How to send an invoice through Peppol
To send an invoice through Peppol, you need three things: a Peppol Access Point, a Peppol ID for your business, and an invoice in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format. Your Access Point checks the invoice, finds your customer's Access Point on the network and delivers it. Transalis is a certified Peppol Access Point, so it handles every step after your ERP.
What do you need to send a Peppol invoice?
Three things. Once your Access Point is in place, it can take care of the other two.
- Access Point
A Peppol Access Point
A certified service provider that sends and receives invoices on your behalf. Businesses do not connect to Peppol directly; their Access Point does.
- Peppol ID
A Peppol ID
Your address on the network: an identifier scheme plus your number, such as your Global Location Number or your UK VAT number. Your Access Point registers it.
- BIS Billing 3.0
An invoice in the Peppol format
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, a structured format built on the European standard EN 16931. Your Access Point can create it from the data your ERP already holds.
How do you send an invoice through Peppol?
Six steps, from choosing a provider to seeing your invoice accepted. The first three you do once; after that, every invoice is steps four to six.
Choose a Peppol Access Point
Pick a certified provider to send and receive for you. It connects to the other Access Points over AS4, the transport every Peppol Access Point must support.
Get your Peppol ID registered
Your Access Point publishes your Peppol ID and the documents you can receive in its Service Metadata Publisher, so other businesses can find you.
Find your customer's Peppol ID
Ask your customer, or search the Peppol Directory by name, country or ID. Listing there is optional, so a business missing from the Directory may still be on Peppol.
Create the invoice
Produce a Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 invoice or credit note, with your Peppol ID, your customer's Peppol ID and their buyer reference or purchase order number.
Your Access Point checks and sends it
The sending Access Point must validate the invoice before it leaves. It then looks up your customer's Access Point and delivers the invoice to it.
Track what happens next
The receiving Access Point confirms delivery or rejection. Your customer can also send an Invoice Response saying it is under query, accepted, rejected or paid.
How does a Peppol invoice reach your customer?
Through four corners: your system, your Access Point, your customer's Access Point and their system. A lookup on the network tells your Access Point where to deliver.
- 1Your systemYour ERP or accounting software holds the invoice data
- 2Your Access PointValidates the invoice and sends it over AS4
- 3Their Access PointReceives it and confirms delivery
- 4Their systemThe invoice arrives ready to process
The SML says where to look
The Service Metadata Locator is a single central service run by OpenPeppol. It tells your Access Point which Service Metadata Publisher holds your customer's details.
The SMP says what they accept
Each Service Metadata Publisher lists the Access Point a business uses and the document types it can receive, such as invoices and credit notes.
AS4 carries the invoice
AS4 is the transport between the two Access Points, and has been mandatory for every Peppol Access Point since 1 February 2020.
Nothing goes to a central hub
The invoice travels straight from your Access Point to your customer's. The lookup only finds the address; it never sees the invoice.
What is a Peppol ID, and how do you get one?
A Peppol ID is your address on the network: an identifier scheme plus your number. Your Access Point registers it, and you can look up other businesses in the Peppol Directory.
0088:1234567890128
The example the Peppol identifier policy itself uses: scheme 0088, a Global Location Number, followed by the number.
- 0088Global Location Number (GLN)Common in retail and the NHS supply chain. Must be a valid GS1 number.
- 9932United Kingdom VAT numberThe scheme for a UK VAT registration.
- 0060D-U-N-S numberA company identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet.
Your Access Point registers you
You do not register with Peppol yourself. Your Access Point adds your Peppol ID to its Service Metadata Publisher and to the network's address lookup.
The Peppol Directory is a search, not a register
The Peppol Directory lets anyone search businesses by name, country, ID or document type. Listing is optional, so not every business on Peppol appears in it.
What format does a Peppol invoice use?
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, built on the European standard EN 16931. It covers invoices and credit notes, and every Access Point checks invoices against it before they are sent.
3.0.21
Current · May 2026 release
Built on EN 16931
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 narrows the European standard EN 16931 into one shared way of writing an invoice, so every Access Point reads it the same way.
Invoices and credit notes
BIS Billing 3.0 covers both. Self-billed invoices and credit notes have their own specification, Peppol BIS Self-Billing 3.0.
UBL, with CII optional
The invoice is written in UBL 2.1, which every Access Point must handle. The UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice syntax is allowed as an option.
Checked in four layers
Validation runs in order: the syntax, the EN 16931 rules, the Peppol rules, then any country rules. The UK has no country-specific rules in BIS Billing 3.0 today.
Why do Peppol invoices get rejected?
Because they break a fatal validation rule, and the invoice is stopped instead of delivered. These six are the ones to check first.
- PEPPOL-EN16931-R003
No buyer reference or purchase order reference
Ask each customer for the reference they want on invoices. Either one satisfies the rule; you do not always need a PO number.
- PEPPOL-EN16931-R010 · R020
The buyer's or seller's Peppol ID is missing
Both electronic addresses must be on the invoice, each with its identifier scheme.
- BR-CO-13 to BR-CO-17
The totals or the VAT do not add up
Line totals must sum to the invoice total, and VAT must equal the taxable amount times the rate, rounded to two decimals.
- BR-CO-09
A VAT number without its country code
VAT identifiers start with the two-letter country prefix, GB for a UK number.
- PEPPOL-EN16931-R051
More than one currency on the invoice
Every amount must use the invoice currency.
- PEPPOL-COMMON-R040
A Global Location Number that fails its check digit
Use the GLN exactly as GS1 issued it.
How do you know a Peppol invoice arrived?
The receiving Access Point confirms delivery or rejection. Your customer can then send an Invoice Response with one of these statuses.
- ABAcknowledged
- IPIn process
- UQUnder query
- CAConditionally accepted
- APAccepted
- RERejected
- PDPaid
Rejected and Paid are final. Before any of these, the receiving Access Point confirms delivery or reports that the invoice was rejected because it did not meet the rules.
Who can send Peppol invoices for you?
A certified Peppol Access Point. Transalis connects to the ERP you already use, builds each invoice in the Peppol format and checks it before it is sent.
- organisations
- 15,000+
- countries
- 50+
- invoice value processed annually
- 7bn+
A network that is already there
The Transalis Trading Network connects 15,000+ organisations across 50+ countries and processes 7bn+ in invoice value a year, so many of your customers may already be on it.
Certified Peppol Access Point
Transalis is a certified Peppol Access Point using AS4, and was awarded a place on the Crown Commercial Service Peppol Access Point framework for the UK public sector.
Already live where mandates have started
Transalis connects businesses for Belgium's mandate, live since January 2026, and is on the French tax authority's register of approved eInvoicing platforms for France's.
Your ERP stays as it is
Transalis connects to your existing ERP or accounting system, builds the Peppol invoice, checks it before it is sent, and shows every invoice's status in eInvoiceTrack.
Sending Peppol invoices: common questions
How do I send an invoice through Peppol?
Connect through a Peppol Access Point, have it register your Peppol ID, find your customer's Peppol ID, and create the invoice in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format. Your Access Point validates the invoice, finds your customer's Access Point and delivers it over AS4.
What is a Peppol ID?
A Peppol ID is a business's address on the Peppol network. It has two parts: an identifier scheme, such as 0088 for a Global Location Number or 9932 for a UK VAT number, and the number itself. Your Access Point registers it for you.
How do I find a company's Peppol ID?
Ask the company, or search the Peppol Directory by name, country or identifier. Listing in the Directory is optional, so a business that does not appear there may still be able to receive Peppol invoices.
What format does a Peppol invoice use?
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, which is based on the European standard EN 16931. Invoices are written in UBL 2.1, with the Cross Industry Invoice syntax allowed as an option. The current release is 3.0.21, the May 2026 release.
Why was my Peppol invoice rejected?
Usually because it broke a fatal validation rule. The most common are a missing buyer reference or order number (PEPPOL-EN16931-R003), a missing Peppol ID for the buyer or seller, totals or VAT that do not add up, and a VAT number without its country code.
Can I send credit notes through Peppol?
Yes. Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 covers both invoices and credit notes. Self-billed invoices and credit notes use a separate specification, Peppol BIS Self-Billing 3.0.
How do I know my Peppol invoice arrived?
The receiving Access Point reports whether the invoice was delivered or rejected. Your customer can also send a Peppol Invoice Response with a status such as under query, accepted, rejected or paid.
Technical detail last checked against docs.peppol.eu and peppol.org: 6 October 2026.
Sources
- OpenPeppolthe Peppol interoperability framework (opens in a new tab)How the Peppol network is organised: the four corners, the address lookup, and the rule that Access Points validate before sending.
- PeppolBIS Billing 3.0 (May 2026 release) (opens in a new tab)The full Peppol invoice format: what every invoice and credit note must contain, the validation rules and the current release.
- PeppolPolicy for use of identifiers 4.4.0 (opens in a new tab)The rules for Peppol IDs: how a scheme and a number make up a business's address on the network.
- Peppolelectronic address scheme code list (opens in a new tab)The list of identifier schemes a Peppol ID can use, including 0088 for a GLN and 9932 for a UK VAT number.
- OpenPeppolthe Peppol Directory (opens in a new tab)How the Peppol Directory works, how to search it, and why some businesses on Peppol do not appear in it.
- PeppolAS4 profile specification (opens in a new tab)The technical standard for how Access Points send invoices to each other over AS4.
- PeppolBIS Invoice Response (opens in a new tab)The message a buyer sends back to say an invoice is under query, accepted, rejected or paid.
- GOV.UKTax update 2026, simplification, modernisation and fairness (23 June 2026) (opens in a new tab)The government's update of 23 June 2026, which names Peppol as the core interoperability network for eInvoicing in the UK.
Read next
- The UK eInvoicing mandateThe announced dates, who is in scope and how Peppol is set to carry UK VAT invoices from April 2029.Read more
- How to connect your ERP to PeppolThe ways UK businesses connect their ERP and finance systems to Peppol, and how to choose between them.Read more
- eInvoicing for UK government suppliersWhat public bodies must accept today, the NHS Supply Chain Peppol rule, and what to do before 2029.Read more