Purchase orders and invoicing guidelines

We use purchase orders to order and pay for most of our purchases. We email purchase orders directly to providers once the requested goods or services have been approved for purchase.

If you are asked to supply goods or services to the Ministry and have not received a purchase order please ask if one is required.

Our standard terms and conditions of purchase are not printed on our purchase orders but are available on this website.

Standard terms of purchase

Getting paid accurately and on time is important. To make the invoicing and payment process go smoothly follow the tips below.

1. If you don’t have a purchase order and you are ready to invoice us, contact the relevant Ministry staff member to see if a purchase order is required before sending your invoice.
2. If we have sent you a purchase order and it is not shown on your invoice, your invoice will be returned to you. If an invoice is returned to you for this reason, please update with the purchase order details and resubmit the invoice.
3. Your invoice must include the purchase order number and the details of the goods or services that have been provided (matching what was delivered including unit of measure, quantity and price). 
4. Each invoice must be a valid tax invoice that meets the requirements of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985. For example, if you are registered for GST your invoices need to include your GST number and the words 'Tax Invoice'.
5. Send your invoice to AccountsPayable.invoices@education.govt.nz.

If you have a contract with us it will state the payment terms. If there is no contract in place our standard terms of purchase will apply.

We make payments to providers by electronic funds transfer. Payments are electronically deposited directly into your nominated bank account. 

We will email you a remittance advice once the payment has been made.

If you change your bank account information, email address, company name or any other information previously provided to us, please let us know at accountspayable.suppliermaintenance@education.govt.nz so we can ensure our systems are updated and your payments are made correctly.

To change your bank account information we need to verify your bank account details. To do this we will need the following:

• a bank deposit slip (a scanned copy is fine), or
• a screen shot showing your bank account details (please block out any bank transaction activity). 

The document you send us must have both the bank’s logo and the account number. Make sure the bank account you use on your invoice is the same one you send to us for verifying.