Is eInvoicing mandatory in the UK?

Not yet. The government has announced that from April 2029 businesses will be required to issue VAT invoices as eInvoices, and has named Peppol as the core network. The legislation is not in place yet: the implementation roadmap, published on 28 October 2026, says the primary legislation is expected to become law in Spring 2027, subject to Parliamentary approval.

What is the difference between an eInvoice and a PDF invoice?

A PDF is a picture of an invoice that a person has to read and retype. An eInvoice carries the same fields as structured data, so the buyer's system reads it automatically. Belgian and French tax authorities both say an ordinary emailed PDF does not meet their eInvoicing rules.

What is Peppol eInvoicing?

It is eInvoicing sent over the Peppol network, which is governed by OpenPeppol. Certified Access Points exchange the invoices between trading partners, so each business connects to one provider to reach everyone else. Transalis is a certified Peppol Access Point, so one connection puts you on the network.

Who needs to do eInvoicing?

Any business that sends or receives invoices can benefit, and some already have to. Belgian enterprises liable to VAT must use structured eInvoices with each other, French companies must be able to receive them from 1 September 2026, and the UK government has announced that businesses will follow from April 2029.

Which countries are using Peppol?

Peppol is an international network. Belgium sends its mandated eInvoices over it, and the UK government has named it the core interoperability network for eInvoicing. Transalis can reach trading partners in 50+ countries. Ask your provider which of your own customers it can reach today.

How do I check whether a company is on Peppol?

Your Access Point looks up the receiver's address and capabilities on the network before it sends anything. That lookup tells it where to deliver the invoice and what the receiver is able to accept. Ask the company for its Peppol details, or ask your provider to run the lookup for you.

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What is eInvoicing? Why a PDF is not one and how Peppol works

Emailing a PDF is not eInvoicing. Learn what makes an invoice structured, how it crosses the Peppol network, and where Belgium, France and the UK stand.

Transalis17 December 2020Updated 13 October 2026

What is eInvoicing?

An eInvoice is an invoice created, sent and read as structured data, passing straight from the supplier's system to the buyer's system with nobody retyping it. A PDF attached to an email is not an eInvoice, however tidy it looks, because the buyer's software cannot read it without help. As a certified Peppol Access Point, Transalis sends eInvoices over Peppol, the international network built for exactly this job.

Watch how it works: in under two minutes, the video below follows one eInvoice from the supplier's ERP, through conversion, validation and the Peppol network, into the buyer's system and on to the tax authority where a country requires it.

Most businesses already invoice "electronically" in the loosest sense. Someone raises the invoice in an accounts package, exports a PDF and emails it. The document travels digitally, but the data does not. At the other end, a person reads it and keys the numbers into another system. That retyping is the PDF trap, and it is the thing eInvoicing removes.

PDF, scan or eInvoice: what is the difference?

Format	What the buyer receives	Can the buyer's system read it without retyping?	Where it goes wrong
Emailed PDF	A picture of an invoice	No. A person reads it and keys it in	Typing errors, lost emails, slow approval
Scanned paper or OCR	A picture, read back by software that guesses the characters	Partly, and it still needs checking	Misread digits and missing lines
Structured eInvoice	The invoice fields (supplier, lines, VAT, totals) as data	It reads the data directly	Both sides must agree a format
Peppol eInvoice	Structured data sent through certified Access Points on a shared network	It reads the data directly, in the same format for every partner on the network	You need a connection to an Access Point

Tax authorities say the same thing in plain terms. Belgium's federal eInvoicing portal states that sending a PDF by email will no longer be enough. The French tax administration says an ordinary PDF or an emailed document will not comply with its rules, and the European Commission defines an electronic invoice as one issued, sent and received in a structured format that allows automatic processing. Transalis draws the same line on its eInvoicing page: a PDF or scanned image is not a structured eInvoice.

How does eInvoicing work?

Peppol uses a four-corner model. You and your customer are the outer two corners. Your Access Point and theirs are the inner two. Here is the journey of one invoice.

Your system raises the invoice as data. Your ERP or finance system produces the invoice fields in a structured format, not a picture of them.
Your Access Point checks and sends it. Access Points are Peppol-certified providers that connect to each other so that trading partners can send and receive messages.
The network finds the receiver. Your Access Point looks up where your customer's Access Point is and what it is able to receive.
Their Access Point delivers it. The invoice lands in your customer's system as data, ready to validate and approve with no rekeying.

Each sender connects to one provider to reach every receiver. That is why connecting once matters: you are not building a separate link for every customer.

What is Peppol?

Peppol is an international network for exchanging eInvoices and other business documents. It is owned and governed by OpenPeppol, which has authority over the central components of the network, including the central address lookup service (the SML). Certified service providers can run the capability lookup (the SMP) that tells your Access Point what each receiver is able to accept.

The easiest way to picture it is a mobile phone network. You connect to one provider and can reach everyone else on the network. Peppol is a framework, not an app you install. Transalis is a certified Peppol Access Point, so one connection to us puts you on the network and in touch with the 15,000+ organisations on the Transalis Trading Network. Our Peppol accreditation page has the detail, and how to connect your ERP to Peppol walks through the technical side.

Is eInvoicing mandatory?

It depends on where you and your customers trade. Think of a mandate as a passport: it is the reason to get connected, and the connection then works for every partner on the network.

Belgium: live. Structured eInvoicing has been compulsory between Belgian enterprises liable to VAT since 1 January 2026, sent over Peppol. The tax authority showed tolerance on penalties for the first three months of 2026, and said there would be no general postponement.
France: live from 1 September 2026. Every company, whatever its size, must be able to receive eInvoices from that date. Large and mid-size companies must also issue them from 1 September 2026, while small and micro businesses have until 1 September 2027. Invoices pass through an approved platform, which the French authorities call a plateforme agréée. Our France and Belgium guide covers both.
UK: announced from April 2029. The government announced at Budget 2025 that from April 2029 businesses will be required to issue VAT invoices as eInvoices. On 23 June 2026 it said Peppol will be the core interoperability network for eInvoicing in the UK. The legislation is not in place yet, and the government published its implementation roadmap on 28 October 2026, with a public consultation on the UK standards in Spring 2027. Our UK eInvoicing mandate page tracks each step.

You do not have to wait for 2029. Customers in Belgium and France already work to these rules, and some will ask their suppliers to send invoices that fit.

What are the benefits of eInvoicing?

Fewer errors. Nobody retypes the invoice, so there is nothing to mistype.
Faster approval. The buyer's system validates the invoice on arrival, so it reaches the person who approves it sooner.
Visibility. You can see where each invoice is. Transalis eInvoiceTrack™ tracks every electronic invoice across your trading network in real time.
One connection, many uses. The same connection that carries invoices can carry purchase orders and other documents, which is why we think of it as a trading passport rather than a one-off compliance link. EDI is how those other documents travel.

How do you choose an eInvoicing provider?

Searching for the best eInvoicing provider for a UK business turns up plenty of general invoicing tools. The test that matters is whether your invoices can reach your customers as structured data. Ask these questions:

Is the provider a certified Peppol Access Point, so you are on the network itself and not on a workaround?
How many trading partners can you already reach? Transalis connects 15,000+ organisations across 50+ countries.
Does it connect to your ERP, or does it expect you to rebuild your process?
Can you see every invoice's status, not just that it was sent?
Is it managed for you, with the standards and formats handled, or do you need an in-house specialist?

How do you get started?

Start with your customers. Find out which ones already ask for eInvoices, or will soon. Then connect your ERP or finance system to an Access Point and test one invoice end to end. Book a meeting with Transalis for a 30-minute, no-obligation call that walks you through EDI and eInvoicing.

Frequently asked questions

Is eInvoicing mandatory in the UK?: Not yet. The government has announced that from April 2029 businesses will be required to issue VAT invoices as eInvoices, and has named Peppol as the core network. The legislation is not in place yet: the implementation roadmap, published on 28 October 2026, says the primary legislation is expected to become law in Spring 2027, subject to Parliamentary approval.
How does eInvoicing work?: Your system raises the invoice as structured data and passes it to your Access Point. The Peppol network looks up your customer's Access Point, which delivers the invoice into their system, ready to validate with no rekeying. Each side connects to one provider, so there is no separate link to build for every customer.
What is the difference between an eInvoice and a PDF invoice?: A PDF is a picture of an invoice that a person has to read and retype. An eInvoice carries the same fields as structured data, so the buyer's system reads it automatically. Belgian and French tax authorities both say an ordinary emailed PDF does not meet their eInvoicing rules.
What is Peppol eInvoicing?: It is eInvoicing sent over the Peppol network, which is governed by OpenPeppol. Certified Access Points exchange the invoices between trading partners, so each business connects to one provider to reach everyone else. Transalis is a certified Peppol Access Point, so one connection puts you on the network.
Who needs to do eInvoicing?: Any business that sends or receives invoices can benefit, and some already have to. Belgian enterprises liable to VAT must use structured eInvoices with each other, French companies must be able to receive them from 1 September 2026, and the UK government has announced that businesses will follow from April 2029.
Which countries are using Peppol?: Peppol is an international network. Belgium sends its mandated eInvoices over it, and the UK government has named it the core interoperability network for eInvoicing. Transalis can reach trading partners in 50+ countries. Ask your provider which of your own customers it can reach today.
How do I check whether a company is on Peppol?: Your Access Point looks up the receiver's address and capabilities on the network before it sends anything. That lookup tells it where to deliver the invoice and what the receiver is able to accept. Ask the company for its Peppol details, or ask your provider to run the lookup for you.

Want this working in your business?

We will look at how you trade today, and show you what moving to Transalis involves, while your business keeps trading.