What’s Peppol e-invoicing and when do I need it for Belgium?

Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine) is the European e-invoicing network. Belgium adopted it as its national e-invoicing backbone via Hermes (the FOD BOSA / SPF BOSA Belgian government Access Point) and a growing list of certified private PDPs / Access Points (Babelway, Pagero, Basware, Esker, Codabox).

Belgian e-invoicing deadlines:

• From 1 March 2024, already required for B2G to federal entities above €3,000.
• From 1 January 2026, all B2G transactions must be Peppol-format e-invoices (no PDF, no paper).
• From 1 January 2028 (proposed, under finalisation), B2B e-invoicing mandatory between Belgian VAT-registered businesses.

Magento integration steps:

1. Choose a Peppol Access Point, Hermes (government, free for B2G), Babelway / Pagero / Basware (commercial, for B2B + cross-border + ERP integration).
2. Order/invoice generation must produce UBL 2.1 XML in Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format (the EU-standard invoice schema).
3. Integrate Magento → Access Point via REST / SFTP / AS4. The Access Point delivers to the recipient’s ID (KBO / BCE company number + Peppol ID).
4. Inbound handling: receive supplier invoices via the same Access Point into Magento purchase orders or your ERP.

We’ve shipped this integration for BE merchants migrating from PDF-attached emails to full Peppol AS4.