Peppol

Also known as Pan-European Public Procurement Online, Peppol network, Peppol e-invoicing

Peppol is the European network through which businesses exchange structured electronic invoices.

By Arthur Lauwers

Peppol is the European network through which businesses exchange structured electronic invoices. In Belgium, e-invoicing between VAT-registered businesses has been mandatory since 1 January 2026, and Peppol is the standard for it. For an online store, the obligation applies to your B2B sales, not to your sales to consumers.

What is Peppol?

Peppol stands for Pan-European Public Procurement Online. It isn't software but a network with fixed agreements: an invoice leaves your accounting package in a fixed format (Peppol BIS 3.0), travels through a certified access point to your customer's access point and lands automatically in their accounts. No PDF in an inbox, no retyping.

So you don't connect to Peppol yourself. You use software with a Peppol access point, such as your accounting package or ERP. Every business gets a Peppol ID there, in Belgium usually based on the enterprise number.

What is mandatory in Belgium?

B2B: mandatory since 1 January 2026. Invoices between Belgian VAT-registered businesses must be structured and electronic. A PDF by email is no longer enough, and the tolerance period is over.

B2G: since 1 March 2024. For invoices to the federal government above EUR 3,000 the obligation applied earlier.

B2C: not mandatory. Invoices to consumers fall outside the obligation.

Fines. Businesses that don't comply risk fines of up to EUR 5,000.

From 2028: e-reporting. The VAT data of your invoices will then also go straight to the tax authorities.

What does Peppol mean for your online store?

It depends on who you sell to. This is the core for e-commerce:

CustomerPeppol invoice required?What you arrange
ConsumerNoYour regular invoice or order confirmation is enough.
Belgian business with a VAT numberYesA structured e-invoice through Peppol for every B2B order.
Business in another EU countryNot under the Belgian ruleA correct intra-community invoice. Check that country's rules.
Your own Belgian suppliersReceiving: yesYou must be able to receive Peppol invoices, even if you only sell to consumers.

Many stores forget that last one: even if you only sell to consumers, you must be able to receive invoices from Belgian suppliers through Peppol.

Peppol and Shopify

Shopify doesn't send Peppol invoices itself, and an order confirmation isn't an e-invoice. If you also sell to Belgian businesses, you connect Shopify to an accounting package or ERP with a Peppol access point, and you ask for the VAT number and company name in your checkout. The three common options are in Peppol and e-invoicing with Shopify.

If you sell to businesses at scale, also read our guide to B2B on Shopify and how we connect Shopify to your other systems.

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