NZBN (New Zealand Business Number)

The NZBN is the unique identification key for New Zealand businesses in electronic exchanges.

Definition

The NZBN (New Zealand Business Number) is a unique 13-digit identifier assigned to any entity doing business in New Zealand: companies, sole traders, partnerships, trusts and public bodies.

Managed by the New Zealand business registry, it acts as a single reference for identifying an organisation to government and trading partners, and underpins New Zealand's eInvoicing framework.

Role in PEPPOL

On the PEPPOL network, each participant is identified by a scheme plus a value. New Zealand uses the NZBN as its organisation identifier, registered under a dedicated ISO 6523 scheme.

• It lets an electronic invoice be routed to the correct recipient through a PEPPOL Access Point.
• It provides an alternative to the GLN (Global Location Number) under scheme 0088, traditionally used in GS1 supply chains.

Good to know

Australia and New Zealand adopted a shared PEPPOL-based approach to eInvoicing: the ABN on the Australian side and the NZBN on the New Zealand side play symmetrical roles as business identifiers.

Beyond the number itself, the NZBN register exposes associated data (legal name, address, trading status) that streamlines partner onboarding and counterparty verification.