Short answer: Peppol is a set of rules and an open network that lets businesses exchange structured documents, mainly e-invoices, with anyone else on the network. Nobody connects to it directly. Each business uses a certified Peppol service provider (an access point), is findable through a Peppol ID, and sends and receives invoices in a common format, usually Peppol BIS Billing 3.0. Peppol handles delivery. Checking, coding and booking the invoice is still a separate job.
This article is an overview, not tax advice. Rules are as published on 1 November 2026; see our e-invoicing deadlines tracker for dates by country.
Why accounting firms keep hearing about Peppol
Peppol is the delivery network several countries have picked for mandatory B2B e-invoicing. Belgium requires domestic B2B e-invoices over Peppol since 1 January 2026. The UAE model, going live from 1 January 2027 for the largest businesses, runs on the Peppol framework. The UK has confirmed a Peppol-based model for April 2029, with the law still to follow. Many other countries use it for invoices to government.
For a firm, that means two practical questions per client: are they reachable on Peppol, and what happens to the invoices once they arrive. See B2B e-invoicing in Europe for the wider picture.
How Peppol works: the four corners
Belgium's e-invoicing portal compares Peppol to a telephone network: once connected, you can exchange documents with anyone else who is connected, through certified service providers. The route of one invoice:
- Corner 1, the supplier, creates the invoice in its invoicing or accounting software.
- Corner 2, the supplier's access point, checks the file, looks up the buyer's Peppol ID in the network's registers (the SML points to the SMP that holds the buyer's details and the formats it accepts) and sends the invoice.
- Corner 3, the buyer's access point, receives it.
- Corner 4, the buyer, gets the invoice in its own software.
Neither business needs to know which provider the other uses. The lookup is done by the software, not by people.
Some countries add a fifth corner for the tax authority. In the UAE, the Ministry of Finance guidelines describe a five-corner model: both accredited service providers report tax data to the Federal Tax Authority, and a business appoints one accredited provider for sending and receiving.
The terms you will meet
| Term | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Access point / service provider | The certified company that connects a business to Peppol and sends and receives on its behalf |
| Peppol ID | The address others use to find the business: a scheme code plus a number |
| SML and SMP | The central locator and the registers that tell a sender where and in which format to deliver |
| Peppol Directory | A public search of participants whose providers chose to publish them |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 | The standard invoice and credit note format; a usage specification of the European standard EN 16931, with UBL as the main XML syntax |
| Peppol Authority | The national body that oversees Peppol use in a country, for example FPS BOSA in Belgium |
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 matters for anyone processing received invoices. OpenPeppol's specification describes it as a Core Invoice Usage Specification of EN 16931, so a valid Peppol invoice is also a valid EN 16931 invoice. It covers invoices and credit notes, carries every line with its own VAT category and rate, and is machine-readable. More on formats in e-invoicing software.
What is a Peppol ID?
It is the identifier that makes a business findable, written as scheme:number.
- Belgium: at least the company number from the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, scheme 0208. The Belgian portal says service providers are contractually obliged to register it, and that a VAT number, IBAN, GLN or DUNS can be added by agreement.
- UAE: scheme 0235 followed by the 10-digit TIN, according to the Ministry of Finance guidelines.
A business cannot register itself. Registration is done by the service provider, usually through the client's invoicing or accounting software.
How to check if a client or supplier is on Peppol
- Lookup Peppol. Belgium's portal points to lookup.peppol.org. Search by name or by number, for a Belgian company entered as
0208:followed by the company number. - Peppol Directory. OpenPeppol's directory collects the public details that SMPs publish. Publication is voluntary, so a company that is not listed may still be on the network.
- Read the result correctly. Both tools show receiving capability only. A supplier that can send but not receive will not show up.
Getting a client set up on Peppol
- Map the flows. Which clients must send over Peppol, which must receive, and which only receive from foreign suppliers for now.
- Choose the provider route. Often the client's existing invoicing or accounting software includes a Peppol connection. Belgium publishes a list of compliant software on its e-invoicing portal. In the UAE, the provider must be accredited by the Ministry of Finance.
- Agree who registers the client. Pick one provider route per client and confirm which Peppol ID it registers, so suppliers have one place to deliver to.
- Decide where received invoices go. The access point's portal, the accounting software, or a processing queue. Decide this before suppliers start sending.
- Test with a real supplier. Send and receive one invoice, check the lines and VAT, and confirm the original XML is kept.
What Peppol does not do
Peppol delivers a correct file to the right place. It does not decide which expense account a line belongs to, whether the invoice was already booked from an emailed PDF, or whether the amount was approved.
Take a Belgian client receiving 150 supplier invoices a month. After the switch, around 100 arrive over Peppol, the rest still come as PDFs from foreign suppliers and small businesses. Every one of the 150 still needs the same steps: read, code, check for duplicates, approve, book, archive. The Peppol ones skip the typing, which helps, but someone still checks the coding and approves.
Two problems show up often in the transition:
- Duplicates. The same invoice arrives over Peppol and again as a PDF by email. See how to detect and prevent duplicate invoices.
- Delays. The Belgian portal notes the network is decentralised and does not guarantee real-time delivery. Most invoices arrive within minutes to a couple of hours; if it takes more than a working day, contact the software supplier.
The receiving side in more detail: e-invoice receiving software.
Where Invoreg fits
Invoreg is not a Peppol access point, so your clients still need a Peppol service provider to be reachable on the network. It covers what happens after delivery. It reads Peppol UBL invoices alongside XRechnung, ZUGFeRD/Factur-X, PDFs, scans and phone photos, reads every line including the VAT rate per line, suggests the account and tax code from the client's history, flags duplicates against bills already in the accounting software, and registers the bill only after a person approves it. Invoices can be forwarded to a mailbox, and a firm sees all client organisations in one queue.
If processing received invoices is where your team's time goes, try it on your own invoices: the first 20 invoices are free.