Peppol is a secure, international network that allows companies to exchange electronic documents with anyone registered in the network. Peppol stands for Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line.
Peppol was established in 2008 as a large-scale pilot project and funded by the European Commission. The pilot project aimed to identify a set of infrastructure elements and technical specifications that would enable and facilitate crossborder e-procurement processes.
Peppol was developed by OpenPeppol. This nonprofit organization remains responsible for managing the Peppol network.
To achieve this goal, the Peppol Business Interoperability Specifications (Peppol BIS) were developed, which standardize the exchange of common procurement documents such as eOrders and eInvoices.
Peppol Authority: Peppol Authorities are responsible for governing and overseeing the Peppol network in each country. They ensure that the network meets standards and specifications. Peppol Authorities accredit Access Points.
BOSA is the Peppol authority in Belgium.
Peppol Access Point: As the name suggests, a Peppol Access Point is your gateway to the Peppol network. It's a service you purchase from a service provider, such as IxorDocs (a certified Peppol Access Point). Through the network, your organization can send and receive electronic documents, such as e-invoices, in a standardized format.
IxorDocs has the most reliable solution to connect your organization to the Peppol network. Our Peppol Access Point is used by more than 800 organizations in Belgium. Do you also want to connect? Contact us!
Peppol ID: Peppol Identifiers play a crucial role in identifying participants within the network. It consists of a Scheme ID (country code) and Participant ID (organization number).
Service Metadata Locator (SML): SML stands for Service Metadata Locator, and it is an essential part of the Peppol network. It acts as a central registration database for managing metadata of Peppol network participants. This metadata contains information such as identification data, certificates and technical details necessary for successful electronic communication.
Service Metadata Publisher (SMP): This is a registry that contains information about the participants in the Peppol network, including their identification numbers, the services they provide, and other relevant data. It allows users to find the right recipients for their documents.
PEPPOL BIS - Business Interoperability Specifications: The PEPPOL Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) are detailed specifications that describe how electronic documents should be structured and exchanged within the Peppol network. This includes the specifications for different types of documents you can exchange over the network. Using PEPPOL BIS ensures consistency and interoperability between different systems and organizations.
Protocols: For the secure transmission of electronic documents, Peppol uses the AS2 (Applicability Statement 2) and AS4 protocols. These protocols provide a standardized approach to securing communications between Peppol Access Points, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of data exchanged.
Efficiency: Peppol streamlines the document exchange process, resulting in improved efficiency for businesses and government agencies. It reduces manual tasks and minimizes errors often associated with manual data entry.
Interoperability: Peppol ensures interoperability between different systems and platforms. This allows organizations to communicate smoothly even if they use different software or technological infrastructures.
Cost savings: By switching to electronic document exchange with Peppol, organizations can save costs that would otherwise be spent on paper documents, shipping and manual processing.
Compliance: Using Peppol ensures that organizations are in compliance with electronic billing standards and regulations. This can help avoid fines and other legal complications.
Peppol is available to both businesses and government organizations. The network is also designed to facilitate cross-border trade and is therefore relevant to organizations doing international business. Both large organizations and small & medium-sized organizations can benefit from the advantages of Peppol.
Organizations wishing to take advantage of Peppol must join an approved Peppol Access Point Service Provider. These Service Providers act as a service that enables technical connectivity to the Peppol network. Once connected, your organization can exchange electronic documents with other organizations on the network.
Peppol BIS (Business Interoperability Specification) are a set of technical specifications designed to enable seamless and interoperable document exchange within the Peppol network.
UBL stands for Universal Business Language, a standard language for exchanging electronic documents, such as invoices. It is a file in XML format and has .xml as its file extension.
Through the Peppol network you can, in addition to invoices, also exchange response messages with your customers or your suppliers. There are two types of response messages, namely IMR and MLR.
Hermes is a web application developed on behalf of BOSA. Thanks to Hermes, suppliers can send structured electronic invoices to all their Belgian clients, even those who cannot yet process these electronic invoices automatically.
To send an invoice through Peppol, create an account with a Peppol Access Point provider. You know your customer's Peppol identification (PEPPOL ID). You provide your provider with the structured electronic invoice. Your provider delivers your e-invoice to your customer's Peppol Access Point. Your client receives your invoice.
As the name suggests, a Peppol Access Point is your gateway to the Peppol network. It's a service you purchase from a service provider, such as IxorDocs (a certified Peppol Access Point). By using a certified Peppol Access Point, you can easily and securely send and receive e-invoices to and from any organization connected to the Peppol network, regardless of country or industry.
A Peppol ID is a unique number combination just like your phone number in the telecom network. It consists of a Scheme ID (country code) and Participant ID (organization number). In Belgium mainly the KBO number is used as the organization number, in the Netherlands the KVK number. With this number, your organization can be found in the Peppol network and you can safely and efficiently receive and send e-invoices.
E-invoicing is the process of automatically creating, sending, receiving and processing invoices in a structured digital format, such as UBL (Universal Business Language). These digital invoices can be transferred directly and securely from one financial system to another, minimizing human intervention and errors. E-invoicing is increasingly becoming the norm in Europe, governments and European institutions are taking strategic initiatives to encourage e-invoicing.
