Peppol is an international network that enables organizations to exchange business documents such as e-invoices, orders and delivery confirmations in a standardized way. If your business partner also uses Peppol, you do not need to build a separate technical connection for each customer or supplier. A single connection gives access to all other participants on the network. On this page you can read what Peppol is, how the network works and how to connect yourself.
Peppol in brief
Peppol works with certified service providers that act as intermediaries. You can compare them to interpreters. Your own service provider takes the invoice from your software and converts it into the agreed Peppol language: a fixed, international standard that all service providers speak. Via the network, the invoice goes to your business partner’s service provider. That provider converts it into the language the recipient’s software package understands and delivers it there.
So you do not need to know which software your business partner uses or which service provider they are with. As long as both parties are connected to Peppol via a service provider, the document arrives, across borders too.
Peppol is mainly used for e-invoices, but the network also supports other business documents, such as purchase orders, order confirmations, catalogues and despatch advices.
As a user, you need to know little about that middle section. What matters most to you is one question for your software vendor: is our package connected to the Peppol network, or does it have a module or integration that makes this possible? If the answer is yes, your vendor and their service provider take care of the rest.
How did Peppol come about?
- 2008–2012: Peppol starts as a project funded by the European Union under the CIP programme. The aim is to make cross-border electronic procurement between governments and suppliers in Europe easier. The project lays the foundation: common specifications and a network on which parties can find each other.
- 2012: After the project ends, OpenPeppol is founded, an international non-profit association. It takes over governance, including the specifications, the agreements between participants and the certification of service providers. This turns Peppol into a permanent facility instead of a temporary project.
- 2018: Singapore becomes the first Peppol Authority outside Europe. This marks the start of the network’s expansion to Asia and the rest of the world.
- 2019: Australia and New Zealand adopt the Peppol Interoperability Framework, further accelerating the network’s international growth.
- 2020: AS4 becomes the mandatory transport protocol for message exchange within Peppol. This modernizes and harmonizes the technical foundation of the network.
- 2021: Japan chooses Peppol as its network for e-invoicing, making Asia an important Peppol region as well.
- 2023: Peppol International Invoice (PINT) introduces a global invoice model, alongside the European BIS model. Countries can base their own requirements on it, so that invoices remain exchangeable internationally.
- 2025–2026: More and more countries introduce mandatory e-invoicing. Each country decides for itself which network applies; within the EU, this is up to the Member States. A growing number choose Peppol. Belgium, for example, has required since 1 January 2026 that structured e-invoices between VAT-registered businesses be sent via Peppol. In this way, Peppol’s role broadens from voluntary exchange to legally embedded infrastructure.
For those who want to know: what happens when you press send?
Once you are connected, you press send and it works. Still want to know why it is so reliable? That is down to the Peppol architecture: four fixed roles and central building blocks that ensure every invoice finds the right address, in a form the recipient can process.
The building blocks of the network
These building blocks make Peppol reliable and future-proof. They determine who may participate, how you can be found and in which language documents are exchanged.
OpenPeppol
Access Points and Peppol Service Providers
Peppol ID
Document standards
Address book and profile (SML and SMP)
How does e-invoicing via Peppol work?
For you as a user, it is simple:
- You create the invoice in your accounting or ERP software, as you are used to.
- You select the customer. Your software recognizes from the Peppol ID whether the customer can be reached via Peppol. That ID is often based on an existing number, such as the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) number, the VAT number or the OIN of a government organization. In many packages, you simply search by company name.
- You press send. Done.
Some packages then also show the status of your invoice. With the Peppol invoice response message, the recipient can indicate that the invoice has been received, is being processed, has been approved, rejected or paid. This way you can see for yourself where your invoice stands, without having to call.
Who is Peppol suitable for?
In principle, Peppol is suitable for every organization, because it removes three barriers: you do not need to build a connection for each business partner, you do not need to know which software the other party uses, and the network works across national borders according to a single set of rules. What it delivers differs per type of organization:
Entrepreneurs and SMEs
Often already built into the accounting software. Send and receive invoices without an additional system, and meet the requirements of customers and governments.
Large enterprises
One channel for many trading partners, alongside EDI and their own portals. Attractive for reaching smaller suppliers who are already connected via their accounting package.
Government organizations
Receive invoices according to the European standard from all suppliers, large and small, via a single connection.
Internationally trading companies
One connection for business partners in Europe and beyond, such as in Singapore, Australia and Japan.
Software vendors
Build in Peppol, either as a certified service provider themselves or together with a partner. Their customers increasingly expect it.
Start-ups
Work digitally from the very first invoice, without having to switch over later.
Is e-invoicing mandatory?
In many countries, e-invoicing is already mandatory for supplies to the government (B2G). More and more countries are extending this to transactions between businesses (B2B). Peppol is often used as the network for the exchange. Which rules apply to you depends on the country and the type of customer. Read more on Mandatory e-invoicing.
OpenPeppol is also working on the role of the network in digital reporting to tax authorities. In a pilot related to the European ViDA rules, OpenPeppol is testing an extension of the Peppol architecture in which tax authorities are connected to the network as a fifth party.
How do you connect to Peppol?
How complex connecting is depends on your situation, your ambition and your business partners. Broadly speaking, there are three situations:
Do you know what you need?
On peppol.nu you can compare Peppol Service Providers by features and connection options, and find the solution that suits your organization.
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