Peppol is a European network for sending and receiving invoices electronically. Instead of sending a PDF by email, the invoice goes via a secure network straight to your customer’s accounting system. No attachments, no manual entry, no errors on receipt.
What Peppol does in Bas: - Sends invoices via the Peppol network instead of by email - Retrieves customer details from the Peppol directory (name, address, VAT number) - Automatically checks whether a business customer is registered on the Peppol network - Falls back to PDF if a customer isn’t yet connected to Peppol
Note: In Belgium, Peppol has been mandatory for all business invoices since 2026. In the Netherlands, the requirement is expected around 2030. You can already start now with the customers who are already connected.
Why Peppol?
Without Peppol | With Peppol | |
Sending | PDF by email | Automatic via secure network |
Receiving | Customer enters the invoice manually | Invoice goes straight into the accounting system |
Errors | Typos when retyping | No manual entry needed |
Status | No confirmation of receipt | Visible whether the invoice has arrived |
Current state of affairs
Belgium: Peppol is mandatory for all business invoices (since 2026)
Netherlands: Around 68,815 companies are connected to Peppol (approximately 3% of all companies)
Future: In 2030, Peppol will also become mandatory in the Netherlands for all business invoices
Not every customer is on the Peppol network yet. That’s not a problem: in that case, Bas simply sends a PDF invoice. You never have to force a customer to sign up.
Step 1 - Activate Peppol
Go to Settings > Method > Integrations
Find Peppol and click Connect
Enter the requested company details (including your Chamber of Commerce and VAT numbers)
Click Save
Tip: Preferably activate Peppol together with your onboarding specialist. They can check straightaway whether your company details have been entered correctly and whether the first sync goes smoothly.
Step 2 - Look up a customer in the Peppol directory
When you create a new business customer, you can check whether they’re already on the Peppol network. If the customer is found, Bas automatically retrieves their details.
Start creating a new case file or a new customer
Choose Business as the customer type
Bas offers to search the Peppol directory
Enter the company name and click Search
Select the correct result from the list
Expected result: The following details are automatically filled in:
Field | What’s retrieved |
Company name | The official registered name |
Address | The full invoice address |
VAT number | The validated VAT number |
The customer is immediately linked to the Peppol network. The next invoice will be sent via Peppol automatically.
Tip: By using the Peppol directory when creating customers, you immediately get a validated VAT number and a correct invoice address. That saves you corrections later on.
Step 3 - Send an invoice via Peppol
Sending itself works exactly the same as usual. Bas automatically determines whether an invoice is sent via Peppol or as a PDF.
Create an invoice in the usual way
Click Send (or finalise the invoice via your standard process)
Bas automatically checks whether the customer is on the Peppol network
Customer is on Peppol: the invoice is sent via the Peppol network
Customer isn’t on Peppol: the invoice is sent as a PDF by email
Expected result: The invoice appears in the Peppol overview with the status “Sent” or “Delivered”.
Note: Invoices are synced with the Peppol network several times a day. It can take a little while before a sent invoice gets the status “Delivered”. This is normal.
Step 4 - View Peppol activity
You can track the status of all your Peppol invoices in the activity overview.
Go to the Peppol integration in your settings
Open the Activity overview
View the status per invoice: sent, delivered or failed
Filter by Successful or Unsuccessful to quickly find issues
For a failed send: click Retry
Expected result: An overview of all Peppol invoices with their current status. You can retry failed sends immediately.
Linking existing customers to Peppol
It’s not just new customers you can look up. Existing business customers already in your system are also checked automatically.
When sending an invoice to a business customer who isn’t yet linked to Peppol, Bas shows a notification
At that point, you can still look the customer up in the directory and link them
This way, you also catch older customers who have since registered on the Peppol network
Tip: You don’t need to go through all your customers manually. Bas automatically checks with every invoice whether the customer is now on Peppol. Existing customers are picked up automatically this way.
Belgian customers
Additional rules apply to Belgian removal companies:
Requirement | Explanation |
Peppol mandatory | All business invoices must be sent via Peppol |
VAT number mandatory | The customer’s VAT number must appear on every business invoice |
Fallback | If a Belgian customer isn’t yet on Peppol, you must still send a PDF. This occurs with small companies that haven’t registered yet |
Note: Make sure the VAT number of your Belgian customers is always filled in. Without a VAT number on the invoice, you won’t comply with Belgian law. The Peppol directory fills this in automatically if you look the customer up there.
Tips
Activate Peppol during onboarding already. Even if you only have a few customers connected to Peppol so far, it’s smart to set up the integration now. This way, you’re prepared for the future and you’ll already catch the customers who are connected.
Use the Peppol directory for every new business customer. You immediately get validated company details, the correct invoice address and an accurate VAT number. That saves you corrections and returns later.
Check the activity overview regularly. Especially at the start, it’s good to check whether invoices are arriving successfully. You can resend failed sends immediately.
Belgian customers: always fill in the VAT number. This is a legal requirement and necessary for a successful Peppol send.
Please note
Not all customers are on Peppol. In the Netherlands, only around 3% of companies are connected so far. Bas automatically sends a PDF as a fallback, but check with important customers whether the invoice has arrived.
Syncing isn’t real-time. Invoices are synced with the Peppol network several times a day. Right after sending, the status may still show “Processing”. Give it a bit of time.
The Belgian requirement already applies now. If you invoice Belgian business customers, Peppol isn’t optional - it’s mandatory. Make sure the integration is active before you send your first Belgian invoice.
Can’t find a customer in the directory? That means the customer hasn’t registered with Peppol themselves. You can’t force a customer to register. In that case, send a PDF invoice.
Want to know more?
Connecting your accounting package - Connect your accounting to Bas for automatic invoice processing
Other integrations - Overview of all available integrations in Bas
Next step: Linking emails to case files - forward emails to Bas and link them to the right case file.