What is that Peppol actually?
Jul 16, 2025
"Cashfeed raises 1.3 million euros for smarter e-invoicing via the Peppol network" headlined De Tijd.
The reactions?
"Congratulations!"
"What are you going to do with it?"
But also: "What exactly is that Peppol?"
In this blog, we will address the latter and summarize everything. Because that might also be important for you.
What is Peppol?
Peppol stands for Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine.
It may sound like a far-off show, but don’t be mistaken. It is the new standard for quickly, securely, and standardized sending electronic invoices (e-invoices in XML format) between businesses and/or governments. And soon it will be the only standard. It will become mandatory starting January 1, 2026.
The Peppol network is like WhatsApp, but for invoices. You type them in, click send, and boom, they safely reach their intended recipient. No more PDFs sent via email. No more “oops, that invoice never arrived” situations.
Possibly, the government will also collect VAT faster this way, although that hasn’t been stated.
Why is Peppol important?
Mandatory for and by governments: In Belgium and many other European countries, suppliers working with the government must already submit their invoices via Peppol. From January 1, this will be mandatory for every B2B invoice — from one company to another.
Efficiency: E-invoices arrive directly in the recipient's payment environment, without intermediate steps.
Better cash flow: Fewer errors and delays also means faster payments.
International standard: Peppol is gradually being rolled out across Europe, with Belgium as one of the frontrunners, and beyond (Australia, Singapore, etc.)
How do you get started?
Determine your needs
If you are still invoicing today as in 2007 – small PDF, or possibly an Excel, manually scanning and forwarding via email or even by post – then you are making it difficult for yourself. But sometimes you just can’t do without your Excel formulas or special features from your invoicing program.
No worries — with Cashfeed you can upload invoices in all formats and convert them to the Peppol-supported XML format. This way, you can still hold on to your existing method of working.
Choose what fits
Not everyone falls under the Peppol requirement. In restaurants, you will still receive VAT receipts, parking tickets remain valid, and foreign suppliers will still be allowed to send you PDF invoices. Therefore, a good OCR (Optical Character Recognition) will be essential to elevate all your invoices to the same level. Otherwise, you’ll have to manually retype things.
A good Peppol tool automates more than just sending and receiving. Customers of Cashfeed, for example, talk about a time savings of 5-10X, looking at the entire invoicing process. Moreover, with fewer errors, faster payments, and everything neatly logged and searchable.
Other SMEs appreciate that they can, just as before, forward invoices to each other for review and approval where necessary. That can currently only be smoothly done with Cashfeed since XML files are not readable to the naked eye.
Since Belgium is a leader in this requirement, most tools are Belgian today. So, you are also buying locally.
Don’t wait too long
It is recommended to switch to a tool as early as the fall. This way you will be fully up and running by January 2026, when the first fines will be imposed for not being able to send or receive via the Peppol network. Because those are no joke:
€1,500 for the first finding (or after a first warning)
€3,000 for the second finding
€5,000 from the third finding
Furthermore, you will do your accountant a big favor by making the switch before the already busy year-end period. This way, he/she can check if the integration with their accounting package works properly.
Are there also free tools?
Yes and no. If you haven’t paid for an invoicing program today, it is likely you will have to do so from now on — whether or not through your accountant. Your software provider also pays a variable fee for the connection to the Peppol network and will charge you a monthly fee, usually depending on your volume.
Tools like Doccle claim to be free to connect you to the Peppol network, but that only applies to receiving invoices. If you want to create and pay invoices yourself, you still need to take a paid subscription. Others then charge extra for basic options like OCR (text recognition), additional users, tracking invoices, or creating quotes.
"If you don’t pay for the product, then you are the product" applies in this context as well. Moreover, don’t forget that the cost of your Peppol tool is temporarily deductible up to 120% for sole proprietorships, liberal professions, and small companies. Be sure to check what you are paying for and what you are not paying for before making a choice. Or feel free to consult your accountant, social secretariat, or banker.
