Link4 marks 10 years as digital trade services grow

Link4 is marking 10 years in business, a milestone the Adelaide-founded company says reflects its shift from invoice delivery software to digital trade and compliance services.

Founded in 2016 by Robin Sands and Sam Hassan, the business set out to address what its founders saw as a gap between cloud accounting products used by suppliers and enterprise resource planning systems used by larger organisations. The goal was to let companies exchange invoice data electronically without changing the systems they already used.

Early on, Link4 connected software including Xero, QuickBooks and MYOB with enterprise platforms. Its first major customer used SAP, which the founders say showed the product could serve large businesses as well as smaller firms.

"Link4 was created to address a practical gap between the cloud accounting systems used by many suppliers and the ERP platforms used by larger organisations," said Robin Sands, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Link4.

"We wanted to make it easier for businesses to trade electronically, regardless of the financial system on either side of the transaction."

Its early years coincided with a period when e-invoicing was still an emerging market. Established accounting software providers did not always see it as a major opportunity, though access to application programming interfaces allowed Link4 to build connections across systems.

The company says an early endorsement came from a multinational customer. The founders say that feedback confirmed demand from larger organisations seeking to reduce manual invoice handling and simplify transactions with suppliers and customers.

"A global enterprise told us that what we were building was exactly what they were looking for," said Sam Hassan, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Link4.

"They wanted to make it easier for their customers to trade with them instead of continuing to handle invoices manually. That confirmed there was a genuine enterprise need for the connection we were creating."

Market shift

As e-invoicing frameworks spread through financial software and government policy, the company broadened its role. What began as a service focused on invoice exchange has expanded into system integration, regulatory compliance and access to cross-border digital invoicing networks.

Link4 now works on connections to the Peppol e-invoicing network, which is used in a growing number of markets to standardise the exchange of procurement and invoicing documents. Its work now spans enterprise software, public-sector compliance systems and international trade processes.

That change reflects a wider shift in the sector. As governments introduce market-specific invoicing and reporting rules, businesses that once needed only a point solution for invoice exchange are increasingly looking for suppliers that can integrate systems and help meet local compliance requirements.

This has shaped Link4's current business model. Rather than focusing only on sending invoices electronically, it now positions itself around helping customers manage differing regulatory and interoperability demands across markets.

Founders remain

The two co-founders continue to lead the business. Sands oversees commercial strategy, international business development and partnerships, while Hassan leads technology strategy, system architecture and product delivery.

That split reflects how the company has developed over the past decade, combining enterprise sales and market development with technical work tied to integration and compliance. Link4 also says it has supported the development of digital economy frameworks in an advisory role and has won awards in fintech, entrepreneurship and technology across Asia-Pacific.

The company's footprint now extends beyond Australia into markets including Malaysia, Thailand, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Singapore and the UAE. That regional spread aligns with the growing use of e-invoicing mandates and formal digital reporting systems in Asia-Pacific and other markets.

Next stage

The anniversary comes as digital invoicing rules continue to expand internationally, increasing the compliance burden on companies that trade across borders or work with governments and large enterprises. For firms in this market, that creates demand not just for message exchange but also for software links, data mapping and rule management across jurisdictions.

Link4 says its next phase will build on the experience and customer relationships developed in its first decade, with a focus on extending its international reach as digital trade systems become more connected and more regulated.

"Looking back after 10 years in business, we believe Link4 helped change the industry," said Sands.

"We demonstrated early that e-invoicing could connect the accounting systems used by suppliers with the enterprise platforms used by their customers. The industry has moved a long way since then, and so have we."