Your first Peppol B2B invoice in Belgium
SME checklist for sending a first valid Peppol B2B invoice in Belgium: prerequisites, recipient validation, required fields, and delivery verification.
Updated
- Belgium
A first Peppol invoice is a production structured B2B invoice you send through your Access Point to a buyer who is already reachable. The job is one valid delivery: lookup, valid BIS Billing content, and a confirmed transport status. It is not a sandbox demo.
Example
Atelier Nord in Ghent sends invoice F2026-001 for 180.00 EUR to a wholesaler. Lookup of 0208:0987654321 shows BIS Billing receive. Validation passes. The Access Point reports delivered, and the buyer confirms the document in their inbound inbox.
Goal: one valid delivery, not a pilot experiment
Treat the first Peppol send as a production dry run with a cooperative customer. The job is simple: leave your Access Point with a valid structured invoice and prove the buyer’s Access Point accepted it. Everything below is sequenced for a Belgian SME under the 2026 B2B obligation.
1. Prerequisites (do these before drafting)
- You are registered to send. Confirm your participant ID (
0208:+ ten-digit KBO/BCE number) is live and outbound is enabled. See Peppol registration in Belgium. - Your software produces Peppol BIS Billing / EN 16931 UBL, not a PDF renamed as XML. Background: EN 16931 and UBL.
- Invoice numbering is ready. Use the next number in your legal sequence. Do not invent a “test” number that later blocks a real invoice.
- Company master data is complete: legal name, address, Belgian VAT number, bank details you want on the invoice.
2. Validate the recipient first
Never send blind. Run a Peppol participant lookup on the customer’s enterprise number:
- Scheme 0208, ten digits, keep leading zeros
- Confirm BIS Billing (or your product’s billing profile) is published
- Prefer the lookup inside your invoicing tool; it mirrors production routing
If lookup fails, stop. Fix the identifier with the customer, or follow Sending when the client is not on Peppol. Do not burn a sequence number on a known routing failure unless your process requires issuing anyway.
- First send
The first production Peppol invoice to a given buyer: correct identifier, valid content, and a verified delivery or clear network error, not a sandbox demo.
3. Required fields that usually break first sends
Belgian legal mentions still apply in structured form. Double-check:
| Area | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Parties | Supplier and buyer legal names and addresses |
| Identifiers | Your VAT + KBO; buyer KBO as Peppol ID; buyer VAT when required |
| Document | Unique invoice number, issue date, currency |
| Lines | Description, quantity, unit price, VAT category per line |
| Totals | Net, VAT breakdown, payable amount that reconcile |
| Payment | IBAN / means of payment your customer expects |
Use Mandatory legal mentions on Belgian invoices as the content checklist. Run your tool’s validate before send step and fix every rule violation before transmit.
4. Send, then verify delivery
- Submit through your Access Point (not email).
- Wait for transport / delivery status in your product (delivered, accepted by recipient AP, or failed).
- Confirm with the buyer that the invoice appears in their Peppol inbox or ERP. Network "delivered" is not the same as booked.
- Note any later IMR (accept / reject / under query). See Peppol Invoice Message Responses.
5. Done when…
- Lookup succeeded before send
- Validation passed with no open errors
- Access Point shows successful delivery (or a diagnosed failure you can act on)
- Buyer confirms receipt in their inbound channel
If something fails after issue, do not reuse or “edit” the same number casually. Diagnose and correct using a controlled process (credit note or corrected re-issue per your numbering rules).
FAQ
What is a first Peppol invoice?
A production structured B2B invoice sent through your Access Point to a reachable buyer, with lookup, valid content, and verified delivery. It is not a sandbox demo.
Must I look up the buyer before sending?
Yes. Run participant lookup on scheme 0208 plus the ten-digit enterprise number and confirm BIS Billing receive before you send.
Can I use a test invoice number?
No. Use the next number in your legal sequence. A fake test number later blocks a real invoice.
When is the first send done?
When lookup succeeded, validation passed, the Access Point shows delivery or a diagnosed failure, and the buyer confirms inbound receipt.
What if the send fails after issue?
Do not edit or reuse the same number. Diagnose, then credit or re-issue under your numbering rules.