What is Peppol in Belgium? How the e-invoice network works
What is Peppol? An open network through which businesses send each other structured invoices, not a company or a website you log in to. You connect through an access point (a certified Peppol service provider), usually in your invoicing software, and so reach every other participant. In Belgium those invoices have in principle run through that network since 1 January 2026, according to the FOD (the federal public service).
Is Peppol a company, a website or a program?
Peppol is none of the three: it is an open network with shared rules through which businesses and governments exchange structured documents, the e-invoice first. So says the FOD in its frequently asked questions about Peppol: Peppol is a framework of agreements and an open network, and participants must at least be able to receive the document type Peppol BIS, an application of the European standard EN 16931.
You cannot log in to Peppol. According to OpenPeppol, Peppol is not a portal and not a provider of exchange services, but an enabler: every organisation sends and receives documents through a recognised access point of its choice. A Peppol account therefore does not exist. You work in your own invoicing software, which is connected to the network through such an access point.
OpenPeppol is behind the agreements. According to OpenPeppol, it is an international non-profit association under Belgian law; Peppol itself is the name of the framework. In Belgium the FOD BOSA has been the Peppol authority since 1 January 2016, says the FOD in the same frequently asked questions, and OpenPeppol’s country profile names BOSA as such too. According to the FOD, that authority ensures the spread and correct use of Peppol. The FOD compares the way it works to a telecom network: you can send and receive documents directly with everyone who is connected, through certified providers.
You hear the word because structured e-invoices have been mandatory since 1 January 2026 between Belgian VAT-registered businesses, according to the FOD on who must use e-invoicing. A PDF by email is then no longer enough. According to the frequently asked questions on the B2B obligation, those invoices must in principle run through the Peppol network.
The difference between a structured invoice and a PDF is in e-invoicing in Belgium, exactly who is bound is in who must use Peppol, and you will find the other articles on invoices under invoices and Peppol.
Do you want the whole picture for Belgium, with who must, how you connect and what it costs? You will find it in Peppol in Belgium.
How does an invoice get from you to your client?
Your software sends the invoice as a structured file, not a PDF, to your access point (see below); that looks up your client’s access point and delivers the invoice there, after which your client’s software reads it in.
That is Peppol’s four-corner model, which OpenPeppol describes in its Peppol Interoperability Framework: you and your client are at the ends, your two access points in the middle. According to OpenPeppol, the network consists of hundreds of certified providers across the world, together with one central addressing component.
You connect once and reach everyone. According to OpenPeppol, every sender only needs to be connected to one provider to reach every receiver, and vice versa. Your client therefore does not need the same access point as you.
How your access point finds your client’s is arranged by a kind of address book. A central register (the SML) says which directory (the SMP) holds the receiver’s details, and that directory tells what the receiver can receive, just as the internet finds websites through domain names, says OpenPeppol. You need to know no more than that.
According to the FOD, an e-invoice usually arrives within a few minutes to a few hours, although the network does not guarantee real-time delivery. If it takes longer than one working day, ask your software supplier.
What travels is a structured file. According to the FOD, the Peppol format is based on UBL, an XML standard. According to the FOD on how e-invoicing works, a PDF by email does not count as e-invoicing in the strict sense, because your client cannot process it automatically.
You may voluntarily send a PDF or paper version alongside, but according to the B2B questions the structured invoice is the only one that is legally required. What such a Peppol invoice contains and whether a PDF may still go with it, you can read in Peppol invoice.
What is an access point (Peppol service provider), and do you need one?
An access point, officially a Peppol service provider, is the certified company that connects you to the network, and yes, you need one: according to the FOD you cannot register on Peppol directly, only through a recognised access point. How you choose one and which are certified is in Peppol access point.
According to the FOD, an access point takes care of three things: compatibility with open standards such as UBL, secure communication and automated processing. In the telephone-network picture it is the operator.
Certified means, according to OpenPeppol, that the access point has signed an agreement with a Peppol authority and passed the conformance tests. In Belgium it signs that, according to the FOD on the security of e-invoicing, with the FOD BOSA or with OpenPeppol. An access point that does not follow the rules risks its certification and its access to the network.
In practice your access point is already in your invoicing software. To send, receive and process structured invoices you need, according to the FOD on software solutions, software that is connected to the Peppol network. If your software supplier lets you choose the access point yourself, you contact a certified access point. The steps to connect are in registering your business on Peppol.
So you do not choose “Peppol”, you choose software or an access point that is connected to it. The same software can sometimes also leave the choice of access point to you.
What is a Peppol ID, and how do you look up a client?
A Peppol ID is the number that identifies you on the network, like a phone number, and in Belgium that is at least your company number, says the FOD in its frequently asked questions about Peppol; whether a client is on Peppol, you look up in Lookup Peppol or the Peppol Directory (see below). That number is the company number from the KBO / BCE (the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, Belgium’s business register), with scheme ID 0208, and access points are contractually obliged to do so.
You therefore do not need to ask your clients for their Peppol ID: delivery can by default use the company number, according to the FOD.
Other Peppol IDs, such as the VAT number, the IBAN, a GLN or a DUNS number, can be added voluntarily on top if the parties concerned agree that between themselves. According to GS1, a GLN is a unique 13-digit number to identify locations and parties in the supply chain.
Whether a client can receive structured invoices, you check in two places the FOD points to:
- Lookup Peppol (OpenPeppol’s tool for checking whether a business can receive e-invoices): search by name or by company number, with
0208:in front. - The Peppol Directory, OpenPeppol’s own search function: search by name, address, ID or another keyword.
Lookup Peppol shows who can receive documents, not who can also send. According to the FOD, anyone listed on the network has agreed to receive structured invoices.
According to the FOD, the software supplier asks at registration for documents that confirm your identity and your authority to act for the business.
Frequently asked questions
What is Peppol?
Peppol is an open network with shared rules through which businesses and governments exchange structured documents, mainly e-invoices. It is not a company, website or program. You connect through a recognised access point, usually your invoicing software, and so reach every other participant, whichever access point they use.
Can you log in to Peppol?
No, because Peppol is not a portal and has no account. Nor can you register on Peppol directly: that is only possible through a recognised access point. In practice you work in your invoicing software, which is connected to the network through such an access point.
How does Peppol work?
Your software sends the invoice as a structured file to your own access point. That looks up your client's access point and hands the invoice over, after which your client's software reads it in. Four corners, then: you, your access point, your client's and your client. It usually takes minutes to a few hours.
What is a Peppol ID?
A Peppol ID is the number that identifies you on the Peppol network, like a phone number. In Belgium your access point registers your business with at least your company number, with scheme ID 0208. VAT number, IBAN, GLN or DUNS can be added voluntarily if you agree that with your client.
How do I look up whether a client is on Peppol?
Look your client up in Lookup Peppol or in OpenPeppol's Peppol Directory, by name, or in Lookup Peppol with 0208: followed by the company number. You do not need to ask your client for their Peppol ID. Lookup Peppol shows only who can receive, not who can also send.
The network is simple once you see it: your software, a certified access point, the other side’s access point, your client. You do not have to build any of it yourself, only know that it is there.
💜💙 Your BravoLisa Team
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. Every situation is different — consult a qualified professional (tax adviser, accountant, or lawyer) for advice specific to your circumstances. BravoLisa does not accept liability for decisions made based on this information.
Sources (12)
- efactuur.belgium.be — Algemene vragen over Peppol
- OpenPeppol — About
- OpenPeppol — Country profile: Belgium
- efactuur.belgium.be — Voor wie wordt e-facturatie verplicht?
- efactuur.belgium.be — Algemene vragen over de B2B-verplichting
- OpenPeppol — Peppol Interoperability Framework
- efactuur.belgium.be — Hoe werkt e-facturatie?
- efactuur.belgium.be — Softwareoplossingen voor het verzenden, ontvangen en verwerken van elektronische facturen
- efactuur.belgium.be — Is e-facturering wel veilig?
- GS1 — What is a Global Location Number (GLN)?
- OpenPeppol — Lookup Peppol
- OpenPeppol — Peppol Directory