I’m using IP ever since 2016. Always loved it. But as a Belgian enterpreneur, I need to send my invoices via the Peppol network as from 2026.
I look at this as a major opportunity for the IP developers/community. Most of its European users will have to go e-invoice in the near future. I expect that in 2025 many IT-companies will start offering paid solutions that fit into the new e-invoicing rules.
I have been looking into paid solutions for invoicing for my small business. They all cost between 7-30 EUR/month. So I’ll always pay between 100 and 400 EUR/year as from 2026 to get my invoices sent out. So will most of European users in the coming year(s).
I’d rather give that money to the IP-project instead of moving on.
But as a Belgian entrepreneur, I need to send my invoices via the Peppol network as of 2026. This is not entirely correct!
The law states: As of 1 January 2026, all Belgian enterprises liable to VAT will have to use structured electronic invoices in their transactions with each other.
→ If you agree with your customer(s) to exchange structured invoices, in UBL (EN 16931) format, (e.g. via e-mail or via federation) then there is no problem.
IP is currently a software that only creates and sends invoices and cannot receive invoices to process further.
Connecting from IP to Peppol is currently not possible because IP V1 does not have an API.
In IP V2, a rest API would be provided.
Creating and sending Peppol invoices (via e-mail) in IP v1 will be possible but makes no sense because you cannot connect to the Peppol network anyway.
I suspect that other (more competitive) prices and pricing models will be launched next year.
As far as I understand, you cannot directly connect with Peppol. You need to use an Access Point or integrate with one them. There is always a cost involved. You cannot directly use Peppol’s API.
Verony, if you’re right about not being forced to use Peppol, I suspect adding the XML-export to an invoice in IP is not a very complicated matter. You may have developed that part already.
I have meantime signed up (free account) with a Peppol Access Point (Digiteal.eu) and I will further explore the bits and bytes.
Also a entrepreneur from Belgium and IT-er on an other job. Been using Invoiceplane for a while and for my other job co-implementing PEPPOL connections.
All B2B suppliers are obliged to use a PEPPOL invoice from 01/01/2026. As stated, you can’t connect to the PEPPOL network directly, although it is an open standard.
more info on access points:
On the website op Peppol org members
There are different protocol versions in use at the moment, you’ll have to get feedback from the broker you are going to use, which standard they support.
Version documentation example:
The docs on Peppol eu Message envelopes
Here is a free validator to check your document code:
ecosio validator
It would be swell if IP would have an export function to an xml format.
Any updates on this topic. Can we still keep using IP in 2026? Why are they making it so difficult. Im a very small business owner. I barley have any subscriptions and now we have to pay to invoice ?
Im worried and don’t understand how eInvoice works. If all required details are on an invoice and send by email why is that not good enough anymore.
If you only have very few invoices/year, you may find free solutions on the market by the end of 2025. For Belgian businesses there are some free options already.
For the IP developers: the very first step is to provide XML-invoices (along with the existing PDF format). For very small businesses, mainly dealing with B2C, this might do the trick, especially in the early years (2026-2027).
Unfortunately, various European countries use different formats. It’s a jungle. This is a disaster. Europe should have used 1 format: UBL. UBL is a world-wide standard for e-invoicing. See Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 - May 2024 Release | Structure
Belgium is using the Peppol network, so I guess the above Peppol UBL-variant is the one I will need.
Your comment: All B2B suppliers are obliged to use a PEPPOL invoice from 01/01/2026. This is not entirely correct!
The law states: As of 1 January 2026, all Belgian enterprises liable to VAT will have to use structured electronic invoices in their transactions with each other.
The law talks about structured electronic invoices and not Peppol invoices. This is a very important difference!
So as I already indicated in my post: → If you agree with your customer(s) to "exchange structured invoices, in UBL (EN 16931) format", (e.g. via e-mail or via federation) then there is no problem.
Your comment: It would be swell if IP would have an export function to an xml format. That function should be coming in the near future and is in active development.
Apparently your links to the Peppol website and docs and the Ecosio validator have disappeared…
Precisely because the law allows it, you can still send “structured e-invoices” to companies and institutions with a VAT number via e-mail (with prior agreement with your customer!) by using IP (with the e-invoicing function if available).
for B2C there is NO obligation to use structured e-invoices.
Europe allows 2 formats UBL (EN16931) and CII (Zugferd, XRechnung and Factur-x). Even within the allowed UBL format there are (per country) differences due to internal (VAT) legislation. The European standard has provided for this by defining the Core Invoice Usage Specification (CIUS) and Extensions.
Belgium has not drawn up a CIUS but strongly encourages companies to use the PEPPOL network and the PEPPOL BIS format (=CIUS).
@VeRony my bookkeeper forces all his customers to signup for a pre-accounting invoice processor (Clearfacts) and charges 30 EUR/month, even if you only have only a couple of invoices/year. Accountants are going nuts for the moment. It’s crazy.
I understand there is no strict obligation to signup to a Peppol Access Point (in Belgium that is). But in a B2B context most Belgian companies will do so through their invoicing softwares.
We should look into the possibility to get IP listed as a Peppol Access Point. There is a yearly cost involved (at around 2000 EUR/year). But an Access Point can connect an unlimited number of IP-users to Peppol.
IP may have to evolve to a hosted app with a cooperative structure, so that the more users get on board, the cheaper it gets/user. I really see a very good business case here.
@Pieter
FYI: clearfacts charges €13/month per (active) client-user to your accountant (min. 100 dossiers).
There are certainly a number of packages that also exchange e-invoices with your accountant for about half that price (± €15) and less…
I know @VeRony. At this point, many instances (like accountants) are trying to make money on the back of this new e-invoicing thing. Most of their customers do not know anything about it (and are scared about new things anyway), so they can charge whatever they like. This situation will normalize within 1-2 years I guess.
I had the impression I couldn’t put a link due to community guidelines, but here they are:
As Pieter mentioned there are other ways of sending, for example Coupa, but most businesses are choosing for PEPPOL since government instances are demanding PEPPOL, so anybody sending invoices to any government instance are obliged to use PEPPOL.
@Ellen,
There are indeed other ways to send e-invoices in a secure way.
For information: besides the Peppol network, there is also the sending of documents via federation.
Peppol is a network based on the 4 corner model.
Coupa is a commercial and expensive (American) network based on the 3-corner model with Coupa in the middle. In this way they try to create a (kind of) dependency via their services.
Our Belgian government indeed strongly urges to send e-invoices via Peppol.
Other EU countries are a bit more flexible in this and also allow SFTP, e-mail, etc.
For the sake of completeness, I would like to add that occasional senders of e-invoices to the Flemish government can also use the Mercurius platform.
I’m afraid things are becoming even more challenging for IP in Europe.
The majority of Peppol Access Points (I contacted all Belgian ones via email, they all replied!) are offering so called all-in-one solutions. Not only they provide invoicing through Peppol, they also facilitate the download of invoices through Peppol. Peppol is a 2-way street. You send, but also receive invoices with Peppol. Most providers also offer a way to pay incoming invoices. They thus link to your bank account as well.
Also, most Peppol Access Points offer many other ERP/CRM/DMS/CMS/E-commerce solutions, not just invoicing. And they all cost somewhere between 10 and 30 EUR/month/user. It’s gonna be tough to beat these guys.
To all Belgian users of IP: we need to talk and discuss our options. Feel free to contact me through the forums here.
