What is Peppol?

How does Peppol work?

Peppol works with a four-corner model. You (1) create an invoice in your accounting or invoicing software. Your package's service provider (2), a so-called access point, checks the invoice and sends it over the network to your customer's access point (3). That delivers it to your customer's accounts (4). So you do not need a separate connection with each customer: anyone on Peppol can reach everyone on Peppol.

The invoices follow the Peppol BIS specification, which is based on the XML format UBL and the European standard for e-invoices. Each participant has a Peppol ID, in the Netherlands usually based on the Chamber of Commerce (KVK) number or, for public authorities, the OIN.

Do I have to use Peppol?

• Suppliers to the Dutch central government must invoice electronically. This can be done via Peppol or via the central government's supplier portal.
• Customers in Belgium: there, e-invoicing between businesses has been mandatory since 1 January 2026, and Peppol is the standard route for it.
• Businesses in the Netherlands: the Dutch government wants to make e-invoicing between businesses mandatory from 1 July 2030, with digital reporting to the Tax Administration from 1 July 2031. On 19 October 2026 this is still a plan: the bill still has to go to public consultation and to the House of Representatives, and the government has not yet chosen which network will be mandatory.

Even without an obligation, Peppol saves work: nobody has to retype an incoming Peppol invoice. Checking that the invoice is correct and approving it are still needed.

How do you connect?

Most businesses connect via their accounting or invoicing package: you switch on Peppol in the settings and the supplier handles the registration with its access point. With many invoices or your own ERP system, you can also choose a service provider directly. Read in Peppol invoicing: which software do you need? how the routes differ.