Just 7% of Canadian businesses use e-invoicing, despite its potential to accelerate payments and reduce administrative work, according to new research from Sage.
The accounting software company estimates that universal adoption could generate approximately $82 billion in annual productivity gains through time savings and release $21 billion in cash tied up by payment delays.
The research, released during Small Business Month, surveyed more than 2,000 Canadian business owners and senior leaders. It found Canadian adoption trails the United Kingdom at 17% and Europe at 32%.
E-invoicing transfers structured invoice data directly between suppliers’ and customers’ accounting systems, allowing invoices to be processed and validated automatically. That differs from emailing PDFs, which still require information to be reviewed, entered or extracted.
Sage estimates Canadian businesses hold $103 billion in overdue invoices. Half of respondents said late payments hurt cash flow, while 27% said they prevented investment in future growth. Nearly four in ten business owners and senior leaders deal with invoicing and payment issues weekly.
Awareness remains a hurdle: 42% of businesses had never heard of e-invoicing, and only 14% described themselves as familiar with it.
Sage is calling for a federal consultation on e-invoicing, alongside collaboration with provinces, industry, standards bodies and the Canada Revenue Agency. Businesses surveyed were nearly evenly divided on a national mandate, with many favouring incentives over regulation alone.
Strand Partners conducted the survey of 2,002 respondents from September 22 to 30, 2026. The $82-billion productivity figure and $21-billion cash-flow estimate were modelled using survey findings and official statistical data.
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