Peppol Invoices Are Arriving. Who Is Processing Them?

Since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered businesses have had to issue and receive structured electronic invoices for domestic B2B transactions, in practice through the Peppol network. The general tolerance period ended on 31 March 2026, and FPS Finance confirmed it would not be extended. A separate tolerance for self-billing ran until 30 June 2026. [1] Not having the technical means to issue and receive structured invoices can now be fined EUR 1,500 for a first offence, rising to EUR 3,000 and then EUR 5,000 for repeat findings. [2]

Most companies spent 2025 on the sending side: connecting the ERP to an access point, testing the invoice layout, making sure customers could be reached. That was the visible part. Ten months in, the part that causes daily friction is often the other direction: invoices coming in.

Why incoming invoices are the harder half

When you send a Peppol invoice, your own ERP produces the data. You control the item codes, VAT codes and references. When you receive one, the data is your supplier’s. Their item descriptions, their units, their idea of what a purchase order reference looks like.

A structured invoice removes retyping. It does not remove matching. Someone or something still has to connect each invoice to the right supplier, purchase order, receipt, cost centre and VAT treatment. If that matching was done by eye on a PDF before, it now has to be done on data, and the rules for it have to exist in your system.

Where incoming Peppol invoices get stuck

No purchase order reference, or the wrong one

If suppliers do not put your PO number in the right field, automatic matching fails and the invoice drops into a manual queue. The fix is partly technical and partly a conversation with your suppliers.

Supplier master data that does not match

Duplicate suppliers, outdated VAT numbers or bank details, and suppliers set up under a trade name instead of the legal entity all break automatic matching. Peppol makes this visible quickly, because the identifier on the invoice has to match something in your ERP.

Lines that do not map to your items or accounts

Supplier item codes rarely match yours. Without a mapping (or a clear rule to post at header level to a default account) every line needs a decision.

Credit notes and corrections

Partial credit notes, price corrections and invoices that cover several deliveries are where structured data and real business meet. These cases need defined handling, not improvisation.

The PDF habit

Some teams still wait for the PDF by email, or print the visual representation to approve it. That doubles the work and keeps the old bottleneck in place.

A practical fix list for finance and operations

1. Measure the queue. How many incoming invoices are matched automatically, and how many need a person? You cannot improve a number you do not track.
2. Clean supplier master data first. Legal names, enterprise and VAT numbers, Peppol identifiers, payment terms and bank accounts. One owner, one process for changes.
3. Agree the PO reference with your top suppliers. Start with the ones that send the most invoices. A short message about where your PO number goes often fixes a large share of exceptions.
4. Define matching rules. Which invoices need a PO, which can post to a default account, what tolerance applies on price and quantity, and who approves exceptions.
5. Write down the exception process. Who handles a mismatch, within what time, and how the supplier is informed. Unwritten processes slow down the first time the usual person is on holiday.
6. Remove the PDF step. Approve on the structured data in the ERP or the approval tool, not on a printout.
7. Check self-billing flows separately. If you use self-billing, confirm with your access point and ERP partner that the Peppol self-billing setup is working, since the extra tolerance for it has ended. [1]

Who should own it

Incoming invoice processing sits between purchasing, finance and IT, which is exactly why it often has no clear owner. The system side (access point, ERP configuration, matching rules) needs someone who understands both the ERP and the accounts payable process. The day-to-day side (working the exception queue, contacting suppliers, keeping supplier data correct) needs consistent hands, every day.

That second part is steady, rule-based work, and much of it is simple enough that someone else can take it over cost-effectively. Swiftly Business Consulting provides remote support staff, based in the Philippines, who handle invoice processing, master data and user support inside your ERP, working to your rules and your approval limits. That frees your own key users for the matching decisions and supplier conversations that need their judgement.

What is still coming

Peppol was not the end of the story. Belgium plans near real-time e-reporting of B2B invoices from 2028, which will make the quality of your invoice data even more important. We covered that in a separate article on Belgium’s 2028 e-reporting plans. Getting the incoming process clean now is good preparation.

Belgium’s 2028 E-Reporting: What It Means for Your ERP

The bottom line

Sending Peppol invoices was a project with a deadline. Processing incoming ones is a daily operation, and it only runs smoothly when supplier data, purchase order references and matching rules are in order. If your accounts payable team is still retyping, re-checking or waiting for PDFs, the mandate is in place but the benefit is not.

Sources

1. Deloitte Belgium, “E-invoicing in Belgium: End of the grace period and full enforcement of the mandate now in effect”

2. FPS Finance, e-invoice FAQ, specific questions about e-invoicing (penalties for lacking the technical means to issue and receive structured invoices: EUR 1,500 first offence, EUR 3,000 second, EUR 5,000 thereafter)