Peppol is an open, standards-based network for exchanging electronic business documents — above all invoices — between organisations that each connect through one accredited service provider. It is governed by OpenPeppol, a non-profit association under Belgian law, and works on a four-corner model: sender, sender's access point, receiver's access point, receiver. A DNS-based lookup (SML) and per-participant metadata (SMP) tell any access point where a recipient can be reached and which documents it accepts. The invoice format most used on the network is Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, a profile of EN 16931.
Who runs Peppol
OpenPeppol AISBL, founded in 2012 and based in Brussels, owns the specifications and the agreements that make the network work. Its members are public bodies and private companies; national or sector Peppol Authorities — usually government institutions — sign an authority agreement, accredit service providers in their jurisdiction and may set jurisdiction-specific requirements. In Belgium the Peppol Authority is FPS BOSA (since 1 January 2016), in Germany KoSIT in Bremen, in the Netherlands the Netherlands Peppol Authority (NPa, since October 2020), in Norway DFØ.
The framework has two halves. The governance framework is legal: the Peppol Authority Agreement, the Service Provider Agreement and internal regulations on change management, security, accreditation and compliance. The architectural framework is technical: the Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) for documents, the eDelivery specifications for envelope, transport, security and capability lookup. A service provider must sign the agreement with its Peppol Authority, pass conformance testing and receive a PKI certificate before it may operate. Only then may it call itself a Peppol service provider or access point. KRONENWERK is not one; it connects through one (see below).
The four-corner model
In a four-corner model each party talks only to its own service provider, and the two service providers talk to each other over the network. A sender connects once and can reach every registered receiver; a receiver connects once and can be reached by every sender. OpenPeppol summarises it as "connect once, reach all". This is what distinguishes Peppol from bilateral EDI links, customer portals and closed platform networks, where each new counterparty means a new connection.
| Corner | Role | Example |
|---|---|---|
| C1 | Sender — the business that issues the invoice | A Belgian supplier using accounting software |
| C2 | Sender's access point — validates, wraps and transmits the document | An accredited service provider such as Storecove |
| C3 | Receiver's access point — accepts the AS4 message, hands it to the receiver | The customer's service provider |
| C4 | Receiver — the business that books the invoice | The customer's ERP or accounting system |
Corners 2 and 3 may be the same company when both parties use the same provider; the model does not change. In some jurisdictions a fifth corner — a tax authority receiving a copy for reporting — is discussed; Belgium's 2028 e-reporting plan is an example, described on the Belgium hub. How Peppol compares with clearance systems such as KSeF is on Peppol vs national networks.
How an access point finds the receiver: SML and SMP
Discovery is dynamic. The sender's access point takes the receiver's participant identifier, hashes it into a DNS name and queries the Service Metadata Locator (SML). The SML answers with the address of the Service Metadata Publisher (SMP) responsible for that participant. The SMP then returns the participant's metadata: which document types and processes it accepts and the endpoint URL and certificate of the access point that receives them. Only then is the document sent.
- SML — Service Metadata Locator
- One central DNS-based registry per environment (production and test). It maps participant identifiers to SMPs. The SML was hosted by the European Commission's DG DIGIT under a memorandum from the original pilot; OpenPeppol moved it in-house in 2026, with SMP operators migrating their registration calls by 31 May 2026 and access points switching lookups to the new domain (
api.sml.prod.tech.peppol.org) by 31 August 2026. - SMP — Service Metadata Publisher
- A distributed service, run by service providers, that publishes each participant's receiving capabilities. Registering a participant in an SMP is what makes it reachable on the network. Current specification: SMP 1.4.0, valid from 1 November 2025.
- AS4 — the transport
- Access points exchange documents over the Peppol AS4 profile (version 2.0.3, valid from 22 April 2024), a secure messaging protocol with signed and encrypted payloads and a signed receipt. The business document is wrapped in a Standard Business Document Header (envelope specification 2.0.2) that carries sender, receiver, document type and process identifiers.
- Peppol Directory
- A public, searchable index of "business cards" that SMPs publish about their participants. Listing is optional and depends on the service provider; the directory shows whether an organisation can receive, not whether it can send.
Participant identifiers — the "telephone numbers" of the network — are explained on the Peppol identifiers page.
What travels on the network: BIS Billing 3.0 and PINT
A Peppol BIS is a specification of a business document and the process around it. For invoicing the reference is Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (current release 3.0.21). It is a Core Invoice Usage Specification of EN 16931: every compliant invoice is also a valid EN 16931 invoice, with additional restrictions listed in the specification's appendix. It covers invoices (type code 380) and credit notes (381) in UBL 2.1, with a CII binding described in an appendix. Two profiles exist — Profile 01 "Billing" and Profile 02 "Billing with Response", where the customer answers with an Invoice Response. The identifiers a compliant UBL invoice carries:
<cbc:CustomizationID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:3.0</cbc:CustomizationID>
<cbc:ProfileID>urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0</cbc:ProfileID>PINT — the Peppol International model for Billing (version 1.0.2, May 2025) — is OpenPeppol's answer to use outside Europe. It is a template with three tiers of rules: shared rules that apply everywhere (calculations, rounding), aligned rules that each jurisdiction fills in at marked alignment points (tax), and distinct rules that only a specialisation carries. Specialisations exist for jurisdictions such as Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, and "EU PINT Billing" (version 1.0.1, December 2025) restates BIS Billing 3.0 as a PINT-compliant specification. As of the review date the EU PINT documentation does not set a date on which it replaces BIS Billing 3.0.
The format families and how they relate to each other are compared on e-invoice formats.
Where Peppol is used
Peppol started in Europe as a public-procurement project and now publishes country profiles for about twenty jurisdictions, including Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. Its role differs by country:
| Country | Peppol Authority | Role of Peppol |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | FPS BOSA | Default network for the B2B mandate since 1 January 2026; B2G via Mercurius; identifier 0208 (enterprise number) |
| Germany | KoSIT (Bremen) | B2G: public authorities reachable via Peppol since 2018, invoices in XRechnung (or BIS Billing for foreign suppliers) addressed by Leitweg-ID (0204); the domestic B2B mandate names no network |
| Netherlands | Netherlands Peppol Authority | Not mandatory; central government strongly advises it and is fully connected; identifiers KvK (0106) and OIN (0190) |
| Norway | DFØ | Mandatory for the public sector under procurement law; Peppol BIS adopted nationally as EHF; identifier 0192 (organisation number) |
| France | DGFiP (since 8 July 2025) | Interoperability channel between approved platforms in the B2B reform; B2G Peppol BIS invoices via a central access point; see approved platforms |
| Poland | Ministry of Development and Technology | B2G via the national PEF platform; domestic B2B invoicing goes through the clearance system KSeF, which the profile says can also accept Peppol BIS invoices |
The entries follow the OpenPeppol country profiles as read on the review date; national mandates change faster than the profiles, so the country hubs on this site carry the legal detail.
How a business joins Peppol
A business cannot register with OpenPeppol directly. It joins through a Peppol service provider, in practice usually through invoicing or accounting software that is connected to one. The steps:
- Choose software or a service provider that is accredited in your Peppol Authority's jurisdiction.
- Register your participant identifier — in Belgium the enterprise number under scheme 0208, which Belgian service providers are obliged to register — and, optionally, further identifiers such as the VAT number or a GLN.
- Publish your receiving capabilities in the provider's SMP: at minimum Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 invoices and credit notes.
- Look up your customers in the Peppol Directory before sending; validate outgoing invoices before handing them to the access point.
Costs are set by the provider, not by OpenPeppol, and vary by volume and model. The detailed procedure, validation and error handling are on sending and receiving over Peppol; developers integrating an application will want the Peppol developer guide.
How KRONENWERK handles Peppol
KRONENWERK produces and validates Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 UBL invoices for Belgian companies at issuance, and reads incoming UBL invoices into bills. Transport is SUPPORTED WITH LIMITATIONS: KRONENWERK is not a Peppol access point and does not operate an SMP. It sends and receives over Peppol through an accredited access point provider (Storecove) once the company is connected in Settings → Delivery; production sending depends on that account and its configuration. The product shows a Belgian invoice as "structured invoice ready · Peppol connection required" until the connection exists, and an e-mailed PDF is not presented as a substitute. Product details are on e-invoicing in KRONENWERK.
Frequently asked questions
Is Peppol a file format?
No. Peppol is the network and its governance; the invoice format carried on it is Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, a profile of EN 16931 in UBL. Other document types — orders, despatch advices, invoice responses — travel on the same network.
Is Peppol mandatory in the EU?
No EU law mandates Peppol. Directive 2014/55/EU obliges public buyers to accept EN 16931 invoices; countries such as Belgium and Norway have chosen Peppol as the required or default channel, others such as Germany use it for B2G only.
Can I send a Peppol invoice to a company in another country?
Yes, if the recipient is registered on the network. The lookup is the same worldwide; what differs is the identifier scheme and possibly the document specification the recipient accepts (BIS Billing 3.0 in Europe, a PINT specialisation elsewhere).
Who pays for Peppol?
Service providers set their own prices; OpenPeppol does not charge end users. Belgium's FPS maintains a list of compliant software, including solutions usable free of charge or at limited cost.
Is delivery instant?
Usually minutes to a few hours, but the network does not guarantee real-time delivery; processing at either provider or in the sender's or receiver's software can add delay.
Sources
- OpenPeppol — About OpenPeppol — read on
- OpenPeppol — Peppol Interoperability Framework — read on
- OpenPeppol — eDelivery Network specifications — read on
- OpenPeppol — SML Insourcing — read on
- OpenPeppol — Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 — read on
- OpenPeppol — Peppol International (PINT) model for Billing — read on
- OpenPeppol — EU PINT Billing — read on
- OpenPeppol — Country profiles (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Norway) — read on
- Peppol Directory — read on
- FPS BOSA / FPS Finance — FAQ, general questions about Peppol — read on