PEPPOL e-invoicing becomes mandatory: what does this mean for your business?

What email did to the fax, PEPPOL now does to the PDF invoice. The European Commission has decided that all B2B invoices between businesses must be sent electronically via a standardized network from 2030 onwards. That network is PEPPOL.

What exactly is PEPPOL?

PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine) is an open network where businesses send structured invoices to each other — no longer as a PDF attachment, but as UBL 2.1 XML according to a fixed European profile (NLCIUS in the Netherlands).

The difference from a PDF: a PEPPOL invoice is completely machine-readable. The recipient can automatically import the invoice into their accounting software — no manual retyping, no OCR, no errors.

When does it become mandatory?

• Already mandatory now: invoices to the Dutch government (central, municipal and provincial authorities) — since 2019.
• From 2028 onwards: mandatory e-invoicing between businesses in an increasing number of EU countries (France, Germany and Belgium are leading the way).
• From 2030 onwards: mandatory for all cross-border B2B invoices within the EU (according to the ViDA directive).

The Netherlands follows this deadline. From 2030 onwards, you must send all invoices to business customers via a standardized electronic format.

What changes for you?

Specifically: you no longer email PDF invoices. Instead, your invoicing software sends the invoice directly via PEPPOL to your customer's accounting software. Your customer sees it in their inbox within seconds, can approve and pay with one click.

Benefits:

• Faster payment. Research shows that e-invoices are paid 30–50% faster.
• No typing errors. Amount, VAT number, IBAN — everything arrives automatically correct.
• Lower costs. No postage, no printing paper, less manual processing.
• Less fraud. PEPPOL invoices are cryptographically signed.

How do you prepare?

1. Choose invoicing software with PEPPOL support. Not all packages can do it. Check first.
2. Register in the PEPPOL network. You do this via an Access Point — usually your software handles this for you.
3. Record customer data correctly. For PEPPOL you need your customer's PEPPOL ID (often the same as their business registration number + country code). Request this in advance.
4. Test with one customer. Start small, verify that the invoice arrives correctly, then scale up.

PEPPOL and Invoisio

Invoisio supports PEPPOL sending from the Business plan onwards. You register in the network once (we handle it for you), and from that point on you can choose per customer: PDF email or PEPPOL. For customers without a PEPPOL connection, you simply continue to send the PDF version — both alongside each other until 2030.

Don't wait until 2029: the sooner you start, the less stress you'll have when the deadline approaches. And your customers will appreciate it immediately — faster processing is a win for everyone.