What is Peppol?

The Principle

Peppol operates according to the so-called four-corner model:

1. The sender submits the invoice to their access point
2. This access point forwards it to the recipient's access point
3. The recipient retrieves it there

Both parties only need one connection – to their own access point. Each participant can be addressed via a unique Peppol ID.

Why this is useful

Without such a network, a separate connection would need to be set up for each business partner. With twenty partners, that would be twenty agreements, twenty formats, twenty sources of error.

Peppol BIS Billing 3.0

The invoice format used in the network. It is based on the same European standard EN 16931 as XRechnung – the formats are therefore related and convertible into each other.

Where Peppol plays a role

• Cross-border in Europe, especially in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Belgium, where it is widely used
• In Switzerland, it is the usual method for electronic invoice exchange between companies
• In Germany, it is partially used in official communications; in the B2B sector, email delivery is still more common

Do you need it?

Not mandatory for purely domestic invoices to a few partners – email with XRechnung or ZUGFeRD fulfills the obligation just as well. Peppol becomes interesting with many partners, business in Europe, or if a major customer requires it.