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	2	SIRENE
Sweden	7	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.

Sales tax rates, rules, and regulations change frequently. Although we hope you'll find this information helpful, this blog is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal or tax advice.