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E-Invoicing, UBL and Peppol: What You Need to Know

"Do I have to send e-invoices?" is one of the most common invoicing questions in Europe, and the answer changes every year. The short version for service businesses, as of mid-2026: there is no single EU-wide B2B mandate yet, but the direction is unmistakable. Several member states already require e-invoicing, others are phasing it in, and the EU has set the destination. If you're setting up your invoicing today, treat e-invoicing as the default, not as a distant future.

Regulation moves fast; this article describes the situation as of mid-2026 and is not tax advice.

The terminology, first

An e-invoice is not a PDF sent by email. It's a structured data file that the recipient's accounting system can import and process automatically, with no retyping and no OCR. The common format is UBL (Universal Business Language, usually UBL 2.1); across Europe, the standard EN 16931 defines which data an e-invoice must contain. Peppol is the delivery network that carries e-invoices securely from sender to recipient. Think of it as what the banking network is for payments.

What's already mandatory?

  • Selling to the public sector: EU public authorities have been required to accept e-invoices for years, and many countries have gone further. In the Netherlands, for instance, e-invoicing has been mandatory for new central-government contracts since 2017, with many municipalities and agencies following. If you work for government clients, you're already in scope.
  • Germany: since January 2025, German businesses must be able to receive e-invoices, with the obligation to send being phased in. If you serve German clients, a PDF simply won't be enough for much longer.
  • Italy, France, Belgium and others: Italy has had a broad e-invoicing mandate for years; France, Belgium and several other member states are on similar tracks or further along.

What's coming: ViDA

In 2025 the EU adopted the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package. The core for invoicing: by 2030, digital reporting based on structured e-invoices is set to become the norm for cross-border B2B transactions within the EU, and member states gain the freedom to mandate domestic e-invoicing without needing separate EU approval. Some countries, the Netherlands among them as of mid-2026, haven't yet announced a domestic B2B mandate, but the infrastructure (Peppol, EN 16931) is in place and the momentum across neighboring markets makes the outcome predictable: Europe is moving toward structured e-invoicing as the standard.

The lesson from countries that have already made the switch: businesses that only tackled e-invoicing when forced to had the highest costs and the most stress; those who factored it into a regular software decision earlier barely noticed the transition.

What this means in practice for a service business

1. Choose software that includes UBL as standard. Every invoice should be available as UBL alongside the PDF, with no surcharge and no add-on module. In Horixa, every invoice can be downloaded and sent as UBL 2.1 by default; larger clients and public-sector organizations can import it directly.

2. Keep your master data clean. A valid e-invoice requires correct data: your business registration number, VAT numbers (yours and your client's), and the right VAT treatment per line. That's the hidden upside of e-invoicing: it forces a tidy client database.

3. Think in both directions. Mandates often start with receiving. Ask your suppliers for UBL too: booking incoming invoices without retyping saves your bookkeeper time, and therefore saves you money.

4. Connect invoicing to your accounting. E-invoicing is part of a bigger shift: systems that talk to each other without manual work. A link between your invoicing and your accounting package (Horixa integrates with Moneybird, with more accounting platforms on the way) removes the last retyping step.

5. Don't wait for a deadline. There is zero downside to attaching UBL today: clients who can't use it simply use the PDF; clients who can will process your invoice faster, which demonstrably shortens payment times.

Frequently asked questions

Will PDF invoices become worthless? No. The PDF remains the human-readable version; the e-invoice (UBL) is the machine-readable version alongside it. Send them together and everyone can work with your invoice.

Does a small agency need to be connected to Peppol? For domestic B2B work in most member states, not yet (as of mid-2026). If you invoice governments or large organizations, it's increasingly requested. Choose software that keeps the path to Peppol open.

What must an invoice contain at a minimum? The standard invoice requirements in your country, typically sequential (gapless) numbering, invoice date, your registration and VAT numbers, name and address of both parties, a description, and the amount and VAT rate per line. An e-invoice contains exactly the same data, just structured.

Does ViDA also apply to domestic invoices? The 2030 obligation targets cross-border EU transactions. For domestic invoices, each member state decides for itself, and ViDA makes it easier for them to take that step. Don't count on domestic B2B staying out of scope.

Invoices that are UBL-ready today, including gapless numbering and accounting integration? Try Horixa free for 14 days.