How does your e-invoice reach your customer on the Peppol network?

How e-invoices are sent and received differs to traditional processes — businesses would either print an invoice and post it to the customer, or download from their ERP system or billing software and send via email as a PDF.  

But how does an e-invoice — an invoice that has structured and therefore machine-readable data — reach the customer or trading partner? The answer is via a global network, such as Peppol.  

Peppol has a common delivery framework and address book process allowing dynamic discovery. It enables trading partners to exchange standards-based e-invoices and credit notes based on a four-corner model, consisting of a supplier sending an invoice, its customer receiving the invoice, and their respective certified service providers who send and receive the invoices on their behalf. 

Corner

Role

Role

C1 

Supplier 

Creates invoice in ERP system and sends to C2 

C2 

Service Provider  

Receives invoice data from C1, converts to relevant format and sends e-invoice to C3 

C3 

Service Provider  

Receives e-invoice from C2 and sends e-invoice to C4 

C4 

Customer 

Receives e-invoice from C3 

How the address book works

All businesses and organisations using Peppol publish their delivery address and the types of e-documents they’re able to receive via a Service Metadata Publisher (SMP), which acts as a business registry and address book. Peppol has a central address book called the Peppol Service Metadata Locator (SML). This SML is able to look up the relevant SMP for each customer to find out the delivery details so that an e-invoice can be sent to the right address. This is a similar approach to how websites are found based on domain names. Therefore, when a business sends an e-invoice using the Peppol network, it must send the unique Peppol ID number for each customer, which will ultimately ensure the e-invoice is received by the recipient. 

What data is needed?

The customer’s unique Peppol ID number is driven by two pieces of data; the Electronic Address Scheme code (which typically defines the country of the recipient and the type of identification number used in that country), and the relevant identification or tax number of the recipient. Some businesses and organisations may share their exact Peppol ID number with their suppliers and vendors. Some businesses will also search the Peppol Directory to see if their customer is listed and to retrieve the address. This exercise can often be carried out on an entire customer or vendor master data as a professional service when a business first implements e-invoicing using Peppol. Businesses can prepare by making sure they hold the relevant identification number for the customer or trading partner in their customer master data file.  

Electronic Address Schemes (EAS)

Some examples of EAS codes include:

Country

EAS Code

Number Type

France 

SIRENE 

Sweden 

ORGNR 

Finland 

37 

OVT 

Italy 

97 

FTI 

Italy 

135 

SIA 

Italy 

142 

SECETI 

Australia 

151 

ABN 

Switzerland 

183 

UIDB 

Denmark 

184 

DIGST 

Japan 

188 

SST 

Netherlands 

190 

OINO 

Estonia 

191 

CC 

Norway 

192 

ORG 

Belgium 

193 

UBLBE 

Singapore 

195 

UEN 

Iceland 

196 

KTNR 

Denmark 

198 

ERST 

Lithuania  

200 

LEC 

IT 

201 

CUUO 

DE 

204 

LWID 

International 

209 

GS1 

Italy 

210 

CFI 

Italy 

211 

IVA 

Finland 

212 

ORG 

Finland 

213 

VAT 

Finland 

215 

NSI 

Finland 

216 

OVT2 

Denmark 

9901 

CPR 

Denmark 

9902 

CVR 

Hungary 

9910 

VAT 

Spain 

9920 

VAT 

Andorra 

9922 

VAT 

Albania 

9923 

VAT 

Bosnia and Herzegovina 

9924 

VAT 

Belgium 

9925 

VAT 

Bulgaria 

9926 

VAT 

Switzerland 

9927 

VAT 

Cyprus 

9928 

VAT 

Czechia 

9929 

VAT 

Germany 

9930 

VAT 

Estonia 

9931 

VAT 

United Kingdom 

9932 

VAT 

Greece 

9933 

VAT 

Croatia 

9934 

VAT 

Ireland 

9935 

VAT 

Lithuania  

9936 

VAT 

Latvia 

9937 

VAT 

Luxembourg 

9938 

VAT 

Latvia 

9939 

VAT 

Monaco 

9940 

VAT 

Montenegro 

9941 

VAT 

Macedonia 

9942 

VAT 

Malta 

9943 

VAT 

Poland 

9945 

VAT 

Portugal 

9946 

VAT 

Romania 

9947 

VAT 

Serbia 

9948 

VAT 

Slovenia 

9949 

VAT 

Slovakia 

9950 

VAT 

San Marino 

9951 

VAT 

Sweden 

9955 

VAT 

France 

9957 

VAT 

USA 

9959 

EIN 

Japan is the latest country to have a unique EAS code (0188). The customer identification number for identifying companies on the Peppol network is the Corporate Number issued by Japan’s National Tax Agency (国税庁). Japan will implement a new Qualified Tax Invoices system for Japanese Consumption Tax (JCT) with effect October 1, 2023. To complement and support this, the country is also implementing Peppol e-invoicing (under the new JP PINT standard), and Japanese businesses will be able to exchange complaint e-Qualified Tax Invoices over the Peppol network.

Avalara is an OpenPeppol member and a certified Peppol service provider in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Avalara’s e-invoicing solution can help companies stay compliant in over 60 countries and uses the Peppol network to issue and receive e-invoices. 

Contact  Avalara to discuss how we can help you comply with upcoming e-invoicing mandates or connect you to the Peppol network.  

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