What is Peppol? A Complete Guide to the Peppol Network, Formats and Mandates

What is Peppol? Learn how Peppol e-invoicing works and how Lasernet sends compliant invoices from D365, SAP, Infor and IFS.

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Peppol: The network behind compliant e-invoicing

Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line) is an international network governed by OpenPeppol that allows businesses and government bodies to exchange electronic documents in a standardised format. Using Peppol, organisations can send and receive documents securely between systems without needing a separate connection for each trading partner. 


With lots of new e-invoicing mandates on the way, you’ll need Peppol in place to exchange structured invoices with your customers. As the team responsible for the systems that would make that happen, you need to understand what Peppol is before you can scope the work or choose a suitable Peppol e-invoicing tool.

Peppol Key Takeaways

  • Peppol is a network and a set of standards (EN 16931, UBL and BIS Billing 3.0), not a single file format.
  • Documents travel through certified access points in a four-corner model, which comprises sellers, sellers’ access points, buyers and the buyers’ access points.
  • Peppol is no longer European only – it’s mandatory in a growing number of countries.
  • Almost all businesses connect through a certified access point provider rather than operating their own. Lasernet connects your ERP to Peppol without heavy customisation.

What is Peppol?

Peppol is a commonly misunderstood term, with some believing it refers to a file format. This isn’t the case. Peppol is a standardised framework that allows organisations to exchange electronic documents, such as invoices and purchase orders, with any other connected organisation in the network. The technical specifications define exactly how a document is structured and transmitted, so a system sending an invoice and the system receiving it interpret the information in the same way, regardless of the differences in the software they’re sending it from. 

Documents travel across a network of certified access points – these are the providers that connect each organisation to Peppol. Providers have to be vetted against strict criteria before they can become certified access points. OpenPeppol, the non-profit that owns and coordinates the network, delegates to Peppol Authorities in each jurisdiction.

Think of it like a phone network or an email. You connect once through a single provider, and from there you can reach every other network participant. There are no separate technical agreements needed with each organisation you trade with, because the provider handles the routing and the format rules mean your document is machine readable on arrival. 

As of August 2026, the Peppol network has over 5,756,000 participants in nearly 50 countries. 

What does Peppol stand for?

Peppol stands for Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line. However, the full title is rarely referred to because the network outgrew “Pan-European” and “public procurement” a long time ago. OpenPeppol itself now prefers the “Peppol” as a proper noun rather than the original all-caps acronym to reflect how the term is used today.

Peppol started in 2008 as a large-scale EU-financed pilot, with the goal to enable frictionless trade between public and private sector bodies. OpenPeppol took over its services and responsibilities when the project ended in 2012.

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Who governs Peppol?

The network is governed by OpenPeppol, a member-driven non-profit association set up as an Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif (AISBL) under Belgian law. OpenPeppol is responsible for specifications, service areas and implementation globally. The association operates the central directory that lets participants find each other, and certifies the service providers allowed to operate on the network as certified access points. 

Below OpenPeppol are the national Peppol Authorities – designated government or public sector bodies that regulate, manage and oversee the use of Peppol within their country. In France, for example, the Directorate of General Public Finances (DGFiP) is the Peppol Authority, promoting Peppol standards locally.

How does the Peppol network work?

Peppol uses a four-corner model to send documents between organisations: 
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Corner 1: The seller

The seller creates the invoice in their ERP/accounting system. 

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Corner 2: The seller’s access point

The seller’s access point validates the document and sends it to the Peppol network. 

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Corner 3: The buyer’s access point

The buyer’s access point receives the document and sends it to the buyer. 

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Corner 4: The buyer

The buyer receives a validated and structured invoice. 

Access points handle validation, routing and delivery receipts. Because of this, the seller and buyer only need each other’s Peppol Participant IDs to share documents, with no direct connection between their systems. This is a very different setup to traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), a structured data exchange system where private connections are built to reach one partner at a time. 

EDI works by allowing documents to move directly from one application to another, a point-to-point connection. While EDI has its benefits, the setup process requires specialised technical expertise and implementation projects can take many months to complete.

A Peppol access point is a certified secure gateway that connects business software to the Peppol network. Operated by a service provider, an access point:

  • Receives invoices from your ERP/accounting system
  • Validates the invoice to confirm the format is correct
  • Encrypts information using the AS4 transport protocol, a secure communication standard
  • Routes the invoice to the correct recipient
  • Confirms the invoice has been delivered 
  • Archives a copy in line with legal requirements

What is a Peppol access point?

Each party chooses its own certified access point provider, and because every access point has the ability to connect to all others, two parties don’t need to use the same one to exchange documents. Trading partners can’t dictate each other’s choice of access point provider. Each organisation picks its own. 

Organisations can build and certify access points of their own, but it doesn’t mean they should. Certification is a standing commitment rather than a one-off project. It means passing conformance testing, managing security certificates and keeping up with specifications as they change. For most organisations, letting a provider deal with the details makes more sense than taking it in-house.  

How Peppol finds recipients

The Peppol network is supported by two services: the Service Metadata Publisher (SMP) and the Service Metadata Locator (SML):

SMP

The SMP is a registry of technical details about each participant. For every organisation registered with it, an SMP publishes the document types that organisation accepts (like invoices), and the address of its access point, where the documents are delivered. SMPs are decentralised and there is no single SMP for the whole of Peppol.

When you join the network, your organisation is registered in one of them, typically the one operated by your access point provider. That registration is what makes you reachable to other organisations in the network.

SML

The SML is shared by everyone on the Peppol network. It points senders to the SMP that holds a given recipient’s details, and it does this using DNS. From the recipient’s identifier, the network builds a technical name, queries the SML, and gets back the address of the correct SMP. Every SMP operator must register with the SML, and that registration is what keeps the network searchable. 

Peppol How

Peppol formats: EN 16931, UBL and BIS Billing 3.0 


To understand Peppol, you need to know about these three terms: EN 16931, UBL and BIS Billing 3.0:

EN 16931

EN 16931 is the European standard that defines a common data model for electronic invoices. It outlines the information an invoice must contain and how that information should be structured, using syntaxes such as Universal Business Language (UBL) and Cross-Industry Invoice (CII). Because every system reads invoices the same way, documents can move between organisations without being reformatted for each recipient.

The standard applies to B2B, B2G and G2G transactions across the EU, and Peppol’s invoice specification, BIS Billing 3.0, is built to comply with it.

How to connect to Peppol

Now we’ve explored what Peppol is and the standards that support it, the next step is connecting to the network: 

  • Register as a participant to get a Peppol ID, which acts as your address on the network.

  • Choose a certified access point provider to send and receive documents on your behalf.

  • Produce invoices in Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, generated from the data in your ERP/accounting system.

  • Validate every invoice before sending. A document that fails validation is rejected at the access point, so the problem is caught before it reaches your customer.

  • Manage responses, delivery receipts and rejections, and make the status visible to your finance team.

  • Stay on top of updates to Peppol specifications and 2026 and 2027 e-invoicing mandates.

It seems simple enough on the surface. However, many organisations struggle to produce invoices in BIS Billing 3.0 using their ERP or accounting systems, and have to turn to an ISV, bespoke development or manual work. Each of these solutions comes with a cost in the form of duplicate transformation costs, fragile customisations and a lot of upgrade risk.

The complete guide to 2026 and 2027's e-invoicing mandates

E-invoicing mandates are live in over 60 countries and counting, but 2026 and 2027 are something of a tipping point. This guide covers every major e-invoicing mandate coming into effect in 2026 and 2027, country by country.
2026 and 2027 E-Invoicing Mandates

How Lasernet supports Peppol e-invoicing

Most ERP systems can’t produce Peppol BIS output or manage the network’s transmission requirements without heavy customisation. Lasernet, on the other hand, is designed to work alongside Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, Business Central, Customer Engagement, SAP, Infor and IFS, taking your invoice data and making it Peppol ready without changing the core systems you rely on.

Lasernet maps data to Peppol BIS using its low-code configuration, applies the required headers, identifiers and envelopes automatically and validates each document before it's sent to reduce rejections. Documents are transmitted through a certified access point and other channels you might need alongside Peppol, such as government platforms (for five corner models), API, FTP, SFTP and email.

You keep the real-time transmission status visibility within your ERP or the Lasernet archive, so your finance team has eyes on what’s been delivered, accepted or rejected. And there’s no need to log an IT support ticket when you need to make changes or updates – team members can make updates themselves regardless of their technical proficiency level. 

Preparing for Peppol e-invoicing

E-invoicing mandates are coming in thick and fast, and Peppol is quickly becoming the standard way to meet them. Because it’s a network rather than a file format, you need to produce and validate compliant invoices and get them onto the network. However, that’s not something many ERP systems can do on their own.

Lasernet picks up where your ERP leaves off, generating Peppol-ready invoices from your ERP data and sending them through a certified access point, without heavy customisation or ongoing IT overhead. 

Book a demo below to find out how Lasernet gets you Peppol-ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Peppol is a network, not a format – it’s the shared infrastructure and rules that allow organisations to exchange electronic documents, such as invoices through certified access points. The documents use formats like Peppol BIS Billing 3.0. 

A Peppol access point is a certified gateway that connects your business software to the network, handling validation, routing and secure delivery. You don’t need to run your own. Almost all organisations connect through a certified provider, because building and maintaining an access point means passing conformance testing and keeping updated with specification changes indefinitely. 

Many countries currently require or will soon require Peppol e-invoicing, including but not limited to Belgium, France, Norway and Croatia. Requirements change often and vary by country, so we recommend checking the rules in each market you trade with. You can find out more about upcoming e-invoicing mandates in our 2026 and 2027 e-invoicing mandates guide. 

No, traditional EDI depends on a separate connection and agreement set up between each pair of trading partners. Peppol requires a single connection to the network, so once you’re in it you can reach any other participant without creating a direct technical link to each one. 

Usually not, as most ERP systems don’t produce Peppol BIS output or meet the network’s transmission requirements without customisation. Organisations connect to the network through an access point provider and software like Lasernet, which transforms ERP data into the correct format and sends it through a certified access point.