A European standard for compliant electronic business Across Europe, public administrations are accelerating the move to fully digital procurement and invoicing. To support this transformation, the European Union has adopted Peppol as the standard network for exchanging electronic business documents with public entities. At InMade Integrations, we help companies understand what Peppol is, why it is required by EU public bodies, and how to integrate it smoothly into their existing systems, without unnecessary disruption.
Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) is a secure, standardised network that enables organisations to exchange electronic business documents in a structured and interoperable way. Instead of creating individual connections with each public authority, organisations connect once to a certified Peppol Access Point. From there, documents can be exchanged with thousands of public entities and registered businesses across Europe. Peppol ensures:
Cross-border interoperability
Secure and trusted data exchange
Consistent compliance across EU member states
Standardised document formats
The EU e-Invoicing Directive (2014/55/EU) The need to simplify cross-border procurement Increased transparency and automation in public spending Reduction of manual processing and errors
Require invoices to be sent via Peppol Use Peppol for electronic procurement processes Encourage suppliers to onboard to the network as part of compliance
Peppol supports a defined set of standard business documents, known as Peppol BIS (Business Interoperability Specifications).
These documents follow strict validation rules to ensure they can be processed automatically by public-sector systems.
Common document types include:
Invoices and Credit Notes
Purchase Orders and Order Responses
Despatch Advice
Receipt Advice
Catalogues
Peppol and traditional EDI are both established approaches for exchanging electronic business documents, but they are built on different principles and serve different regulatory and operational needs.
Understanding these differences is key when working with EU public entities.
These approaches are not mutually exclusive. Many organisations use Peppol for regulated public-sector communication, alongside traditional EDI for other business processes.
Peppol is based on a network model. Organisations connect once to a certified Access Point and can reach all other participants through the network. Traditional EDI is based on direct connections. Each trading partner requires a separate technical setup and agreement.
Peppol uses strictly standardised document formats (Peppol BIS), designed to be interoperable across countries and public administrations. Traditional EDI allows a wide variety of formats (such as EDIFACT, XML, or proprietary structures), often tailored per partner.
Peppol operates under a common European governance framework, ensuring security, trust, and legal compliance for public-sector exchanges. Traditional EDI governance is typically managed through bilateral contracts and partner-specific agreements.
Peppol enables faster onboarding of new public entities, as discovery and routing are handled by the network. Traditional EDI onboarding is usually more manual and time-consuming, especially when dealing with many partners.
Peppol is widely used and often required for e-invoicing and electronic procurement with EU public bodies. Traditional EDI remains common in sectors with complex, customised processes such as logistics, retail, and manufacturing.
In most cases, Peppol is integrated alongside existing ERP or accounting platforms, acting as a compliant communication layer between your organisation and EU public entities. A typical Peppol integration includes:
01
Mapping internal data to Peppol BIS formats
02
Connecting to a certified Peppol Access Point
03
Validating documents against Peppol and country rules
04
Monitoring delivery and acknowledgements
Stay compliant and efficient with Peppol & EDI
Our role is to make Peppol simple, compliant, and sustainable, so you can focus on your business, not on regulatory complexity.
We support organisations throughout their Peppol journey:
Peppol onboarding and Access Point connectivity
ERP and accounting system integration
Document mapping and validation
Cross-border and multi-country setups
Long-term integration strategy and support
If you need to exchange electronic documents with EU public entities or want to prepare your organisation for Peppol requirements, we’re here to help.
Contact InMade Integrations to discuss your Peppol integration needs.