How it works

What happens to an invoice between you and your customer

No marketing, no shortcuts: exactly how an electronic invoice travels the PEPPOL network, what is checked along the way, and where the tax administration comes in.

Three terms worth knowing

A glossary without the fluff

E-invoice

An invoice in a structured XML format based on the European standard EN 16931. It is not a PDF or a scan – it is a machine-readable record the other side can process without retyping.

PEPPOL

An international network for exchanging business documents, used across the EU. It works like the phone network: every participant has its own PEPPOL ID and it does not matter which provider they are connected through.

Access point

A certified provider – the "digital postman" – through which invoices enter and leave the network. Where local rules require it, it also reports the data to the tax administration. ReFIS Access Point is one of them.

The delivery model

The points an invoice passes through

PEPPOL is built on the four-corner model: the invoice travels from you through two access points to your customer. In countries that also require reporting to the tax administration, a fifth corner is added – and we take care of it.

C1
Supplier

You issue the invoice in your own system.

C2 — that is us
Your access point

We convert, validate and send.

Network
PEPPOL

Secure transfer between access points.

C3
Their access point

Receives the invoice for your customer.

C4
Customer

Gets the invoice into their system.

C5
Tax administration (where required)

Some countries require invoice data to be reported to the tax administration. Where that applies, the access point creates and sends the report automatically – on both the supplier and the customer side. You send nothing and track nothing and we submit the report as soon as the document is processed.

When you send an invoice

Before the invoice leaves

  1. 1
    Conversion to the format

    We take the data from your accounting software and build the XML per Peppol BIS Billing 3.0. You change nothing in your system.

  2. 2
    Validation before sending

    We check the invoice against the standard before it goes out, so an error surfaces immediately – not after your customer rejects it.

  3. 3
    Checking the recipient

    We check whether the customer is registered in the network and which document types they accept. If they are not, you know before you issue the invoice.

  4. 4
    Delivery and confirmation

    We deliver the invoice and you see its status – sent, delivered, accepted or rejected, with the reason.

When you receive an invoice

When an invoice arrives

  1. 1
    Receipt and validation

    We take the invoice with its attachments, validate it and send the counterparty a receipt confirmation.

  2. 2
    Reporting

    Where local rules require it, we report the data to the tax administration within the statutory deadline.

  3. 3
    And this is where it can begin

    If you want, the invoice continues straight into approval, gets assigned to a project or cost centre and ends up in the archive. Take a look at ReFIS Flow.

  4. 4
    Delivery into your system

    We pass the invoice to your accounting software – approved and with the account assigned. No scanning, no retyping.

Timing

What applies when

any time

Testing

You can register, get a PEPPOL ID and run the whole process as a dry run whenever you like – regardless of when you will need it.

by country

National mandates differ

When domestic e-invoicing becomes mandatory, and for whom, is set by each country. In a consultation we will tell you what applies to your country and your transactions.

from 1 July 2030

Cross-border transactions (EU)

Under the EU ViDA initiative, e-invoicing extends to cross-border supplies within the EU. The PEPPOL network will be ready for it just as it is today.

Not sure what applies to you?

Tell us what software you use and how many invoices you process a month. We will go through the rest together.

FREE CONSULTATION