What is Peppol and how does it work?

E-invoicing is slowly but surely becoming a standard way to do business in an increasing number of countries, but sending and receiving invoices still isn’t as simple as it should be. Different systems, formats, and rules can make the process frustrating. Peppol solves this problem by providing a standardised network that makes exchanging invoices easy and reliable for businesses everywhere. But what exactly is Peppol, and how does it work?

What Is Peppol?

Peppol is a global network for exchanging electronic documents, such as invoices and purchase orders. While Peppol began as a tool for public sector procurement in Europe, its key value is in providing one universal standard for trade, allowing organisations to interact with a common “language” for business, no matter what systems they use.

At its core, the Peppol network allows organisations, public and private, to send and receive standardised business documents safely and efficiently, even across country borders. This has made Peppol a popular choice for many countries adopting it as their e-invoicing standard.

How does Peppol work?

It’s important to understand that Peppol is not a platform or a user interface: you can’t simply “log in to Peppol”. You can instead think of it as the “internet of e-documents” — the invisible infrastructure that ensures documents travel safely from sender to recipient.

But just like using the internet requires a browser, accessing the Peppol network requires an entry point. In Peppol terms, these are called Peppol Access Points. Peppol Access Points are certified entities that connect business systems to Peppol, allowing businesses to send and receive invoices and other business documents without needing to worry about the technical complexities of the network itself. Business systems, such as ERPs or financial management software, can act as access points themselves, or they can utilise service providers, such as Maventa.

Peppol operates on a four-corner model that includes:

• C1 – Sender of Invoice (C1 sends e-invoice to C2)
• C2 – Service Provider (C2 sends e-invoice to C3)
• C3 – Service Provider (C3 sends e-invoice to C4)
• C4 – Receiver of Invoice (C4 receives e-invoice from C3)

We can use the journey of an invoice from a sender to the recipient as an example.

Imagine you’ve just created an invoice for a customer in your accounting system, which is connected to the Peppol network. Your system, or the access point it uses, formats that invoice according to the Peppol BIS standard, making sure it’s ready for delivery through the network. Once that’s done, your access point securely sends the invoice to your customer in a matter of seconds. On your customer’s end, their access point picks up the invoice and translates it to a format their system understands. From there, it’s ready for payment.

Access the Peppol network with Maventa

Maventa is an active member of Peppol and together with other service providers, we are responsible for the development and maintenance of its infrastructure. As one of the original Peppol Access Points, we’ve been trusted by businesses since the beginning. Today, we are a reliable partner for over 300 software products across Europe, helping their customers connect to Peppol with ease.