How Do I Send a Peppol Invoice?

Choosing a trusted system or network for storing and exchanging electronic documents is not easy, especially if it involves crucial and confidential documents. The good thing is that PEPPOL exists to provide a network for exchanging e-documents, such as e-invoices.

E-invoices are a convenient and cost-effective way to send invoices with trading partners. Sending a PEPPOL e-invoice is easy with its clear instructions and systematic process, which involves creating a profile, choosing an access point, selecting a recipient, filling and sending the invoice, then monitoring the status.

E-invoice and a sound network system such as PEPPOL can benefit any business, whether in the private or public sector, because this offers solutions for global compliance of documents. This makes it easy to make transactions globally by complying with different rules and regulations.

This article will focus on:

What is PEPPOL?
What is an e-invoice?
How to send an e-invoice using the PEPPOL network?

Let's jump in!

What is PEPPOL?

PEPPOL is an international network that enables cross-border procurement and the exchange of documents electronically. However, it is not an eProcurement platform. It does provide technical specifications for exchanging business services and eProcurement solutions that allow interoperability despite differing systems worldwide.

Since it was developed as an EU standard, most of the businesses in the PEPPOL network are European-based. But more companies in different countries have adopted the standard. Such countries include New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and Singapore, to name a few.

PEPPOL has three major components:

PEPPOL eDelivery Network - this is their network based on common national IT compatible standards. It uses a shared format and sets the business processes and technical standards while maintaining security through its digital signature technology.
PEPPOL Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) - list of document specifications updated by OpenPEPPOL, an international non-profit organization responsible for developing and disseminating PEPPOL standards. The set standards facilitate secure and open data exchange between businesses in the public or private sectors.
PEPPOL Transport Infrastructure Agreements (TIA) - their legal framework consisting of their network governance, such as their general terms of cooperation and responsibilities of all parties.

With these, they provide interoperability of procurement and business services and processes. They also simplify and improve the process of onboarding for buyers and suppliers who are trading electronically. There is also a technical and legal basis built on the PEPPOL eDelivery Network and PEPPOL Transport Infrastructure Agreements.

Additionally, they allow exchanging standards-based electronic documents over their PEPPOL eDelivery Network. Electronic documents include e-orders, e-catalogs, e-advance shipping notes, and e-invoices.

What is an e-invoice?

An electronic invoice (e-invoice) is an integrated electronic format of invoice document that is exchanged between a supplier and a buyer.

E-invoicing is now a common business-to-business low-cost transaction process part of Electronic Data Interchange transactions.

An e-invoice has structured invoice data using standard internet-based web forms and is issued in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or XML formats.

Meanwhile, a not valid e-invoice is an unstructured invoice issued in PDF or MS Word formats. Also, if a paper invoice is converted into an electronic format by copying, scanning, sending via fax, and any other method, it is not considered an e-invoice.

Unlike traditional invoicing, e-invoicing is not a paper-based process and is not manually intensive. Thus, it lessens your costs and saves you time that manual processing cannot offer.

Other benefits of e-invoicing include dispensing of manual processes such as printing, mailing, documenting, and storing invoices. It also reduces the duration of billing cycles because it offers a more efficient and faster data transfer. Most importantly, it comes with better integration between your invoicing software and other business systems and between you and your trading partners.

How to send an e-invoice using the PEPPOL network?

PEPPOL follows the four-corner model when sending an invoice. The four parties involved in the model are your company, the recipients, and your Access Points.

Here are the steps in sending an e-invoice using the PEPPOL network:

1. Create a personal profile

Fill in the information to create your profile. After creating a profile, your company will automatically appear as the issuer whenever you send an invoice.

2. Choose a PEPPOL Access Point

PEPPOL allows both buyers and suppliers to freely choose their preferred single Access Point provider to connect with all participants on the network and exchange e-documents. You must connect to a certified PEPPOL Access Point, such as StoreCove.

3. Select the receiver of the invoice

You can select and call up your recipient from the PEPPOL register. The register has all the information about the recipient and automatically fills in the invoice.

4. Fill in and send the invoice

Enter the necessary information, such as the services, goods, prices, date, etc. Once you click the "Send" button, the invoice will be sent through StoreCove's PEPPOL Access Point Network to transmit your invoice to your chosen recipient. The recipient will receive the invoice in real time.

5. Monitor the status of your invoice

You can easily monitor the status of your invoice in your invoice archive. You can view each invoice issued to double-check the information and see if it was sent correctly. You can also resend invoices when necessary or credit notes easily and quickly.

Conclusion

PEPPOL is a great partner for any business in keeping up with digitalization. It provides a good network for your electronic documents, specifically e-invoices. It saves more time, money, and resources that otherwise would have been spent on manually making and sending invoices.

However, using PEPPOL entails securing the services of a trusted Access Point. Storecove offers e-invoicing solutions for any global compliance concerns. You simply connect with us, and we will do the rest.

We also offer a PEPPOL E-invoicing API perfect for your ERP and accounting system.

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