Correct a Peppol invoice with a structured credit note

Once an invoice has gone out on Peppol, it stays as issued. You correct it with a separate credit note that refers to it and also travels on Peppol: since 1 January 2026, Belgian law treats a document that modifies a structured e-invoice as a structured e-invoice in its own right, issued in the same format. A PDF credit note by email, or an edited invoice sent again under the same number, does not replace it.

Plan needed in OrdoGrid. Creating and sending credit notes is included in Starter and Business, not the free plan. This concerns issuing from OrdoGrid and does not limit the free plan's Peppol receiving. Compare features and pricing.

This guide covers the structured side of the correction: when Peppol is compulsory, what a UBL CreditNote contains, what OrdoGrid puts in it, how to send and check one, and how credit notes land with your customer and in the VAT return. To choose between a partial credit, a full credit and a new invoice, and to record refunds, see Correct, cancel or credit an issued invoice. If the Peppol send itself failed, start with Fix a rejected or failed Peppol invoice.

When the credit note must travel on Peppol

The format of a credit note follows the format of the invoice it corrects (art. 53 §2bis of the VAT Code, inserted by the Law of 6 February 2024). The FPS Finance confirms in its e-invoicing FAQ that credit and debit notes modifying a structured invoice "must therefore also be sent via Peppol" (question 5).

What Belgian law requires of the credit note

In VAT law a credit note is a rectifying document. Whatever the channel, Royal Decree no. 1 sets the first two rules below, and Royal Decree no. 4 the third:

• Reference. It refers to the invoice it corrects (art. 12 §3). Drawn up as a simplified invoice (art. 13), it needs a "specific and unambiguous" reference to the original plus the mentions that change, its date and sequential number, your name, address and VAT number, the customer's VAT number (or name and address), the type of goods or services, and the taxable amount and VAT per rate.
• Numbering. Sequential and unique, "based on one or several series" (art. 5 §1 1°), and entered in the same outgoing-invoice book as the invoices (art. 14 §2). A separate series is common practice, not a legal requirement; OrdoGrid uses NC-2026-0001, NC-2026-0002 and so on by default.
• VAT refund mention. When the credit note gives you back VAT you charged, Royal Decree no. 4, art. 4 §1, requires the customer's copy to bear "T.V.A. à reverser à l'Etat dans la mesure où elle a été initialement déduite" in the situations referred to in art. 79 of the VAT Code. Which credit notes that covers depends on the reason for the refund: confirm with your accountant, and have them check the wording OrdoGrid prints if your credit note is not in French. The correction guide explains it in detail.

How Peppol carries a credit note

A credit note, or a negative invoice

Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 offers two ways to credit (section 5.6). In a credit note, the document type does the crediting and the amounts keep their sign, so they are normally positive. In a negative invoice, an ordinary invoice with negative amounts does the crediting. Senders may use either; receivers must support both. OrdoGrid always issues credit notes.

Type code 381

Rule PEPPOL-EN16931-P0101 (fatal) allows the credit-note type codes 381, 396, 81, 83 and 532. Code 381 is the commercial credit note, and a receiver without a separate process handles the others as 381. OrdoGrid sends 381. Self-billed credit notes (type 261) belong to the separate Peppol BIS Self-Billing specification. Invoices and credit notes are also separate document types on the network, and a receiver has to be registered for both: see Peppol BIS Billing 3.0: profile, identifiers and document types.

The reference to the original invoice (BG-3)

Preceding invoice reference (BG-3)

The group in a Peppol credit note or invoice that names an earlier invoice: its number (BT-25) and, where needed, its issue date (BT-26). In UBL it is cac:BillingReference/cac:InvoiceDocumentReference.

Peppol validation does not force a link to the original, but Belgian law does, so always create a Belgian credit note from its invoice. Because OrdoGrid sends the number without the date, the number must be unique on its own, which OrdoGrid's numbers are. Some national rules go further: Dutch suppliers must include the reference (rule NL-R-001).

"P9" is not a validation rule: EN 16931 uses it to name a business process, "credit notes or invoices with negative amounts". If a validator complains about the reference, look for BR-55 or PEPPOL-EN16931-R008.

Other fields to check

Send a credit note on Peppol from OrdoGrid

You need the owner or administrator role, and the original invoice must exist in OrdoGrid.

1. Create it from the invoice. In Invoices (page Factures), tick the invoice and click Note de crédit (credit note). Or open Credit Notes (page Notes de Crédit), click Nouvelle note de crédit and choose the invoice in Sélectionner une facture.
2. Check the link. In the sidebar, Facture d'origine (original invoice) shows the original Numéro and Date: that number becomes BT-25. OrdoGrid does not repeat the customer's purchase-order number in the credit note's XML: if the customer needs it, quote it in Notes, which print on the PDF and travel in the XML as the document note (BT-22), not as an order reference (BT-13), and tell the customer where to find it.
3. Set what you credit. Keep every line for a full credit; delete lines or lower Quantité or Prix Unitaire for a partial one. Keep amounts positive and leave Options de TVA as on the original. The total cannot exceed what remains creditable on the invoice.
4. Add the reason in Notes, then check Aperçu du PDF (PDF preview), including the VAT refund mention OrdoGrid adds where it applies.
5. Save with Enregistrer. From the first save, the amounts are locked and the credit note cannot be deleted.
6. Send on Peppol. Click Envoyer, keep Envoi électronique via Peppol ticked, untick Email, then click Sauvegarder & Envoyer (Save & Send). From the list, the globe button Envoyer à Peppol does the same after a confirmation screen warning Action irréversible - Vérifiez le contenu avant d'envoyer.
7. Confirm delivery. In Peppol → Outbox, click Vérifier on the row. Traité means the network delivered the credit note; it says nothing about the customer's approval.
8. Keep the XML. The row's download menu offers XML and PDF: the exact files transmitted.

OrdoGrid runs the same checks as for an invoice, including validation of the XML against EN 16931 and Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.21 rules. When the Peppol network accepts the send, a credit note still in Brouillon (draft) moves to Envoyée (sent) on its own; sending it by email does not change its status. Other statuses, such as Traitée (processed), are set with Statut.

Worked example 1: partial credit for an over-invoiced quantity

Atelier Nord SRL (Liège) sends invoice F-2026-0118 on Peppol to Groep Verhaegen NV (Mechelen) on 12 March 2026, quoting Verhaegen's purchase order PO-45821. The Outbox shows Traité the same day.

On 16 March Verhaegen points out that it ordered one set of drawings, not two. The invoice stays as it is. On 17 March Atelier Nord creates credit note NC-2026-0014 from F-2026-0118, keeps only the drawings line and sets Quantité to 1, puts the reason and Verhaegen's PO-45821 in Notes, and sends it on Peppol. Because the credit note refunds Belgian VAT to a customer with a VAT number, OrdoGrid adds the refund mention itself; it travels with the Notes text in the document note (BT-22).

Result: the Settlement panel of F-2026-0118 shows Credits €242.00 and Outstanding €968.00 (€1,210.00 − €242.00). In the return for the period in which the reason for the refund arose (March 2026, or the first quarter for a quarterly filer), Atelier Nord reports €200.00 in grid 49 and €42.00 in grid 64. Verhaegen, which had deducted the VAT, reports €200.00 in grid 85 and repays €42.00 in grid 63.

Worked example 2: wrong VAT regime, full credit and new invoice

Renov Plus SRL (Namur) plasters the walls of an existing office building for Bouwbedrijf Peeters BV (Hasselt), a contractor that files periodic VAT returns. Invoice F-2026-0131 of 4 May 2026 charges 21% VAT and is delivered on Peppol. Peeters points out that the work falls under the construction reverse charge (cocontractant scheme, art. 20 of Royal Decree no. 1), so Peeters owes the VAT.

1. The credit note mirrors the invoice it cancels: category S at 21%, not the corrected AE. OrdoGrid copies the Standard regime from F-2026-0131; leave it.
2. NC-2026-0016 goes out on Peppol with BT-25 = F-2026-0131. The invoice now shows Credits €3,025.00, Outstanding €0.00 and Annulée (cancelled) in the list.
3. The new invoice F-2026-0139 uses Options de TVA → Régime cocontractant, which sets every line to 0% and sends category AE. On French and Dutch documents, OrdoGrid prints the full official art. 20 §3 mention and sends it in the Peppol file (see Construction reverse charge on Belgian invoices). Add "Remplace la facture F-2026-0131, créditée par la note de crédit NC-2026-0016" in Notes, so Peeters can match the documents.

VAT effect: Renov Plus reports €2,500.00 in grid 49 and €525.00 in grid 64 for the credit note, and €2,500.00 in grid 45 for the new invoice. Peeters reports €2,500.00 in grid 85, repays in grid 63 whatever part of the €525.00 it deducted, and self-assesses the VAT on F-2026-0139.

When you receive a credit note

• Be able to receive it. BIS Billing requires receivers to support both credit notes and negative invoices. Activer la réception in OrdoGrid registers both document types; on Peppol → Statut, Documents supportés under Annuaire Peppol should list Facture and Note de crédit.
• Accept it, never pay it. The FPS FAQ (Q23) says a customer must accept a structured credit note, even one that corrects a 2025 PDF invoice; one that corrects a structured invoice is in the required format anyway. Accepting it needs no Invoice Response. It reduces what you owe: agree with the supplier whether it refunds you or deducts the amount from a later invoice.
• Check the sign. A supplier may credit you with an invoice carrying negative amounts: look at the total, not only the document type.
• Match it. The Inbox shows the supplier, number, date, lines and totals, but OrdoGrid does not book credit notes or match them to invoices. The reference to the original is in the XML (BG-3) and normally on the supplier's PDF. For your accountant, select the rows on the Peppol page and download the ZIP, with its xml/ and pdf/ folders.
• Do not book what is not yours. A credit note normally needs no answer. One that is not meant for you should not be booked, as FAQ Q28 says for invoices: tell the supplier directly so that it can correct it. See Receive, check and answer supplier Peppol invoices.

Credit notes in the VAT return

OrdoGrid does not prepare VAT returns; your accountant does. The FPS Finance's INTERVAT help places credit notes as follows (frame II, frame III, frame IV, frame V):

The VAT goes in the return for the period in which the reason for the refund arose, not into the return of the original invoice (Royal Decree no. 4, art. 5 §1, as replaced by the Royal Decree of 20 February 2004).

Edge cases and common mistakes

Evidence to keep

• The XML and PDF of the original invoice and of each credit note, as transmitted: the Outbox download or the ZIP from the Peppol page. The FPS strongly recommends keeping the original XML.
• The delivery status and any Invoice Response the customer sent.
• The reason for the correction: the customer's email, order or Peppol response.
• For VAT refunds, the register required by Royal Decree no. 4, art. 4 §1: agree with your accountant who keeps it.

Keep them for 7 years from 1 January of the year after issue (VAT Code art. 60, as amended by the Law of 18 December 2025); see Archiving Belgian Peppol invoices. OrdoGrid archives the exact XML, PDF and hashes of every Peppol send, but it is not a legal archiving service and gives no retention guarantee.

FAQ

Can I send a PDF credit note for a Peppol invoice?

Not for an invoice sent as a structured e-invoice since 1 January 2026: the credit note must use the same format and go via Peppol (art. 53 §2bis VAT Code, FPS FAQ Q5). A PDF remains possible for a credit note on a 2025 PDF invoice, if the customer accepts it.

Is BillingReference mandatory on a Peppol credit note?

Peppol BIS Billing makes it optional and only requires the invoice number inside each reference present (BR-55). Belgian law requires a reference to the corrected invoice, so a Belgian credit note should always carry it. OrdoGrid always fills it with the original invoice number.

What is P9 on a Peppol credit note?

Not a validation rule. EN 16931 uses P9 to name the business process for credit notes or invoices with negative amounts. Reference errors come from BR-55 (missing invoice number) or PEPPOL-EN16931-R008 (empty element).

Which type code does a Peppol credit note use?

Usually 381, the commercial credit note. Rule P0101 also allows 396, 81, 83 and 532, which receivers may process as 381. OrdoGrid sends 381; self-billed credit notes use the separate self-billing specification.

Can I send a negative invoice instead of a credit note?

Peppol BIS Billing allows it, and every receiver must support both forms. OrdoGrid always issues credit notes with positive amounts; negative invoices are something you may receive from suppliers.

Can one credit note correct several invoices?

The Peppol format allows it by repeating the preceding invoice reference or, for many invoices, by giving the invoicing period and a note. In OrdoGrid each credit note is linked to one invoice, so issue one per invoice.

Do I amend the VAT return of the original invoice?

No. Under Royal Decree no. 4, the VAT is recovered in the return for the period in which the reason for the refund arose. Your accountant reports a credit note you issued in grid 48 or 49 (its VAT, if any, in grid 64) and one you received in grid 84 or 85 (VAT to repay, if any, in grid 63).