to perform it.
What the ATO requires to accredit an Access Point
Accreditation is a technical and operational hurdle, not a registration form. Broadly, the ATO looks for:
| Requirement | What it involves |
|---|---|
| PINT A-NZ conformance | Passing the Australian Peppol Authority testbed for the current profiles. |
| SMP capability | Publishing participant metadata so others can discover and route to you. |
| Incident reporting | Reporting security incidents to the Authority within 4 hours of identification. |
| Annual review | Undergoing a yearly review of continued compliance. |
| Change notification | Notifying the Authority of significant business or product changes. |
A provider that passes these can carry live traffic; one that does not, cannot. That is the assurance accreditation gives buyers — covered from the buyer's angle in how to choose an Australian provider.
PINT A-NZ: the profile that must validate
The conformance that matters is against PINT A-NZ — the Australia-New Zealand specialisation of the international Peppol PINT model, based on Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 and jointly governed by the ATO and New Zealand's MBIE.
The trap: PINT A-NZ is not interchangeable with European BIS Billing 3.0. A document that passes European validation can still fail PINT A-NZ, because the artefacts and business rules differ. Since 15 May 2025 the legacy A-NZ (ANZ Peppol BIS) profiles are no longer supported — PINT A-NZ only. The distinction is spelled out in the Peppol vs PINT explainer.
The SMP: how you get found
Conformance lets you produce valid documents; the SMP (Service Metadata Publisher) lets others find you. The SMP publishes which document types your participant identifier can receive and through which Access Point. Without an SMP entry, a sender's Access Point has nowhere to route to — you are effectively off the network. ATO accreditation covers SMP capability precisely because discovery is half the system.
Trans-Tasman recognition
Because Australia and New Zealand run a joint trans-Tasman approach on PINT A-NZ, an accredited provider can serve both countries through mutual recognition between the ATO and MBIE — one accreditation path, two markets.
A quick self-check
- [ ] Is your provider ATO-accredited as an Access Point?
- [ ] Does it pass PINT A-NZ conformance (invoice, credit note, self-billing)?
- [ ] Does it register you in the SMP so you can be found?
- [ ] Does it meet the incident-reporting and annual review obligations?
- [ ] Do you need New Zealand coverage via mutual recognition?
How GoRoute helps
GoRoute (POP000991) is a certified Peppol Access Point and SMP and an ATO-accredited Australian Peppol service provider, with testbed conformance passed for PINT A-NZ invoices, credit notes and self-billing. It holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and ISO 22301:2019, and is pursuing New Zealand mutual accreditation — so the same integration is designed to reach both sides of the Tasman. You map your data once, validate before sending, and exchange over one REST API. Book a demo.
Sources: ATO — eInvoicing; OpenPeppol.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a Peppol Access Point in Australia?
- A Peppol Access Point is a service that connects a business to the Peppol network so it can send and receive e-invoices. In the four-corner model, the supplier's Access Point (corner 2) hands the document to the buyer's Access Point (corner 3). In Australia, Access Point providers are accredited by the ATO.
- Who accredits Peppol Access Points in Australia?
- The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is Australia's Peppol Authority and accredits Access Point and SMP service providers. Accreditation confirms the provider meets the technical and operational requirements to operate on the Australian network.
- What does the ATO require to accredit an Access Point?
- The ATO requires testbed conformance for the current PINT A-NZ profiles, SMP capability so participants can be found, and operational obligations including security incident reporting within 4 hours, an annual review, and notification of significant business or product changes.
- What is PINT A-NZ?
- PINT A-NZ is the Australia-New Zealand specialisation of the international Peppol PINT model, based on Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 and jointly governed by the ATO and MBIE. It is not interchangeable with European BIS Billing 3.0 — documents must validate against PINT A-NZ artefacts.
- What is an SMP in Peppol?
- An SMP (Service Metadata Publisher) is the directory function that publishes which documents a participant can receive and through which Access Point. Without an SMP entry, counterparties cannot discover you or route documents to you.
- What profiles must an Australian Access Point support now?
- Since 15 May 2025 the legacy A-NZ (ANZ Peppol BIS) profiles are no longer supported. Access Points must support PINT A-NZ Billing — invoices and credit notes — with self-billing also relevant for many buyers.
- Can one accredited Access Point serve both Australia and New Zealand?
- Yes. Australia and New Zealand run a joint trans-Tasman approach on PINT A-NZ, so an accredited provider can serve both countries via mutual recognition between the ATO and MBIE.
About Dr. Syed Raza
Dr. Syed Raza is an IT Enterprise Architect at ClayDesk LLC and leads the GoRoute platform. He works across Peppol Access Point and SMP infrastructure, PINT jurisdictions (Oman, AU/NZ, EU, JP, MY, SG), and national CTC regimes, translating regulatory detail into production-grade e-invoicing systems.
Building on Peppol?
GoRoute is a certified Peppol Access Point & SMP. Book a demo or read the docs to get started.