What is a UBL invoice?
In short
UBL (Universal Business Language) is an open XML standard for business documents such as invoices, credit notes and orders. A UBL invoice contains the same data as an ordinary invoice, but in fixed fields that accounting software can read in without retyping.
What does a UBL invoice look like?
A UBL invoice is an XML file: text with fixed labels for each item of data, such as the invoice number, the date, the supplier, the customer, each invoice line, the VAT rate and the total amount. That is hard for a person to read, but easy for software. The invoice is often included as a PDF in the same file, so you can also simply view it.
UBL is an open standard from the OASIS organisation. Version 2.1 has also been published as an international ISO/IEC standard. On the Peppol network, invoices are sent in UBL.
Why is UBL useful?
- No retyping: your accounting software reads in the supplier, amounts and VAT directly. With a PDF, someone has to do that, or text recognition that can make mistakes.
- Interchangeable: a UBL invoice from one package can be read by any other package that supports UBL.
- Ready for the future: UBL following the European standard EN 16931 is a common format for e-invoicing, which is set to become mandatory between businesses in the Netherlands from 2030.
What should you look out for?
In the Netherlands additional agreements apply on top of the European standard: the NLCIUS of the Dutch e-invoicing standardisation platform (STPE), and SI-UBL 2.0 from Simplerinvoicing, which combines the Dutch and the Peppol agreements. Choose software that supports these versions. A UBL invoice must meet the same invoice requirements as any other invoice, and your customer must agree to digital invoices.
Which software helps with this?
Almost all Dutch accounting and invoicing packages can create and import UBL invoices. Check that the package follows the Dutch agreements (NLCIUS and SI-UBL 2.0).
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