What is Peppol?
Peppol is the network that lets companies deliver electronic invoices to each other securely, in a standardised way and directly. Like e-mail, but for invoices a computer can process.
How an invoice travels from A to B
You never send directly to your customer. Every company has its own connection point, an Access Point, that sends and receives documents on its behalf.
How does my Access Point know where to send the document? Every participant is listed in a shared address book (the SML/SMP). It says which documents they can receive and at which address. PepTalk looks that up for you, you only need to know the recipient's Peppol ID.
Peppol IDs: the address of a company
Every participant has a Peppol ID made up of a scheme (which kind of number) and the number itself. For a Belgian company that is usually the enterprise number, for example 0208:0123456789.
| Country | Kind of number | Scheme |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | Enterprise number (KBO/BCE) | 0208 |
| Belgium | VAT number | 9925 |
| Netherlands | KvK number | 0106 |
| Netherlands | OIN (government organisations) | 0190 |
| France | SIREN / SIRET | 0002 / 0009 |
Handy: in the PepTalk portal you can look up any Peppol ID to see whether the company can be reached.
E-invoicing is mandatory
Since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered companies must exchange invoices to other Belgian VAT-registered companies (B2B) electronically via Peppol. A PDF by e-mail is no longer enough. The invoice must be structured, in UBL format.
B2B e-invoicing mandate
Invoices between Belgian VAT-registered companies go through Peppol, with a limited number of exceptions.
Tolerance in the first months
The government provided a start-up period for companies to adapt their processes.
E-reporting
Additional reporting of transactions to the government is planned.
Please note: this is a general summary, not legal advice. For your specific situation, ask your accountant or the FPS Finance.
What does this mean for your software?
Your customers need software that can create and receive Peppol invoices. As a software developer you can build that yourself, or leave that part to PepTalk and spend your development time on what really sets you apart.
Why companies do it even without a mandate
Faster
An invoice reaches the customer within seconds, not after days of post or e-mail.
Automatic
Structured data flows into the accounting system without retyping.
Fewer errors
Validation up front means faulty or incomplete invoices never leave.
Secure
A closed, secured network with certified providers. No phishing invoices by e-mail.
The jargon in plain language
Access Point (AP)
The provider that sends and receives documents for you on the Peppol network. That is PepTalk's role.
UBL
Universal Business Language: the XML format in which the invoice is written.
BIS Billing 3.0
The Peppol profile (the agreements) for invoices and credit notes, based on the European standard EN 16931.
SMP / SML
Peppol's address book: who exists and which documents can they receive.
Peppol ID
The unique address of a participant, made up of a scheme and a number, such as 0208:0123456789.
OpenPeppol
The organisation that manages the network's standards and rules.
Peppol in your software, without becoming an Access Point yourself
See how connecting via API or FTP works.