Glossary Term

Peppol

Peppol is a European e-invoicing network that enables businesses to exchange electronic documents across borders using a standardized format and secure infrastructure.

Quick Facts

type
Network/Standard
format
UBL 2.1 (Peppol BIS 3.0)
regions
EU, APAC, ANZ
authority
OpenPeppol

Definition

What is Peppol?

Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) is an international framework that enables businesses and government organizations to exchange electronic documents, primarily invoices, in a standardized way.

Think of Peppol as the "email for invoices" — just as you can send an email from Gmail to Outlook, Peppol lets you send an invoice from any Peppol-connected accounting system to any other, regardless of country or software.

How Peppol Works

Peppol uses the Four Corner Model:

1. Corner 1 (Sender): Your business and accounting software
2. Corner 2 (Access Point): Your Peppol service provider
3. Corner 3 (Access Point): Recipient's Peppol service provider
4. Corner 4 (Receiver): Recipient's business and system

Your invoice travels from your software → your Access Point → recipient's Access Point → their software.

Key Components

  • Peppol BIS 3.0: The invoice format specification based on EN16931

  • Access Points: Certified service providers that send/receive documents

  • SMP/SML: Directory services that locate recipients

  • Peppol ID: Unique identifier for each participant
  • Where is Peppol Used?

    Peppol is mandatory or widely used for B2G invoicing in:

  • Netherlands

  • Belgium

  • Norway

  • Singapore

  • Australia

  • And expanding rapidly across Europe
  • Common Issues

  • Missing or invalid Peppol ID

  • Wrong schemeID for endpoint

  • Format not compliant with Peppol BIS 3.0