Peppol stands for Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line. It is a framework set up by the European Commission with a view to generalizing electronic invoicing and e-procurement.
To put it simply, Peppol acts as an address book that organizes the sending of electronic invoices from one machine to another in a very secure way.
Any private organization or public authority looking to improve its money collection or accounting processes can use Peppol.
In Belgium, the government and its suppliers were the first to use the Peppol standard, now mandatory in most B2G transactions. The private sector is also following this trend by gradually adopting the Peppol network for its exchanges. From January 1 2026, the use of Peppol for invoicing between businesses (B2B) will become the norm.
The Peppol solution is based on a 4 corners model :
1Sender
2Sender Access Point
3Receiver Access Point
4Receiver
The Peppol solution is based on a 4 corners model :
1Sender
2Sender Access Point
3Receiver Access Point
4Receiver
To better illustrate, let’s say you are the Sender of the invoice.
You have to use a Peppol Access Point to send the invoice on the Peppol network (usually it’s your invoicing software that is providing the connection). Once the invoice is ready (Peppol standard format is named “UBL” format), the sender Access Point will check if your customer is registered in the Peppol directory. If so, the Peppol Access Point of your customer is specified (the receiver Peppol Access Point) and therefore the sender Peppol Access Point knows to whom the invoice has to be transmitted.
In 2024, the Peppol standard is used and available in 37 different countries. In Europe, these include Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Norway, Finland or again from Iceland. Outside Europe, Peppol can be used in Canada, Japan, Australia, Mexico or Singapore.
In Belgium, any company willing to send an invoice to a public authority (B2G) must send its invoices via the Peppol network.
Furthermore, the Belgian government has decided to make the use of Peppol mandatory for B2B transactions starting January 1 2026.
Mercurius is the PEPPOL Access Point of the Belgian public authority. On top of Peppol, Mercurius provides an electronic mail room where you can see all incoming and outgoing documents.
If you need to send an invoice to the Belgian government very rarely , you can encode it manually on the Mercurius portal. However, the most efficient way is that your invoicing software has already chosen a Peppol Access Point. As a certified Access Point, Digiteal is already integrated in several softwares editors.
Your Peppol ID can be obtained from a recognized Peppol Access Point. Once you have found your Peppol Access Point, it will register you with the platform and provide you with a Peppol ID.
Your invoicing and accounting softwares have to integrate this flow in their systems. This way, you will send your sales invoices as usual and automatically receive your purchase invoices directly in your accounting solution.
There is a technical and a public directory where you can find information about entities registered on the Peppol network.
To conclude, the way of exchanging invoices will definitely change in the near future. All companies will save a lot of money, a lot of time, and therefore improve their efficiency. That’s why Peppol e-invoicing is very simple and beneficial for you and your organization.
Do you want to issue or receive electronic invoices via Peppol? Get started quickly and easily with Digiteal. Digiteal is a recognized Peppol Access Point and also an active member of the Belgian “e-Invoicing Business Expert Group” of VBO-FEB. Let’s start the conversation!
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