How Can PEPPOL Help Your Business? An E-Invoicing Guide (Part 1)

by | Jun 1, 2023 | E-invoicing

In public procurement processes, the efficiency of business processes improves through standardized electronic invoicing and document exchange. Thanks to a secure and compliant network, your company can simplify procurement processes, save costs and enable better collaboration between organizations across Europe.

The Explanation of PEPPOL 

PEPPOL is an ideal connection for businesses that need to exchange electronic documents with their network of suppliers and buyers in a secure, cost-efficient, and standardized way. You can learn more about it here.

Who Uses PEPPOL?

It is appropriate for small, medium, and large-scale businesses, and is a better alternative to sending documents by email or regular mail. Let’s take a deeper look into who’s likely to use it.

Government Entities  

Compliance, transparency, and security are crucial for government offices as they set the landscape for the document exchange practices in their countries and regions. PEPPOL ensures all regional regulations are met and:

  • Prevents tax fraud
  • Adds more transparency to the legal system
  • Automates document processing
  • Reduces environmental impact

Companies in the Public Sector 

The EU Directive 2014/55/EU urges companies that work in the public sector to exchange e-invoices and other electronic document types via PEPPOL. The directive aims to simplify and streamline the invoicing process for public procurement by promoting the use of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) and establishing a common framework for the format, content, and transmission of e-invoices. It sets out specific requirements for the design and content of e-invoices, as well as for their transmission and receipt.

Small Organizations 

For smaller companies, PEPPOL can mean not only exceptional data security, but also better access to international markets. Since the network connects trading partners all across the globe, you won’t need to implement different e-procurement systems. It doesn’t matter which access point provider you work with or which PEPPOL authority you register with. Additionally, with the current four-corner model, you can connect to any public sector organization or private company that is connected to the network.

Buyers with Multiple Suppliers 

Some PEPPOL users are private companies with a wide supplier network. These users may face difficult times handling supplier invoices and purchase orders from a wide range of companies, so the need for document standardization arises.

For these organizations, PEPPOL will help to:

  • Streamline procurement process directly from their ERP systems
  • Standardize document exchange processes with all their trading partners
  • Increase interoperability
  • Improve data quality

Nowadays, there’s still a number of employees at any company who are kept busy with the manual processing of invoice payments. However, PEPPOL implementation can automate all the manual work around processing invoice data and allow these employees to shift their focus into more strategic areas.

Suppliers with Multiple Buyers 

Do you need to send e-invoices to multiple buyers? With PEPPOL you won’t need separate portals dedicated to every buyer – PEPPOL replaces them all! Use it to exchange documents both within your supply chain and with the government – it’s one system that addresses all needs.

Have you ever felt the uncertainty of sending out an invoice via email and not knowing if the other party received and processed it? If you use a document exchange portal that is connected to PEPPOL, you can eliminate the unknown and get status update notifications in real-time.

So, Why Use PEPPOL? 

It is a secure network. If you’re concerned about your invoices getting lost or becoming vulnerable to malevolent cyber-attacks, it’s better to use PEPPOL.

Security

PEPPOL is a secure network. If you’re concerned about your invoices getting lost or becoming vulnerable to malevolent cyber-attacks, it’s better to use PEPPOL.

Security is a top priority for all companies. Remember, the majority of hacks come through the supply chain, which should raise alarm for IT departments. Invoices are important documents that often hold private company information. For these reasons, PEPPOL exists.

PEPPOL uses encryptions, digital signatures, and secured protocols. Encryption ensures data integrity, an important feature for all e-invoicing exchanges. It’s important that invoice data isn’t tampered with, especially when it comes to tax purposes. These features of PEPPOL help ensure the data stays secure.

Finally, the network has access controls, so access to PEPPOL is carefully monitored to prevent data breaches.

Compliance

PEPPOL is compliant with European regulations, even when they vary from country to country.

PEPPOL standards for e-procurement and e-invoicing make business processes easier and more secure for companies of all sizes throughout the EU. As these companies have to adjust to various standards set per country, the use of PEPPOL is essential for regulation compliance. Interoperability is required by law (or will be soon), so companies who are already using the PEPPOL network are already a step ahead. This shows the urgency of a secure network, but also the willingness to adapt to a changing future of business.

As e-invoicing becomes more commonplace and new European standards are set in place to standardize document exchange, the use of PEPPOL will become the new norm to ensure simplicity, security, and compliance.

Faustine Tournay
Latest posts by Faustine Tournay (see all)

RELATED POSTS