Peppol is the open, standardised network that lets businesses exchange e-invoices (and orders, despatch advices and other procurement documents) across borders, without each pair of companies building a custom connection. In practice it works like a postal system for structured business documents. It's governed by OpenPeppol, a non-profit based in Brussels, and it's the route the Dutch government already uses for e-invoicing.
The four-corner model
Peppol routes a document through four "corners":
- C1: the sender (e.g. the supplier's ERP)
- C2: the sender's Access Point (a certified service provider)
- C3: the receiver's Access Point
- C4: the receiver (the buyer's system)
You connect once to a certified Access Point; the network handles addressing and delivery to any other participant via its registries (SMP, the Service Metadata Publisher, and SML, the Service Metadata Locator). One connection reaches everyone on Peppol. That's the value.
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0
The invoice specification on Peppol is Peppol BIS Billing 3.0. It's EN 16931-compliant and built on the UBL XML syntax, so a Peppol invoice satisfies the European e-invoicing standard out of the box. That's why Peppol is a natural delivery route for the ViDA mandates.
The Dutch Peppol Authority (NPa)
In the Netherlands, the Nederlandse Peppolautoriteit (NPa) is the national Peppol Authority, acting on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior (BZK). It safeguards the quality and reliability of the Peppol framework in NL and accredits Dutch Access Points. Central government has required e-invoices from suppliers on new contracts since 2017, and Peppol is the most common route for it.
What this means for logistics
For a forwarder and its customers, Peppol is the plumbing that makes structured e-invoicing practical at scale: connect once, and invoices flow to and from any counterparty on the network in a compliant format. With ViDA pushing cross-border B2B e-invoicing toward 2030, a Peppol route is one of the cleanest ways to be ready.
How Nexport Logistics fits
We issue your freight and Customs invoices through Nexportal, built to deliver EN 16931-compliant invoices over Peppol as the mandates land. Your accounting system then receives a document it can book automatically.
Want your invoices delivered over Peppol? Email info@nexportlogistics.nl.
Official sources: OpenPeppol · Nederlandse Peppolautoriteit · Logius — E-factureren. Related: E Invoicing · Vida