Ask HN: How are you preparing for PEPPOL?

5 points · elric · 4 hours ago

Couldn't find any previous discussions on PEPPOL on HN. If you're unfamiliar with it, it is an electronic invoicing network, which the EU is starting to force on businesses. All business-to-business invoices in Belgium will have to be sent over PEPPOL as of next year [1]. Gone will be the days of emailing PDFs.

This obviously impacts every business which deals with other businesses. Access to the PEPPOL network is not free. Direct access is nearly impossible (it is expensive and requires technical audits). A variety of third parties are popping up to mediate access. They all seem complex and expensive. Not only will you have to use the network to send your invoices, you will also have to receive them somehow. If you're a small business, this could get pretty complicated pretty quickly.

I'm assuming we have some EU business owners/freelancers/entrepreneurs on HN. How are you preparing for this (apparently inevitable) future of PEPPOL?

[1] https://finance.belgium.be/en/enterprises/vat/e-invoicing/mandatory-use-structured-electronic-invoices-2026

6 comments

B1zz3y_ · 2 hours ago

I can shed some light on this topic. Since I own a SaaS which is focused on freelancers & SME's.

The EU is becoming very regulated when it comes to sending / receiving invoices. Basic invoicing tools that offer PDF are not sufficient anymore.

You could say I'll run my own peppol access point but the economics of doing so for a single person doesn't make sense. You're looking at a basic yearly fee of 2000 euros just for the peppol membership and on top of that you need to get certified by third parties looking at another couple of thousands euros just to be able to send and receive some invoices.

My best advice is to search for an affordable tool that takes away this complexity away for you. I know that previously you could send for free, but that's going to end if you like it or not.

I run my SaaS at https://www.bizzey.com which is a business tool that you can fully customize and peppol sending and receiving is supported (it's also completely "free" in a sense that you just pay the subscription and nothing on top)

42lux · 3 hours ago

It’s really not that complicated or expensive. Broken down for most people it’s gonna work just like email. What’s your grievance besides the general stuff in your post?

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tene80i · 3 hours ago

What’s your reference for the EU forcing this on businesses? The link you provided is only about Belgium.

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Lionga · 2 hours ago

Romania has a similar system for some time. The over regulation in EU is bad, but still better then a grifter president, that uses a shit coin to scam the people.