Check whether a Belgian customer can receive invoices on Peppol

A structured invoice can only travel over Peppol if the network knows your customer. In Belgium every business on Peppol must be registered at least under 0208: followed by its ten-digit enterprise number, the number in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (KBO/BCE). OrdoGrid checks this each time you click Envoyer (send), using the VAT number of the client on the invoice. To check a customer yourself, FPS Finance (the Belgian federal tax administration) points to lookup.peppol.org.

This guide shows how to run the check, read the result and fix the usual causes of a customer not found. What to do once you are sure a customer cannot receive is covered in sending when the client is not on Peppol; identifier formats in detail are in Peppol ID explained.

What a lookup proves, and what it does not

A Peppol registration is a public statement that the customer can receive. FPS Finance treats it as agreement to receive structured invoices, and tells suppliers not to ask Belgian customers for a separate Peppol ID: deliver to the enterprise number by default (B2B FAQ).

Peppol participant identifier

A business's address on Peppol: a scheme code, a colon and a value, for example 0208:0123456749, where 0208 means Belgian enterprise number. Each identifier is registered with exactly one provider's metadata service (SMP), which tells senders where to deliver.

Which identifier to look up

An enterprise number has ten digits and starts with 0 or 1. Numbers issued since 19 September 2023 start with 1, so never add a leading zero to them. The last two digits are check digits: 97 minus the remainder of the first eight digits divided by 97. For 0123456749, 01234567 divided by 97 leaves 48, and 97 − 48 = 49.

Peppol BIS validation rejects an invoice whose 0208 value fails this check (rule PEPPOL-COMMON-R043, fatal). A mistyped number is therefore usually not another company's address: it is not a valid address at all. A branch's establishment unit number is a different number and is not a 0208 value.

How OrdoGrid checks your client when you send

OrdoGrid has no Peppol ID field on clients. When you open Envoyer on an invoice or credit note, it takes the VAT number of the client on that document and tries 0208 (digits only) and 9925 (BE plus digits) in the Peppol network's address register (the SML), then the Peppol Directory, then its own access point. The check runs again each time you open Envoyer.

1. In Base Clients (client list), open the client: the form Modifier le client (edit client) appears. Check that Type de client is Assujetti à la TVA (VAT-registered) and that N° de TVA (VAT number) reads BE plus ten digits. Spaces and dots do not matter, but keep the BE prefix: without it, OrdoGrid may not know which country's identifiers to try.
2. In N° de TVA, delete the last digit and type it again: OrdoGrid looks the number up only when the field changes, not when the form opens. A moment later a box shows the company name with the source badge Registre belge (BCE) (Belgian register), or VIES (UE) if the Belgian register does not answer; the name should match the official name on the contract. A warning such as Numéro de TVA invalide (invalid VAT number), or another company's name, means the number is wrong; Erreur lors de la recherche (search error) means the lookup itself failed.
3. Open the invoice and click Envoyer. The Peppol block shows Vérification de l'éligibilité... (checking eligibility), then one of these messages.

The globe button Envoyer à Peppol (send to Peppol) in the invoice list runs the same check. Its window Confirmation d'envoi Peppol shows Client inscrit sur Peppol (client registered) or Client non inscrit sur Peppol (not registered). If the notice Impossible de vérifier le statut Peppol du client appears too, the check failed: retry later. A greyed-out globe with the tooltip Non éligible Peppol (not eligible) usually means the client has no VAT number.

OrdoGrid's check confirms that the client is registered; it does not show which document types the client accepts. If a registered client cannot take your document, the send ends with Erreur or Pas sur Peppol (not on Peppol) in the Outbox: see Peppol delivery status.

Check a customer yourself

Do this for a new business customer, when a customer disputes OrdoGrid's result, or to see which identifier it uses.

1. Go to lookup.peppol.org, the tool FPS Finance recommends.
2. Enter 0208: and the ten digits, for example 0208:0123456749, or search by company name.
3. A result means the customer is currently published on the network to receive documents. It does not show whether the customer can send.
4. No result: search by name. If the name appears with another number, your number is wrong. If nothing appears, retry with 9925:BE and the same digits.
5. For a second view, search the Peppol Directory by name or number.

The Peppol Directory is a search index of business cards that providers may publish for their customers. Publication is voluntary and indexing is asynchronous, so a card can be missing or out of date while the customer receives normally; the data-quality scans run by the Belgian Peppol Authority treat a missing card as a warning, not an error. Delivery never depends on the Directory: senders resolve the identifier through the SML and the customer's SMP (SMP, SML and Peppol Directory: how Peppol finds a recipient).

When a result lists document types, look for the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 invoice and credit note: their identifiers contain Invoice-2::Invoice or CreditNote-2::CreditNote with poacc:billing:3.0. A registration listing only an Invoice Response (ApplicationResponse) cannot take your invoice. One listing invoices but not credit notes is incomplete: Peppol BIS expects receivers to support both, and FPS Finance requires a credit note that corrects a structured invoice to go via Peppol too. Only the customer's provider can fix this.

When the customer is not found: likely causes

Work from the top: the first rows are the quickest to rule out.

No official rule says how fast a new registration appears; the network address is normally published quickly, a Directory card can follow later. As the network allows one provider per identifier, a provider switch can interrupt reception if the old provider deregisters the customer before the new one registers it.

Worked example: two swapped digits

Imprimerie Lemaire SRL, a printer in Charleroi, has printed beer mats for Brasserie Delvaux SA in Mons. Both are VAT-registered and established in Belgium. A clerk created the client by typing the VAT number from an email signature.

1. On Envoyer, the Peppol block shows Peppol — ignoré: Le client n'est pas enregistré sur le réseau Peppol.
2. The check digits give the typo away: 01234657 divided by 97 leaves 41, and 97 − 41 = 56, but the typed number ends in 49. When the clerk typed the number, the client form had also shown a warning such as Numéro de TVA invalide instead of a company name.
3. On lookup.peppol.org, a search for “Brasserie Delvaux” returns 0208:0123456749. Check: 01234567 divided by 97 leaves 48, and 97 − 48 = 49. The digits 5 and 6 had been swapped.
4. In Base Clients, the clerk corrects N° de TVA to BE 0123.456.749, sees Brasserie Delvaux SA with the badge Registre belge (BCE) and clicks Enregistrer (save).
5. In draft F-2026-0187, the clerk selects the client again in the client block, because the invoice keeps its own copy of the client details. Envoyer now shows Envoi électronique via Peppol, ticked. The clerk unticks Email (pre-ticked when the client has an email address) and clicks Sauvegarder & Envoyer.
6. In Peppol → Outbox, the row moves from En file (queued) to Traité (network delivery completed) a few minutes later; FPS Finance says most invoices arrive within minutes to a couple of hours. The clerk adds to the client's Notes: “2 Oct 2026: found on lookup.peppol.org as 0208:0123456749 after correcting a VAT typo”.

Had Imprimerie Lemaire emailed a PDF after step 1, Brasserie Delvaux would have received a €931.70 invoice with a wrong VAT number, outside Peppol, although it could receive structured invoices.

After a confirmed miss

What the law requires. If the customer is technically unable to receive, you need not issue a structured invoice, but you must still issue an invoice in another form, such as a PDF or paper (art. 53 §2bis, last paragraph, VAT Code, inserted by the Law of 10 February 2026). That invoice is valid. An electronic alternative such as an emailed PDF needs the customer's agreement and a secure method. Once the customer can receive, do not resend invoices already issued this way on Peppol (FPS Finance B2B FAQ). The customer remains in breach of its own duty to receive and risks a fine of €1,500, then €3,000, then €5,000 for each further infringement; a repeat counts only if it is established at least three months after the previous infringement that led to a fine (Royal Decree no. 44).

What OrdoGrid does. There is no automatic fallback: tick Email in the same Envoyer window, or send by email from the invoice list. Full procedure: sending when the client is not on Peppol.

Customers that are not ordinary Belgian companies

Make the check a routine

These are recommendations, not legal duties.

1. New business customer: create the client with its VAT number, check it on lookup.peppol.org and note the identifier in Notes.
2. Merger, new company or provider change announced: update the client record and check again.
3. Once a month: check again the customers you invoiced by fallback and send their next invoices via Peppol as soon as they appear. Never resend earlier invoices.
4. Many clients or an integration: the public API call GET /api/v1/peppol/participants/{vat_number}, with an API key that has the peppol:read scope, runs the same check and returns registered and the participant_id found.

Evidence to keep

What the law requires. No legal text requires you to document a lookup.

What we recommend. When you use the fallback, be able to show why the invoice did not go via Peppol: keep the date, the identifiers tried, the tool and the result (a screenshot of the OrdoGrid message or of lookup.peppol.org), plus the customer's confirmation that it cannot receive yet and its agreement to the alternative channel.

What OrdoGrid does. It shows the result on screen only, so record it yourself, for example in the client's Notes. After a Peppol send, the Outbox keeps the XML and PDF of the document.

FAQ

Which number do I search for a Belgian customer?

Scheme 0208 followed by its ten-digit enterprise number, without BE, dots or spaces, for example 0208:0123456749. If that gives nothing, try 9925 followed by BE and the same digits.

Should I ask my customer for its Peppol ID?

No. FPS Finance says suppliers can deliver to the enterprise number by default. Ask only if the customer is not found under 0208 or 9925.

My customer is not in the Peppol Directory. Is it not on Peppol?

Not necessarily. Directory cards are optional and indexed with a delay. Check lookup.peppol.org or OrdoGrid's Peppol block, which check the network's own address register.

Does a successful lookup mean my customer can send me invoices?

No. It shows the ability to receive only. Sending depends on the customer's own provider and setup.

OrdoGrid says the client is not registered, but the client says it is. Who is right?

Usually the number differs. Compare the VAT number in the client record with the identifier the customer finds on lookup.peppol.org. A registration made today can also take a little time to appear.

My customer's enterprise number starts with 1. Is that a mistake?

No. Enterprise numbers issued since 19 September 2023 start with 1. Use them as they are, without adding a zero.

Can I register my customer on Peppol myself?

No. Only the customer can register, through a Peppol provider of its choice. Until then, issue a fallback invoice (PDF or paper).