E-invoicing around the world: what it is, where it is mandatory and how to prepare
What makes an invoice an e-invoice, which countries require them and how to get your invoice flows ready.
In this topic: IT and data 18
Ask a finance team whether it invoices digitally and the answer is nearly always yes: the invoice leaves the accounting system as a PDF and reaches the customer's inbox seconds later. Under the new e-invoicing rules, that is not an e-invoice. An e-invoice is structured data that the customer's software reads and books without anyone retyping it, and in a growing number of countries it is the legal form of an invoice between businesses.
- Someone has to find and retype each amount
- Not an e-invoice under the new mandates
- Every value sits in a named field of an agreed standard
- The buyer's software books it and matches it to the order
More than 80 countries have implemented or announced e-invoicing mandates, according to Politecnico di Milano's International Observatory on eInvoicing (source: Politecnico di Milano, September 2025). This guide covers what an e-invoice is, the two ways countries organise it, the main mandates and how to prepare.
An e-invoice is structured data in an agreed standard, not a PDF. Some countries let e-invoices travel over an open network such as Peppol and check later; others route every invoice past a tax authority platform first. Italy, Germany, Belgium, Poland and France already require e-invoices between businesses, some with transition periods, and the EU extends them to cross-border sales between businesses from July 2030 (source: EUR-Lex, March 2025).
- Standards
- Networks
- Mandates
- Preparation
What an e-invoice is, and why a PDF is not one
From July 2030, EU VAT law defines an electronic invoice as one issued, transmitted and received in a structured electronic format that allows automated processing (source: EUR-Lex, March 2025). National mandates use the same idea: a PDF is electronic, but not structured.
Structured means that every item has its own named field: invoice number, date, VAT numbers, invoice lines, VAT, total and the buyer's order reference. Software reads those fields directly; with a PDF, a person or recognition software has to find the total. Saudi Arabia's tax authority, for one, states that a scanned paper invoice is not an electronic invoice (source: ZATCA, May 2023).
The file itself is usually XMLXMLA text format for structured data in which every value sits between named tags, so software knows what each value means., created and read by your software. What you choose is the standard, and it has three layers.
The European standard: the content
EN 16931, written by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), defines the core fields of an invoice and what each one means (source: European Commission, June 2026).
UBL and CII: the file formats
The same fields can be written in two XML formats: UBL and the UN/CEFACT industry invoice, usually called CII (source: European Commission, June 2026).
Peppol BIS: the network's rulebook
The invoice specification of the Peppol network. It adds rules, such as requiring the buyer's reference or the order number, and stays compliant with the European standard (source: OpenPeppol, May 2026).
From July 2030, EU law requires e-invoices to follow the European standard, although member states may allow other standards for domestic invoices (source: EUR-Lex, March 2025). Until then, and outside the EU, ask which format each country and large customer expects.
How Peppol works: four corners, one connection
Peppol is an international set of agreements and specifications for exchanging e-invoices through certified service providers. It started as a European project and is increasingly used around the world (source: OpenPeppol, April 2022).
It works like a postal service, with an access pointAccess pointA certified service provider that connects a business to the Peppol network and sends and receives its documents. It can be built into your accounting software or bought separately. as the post office. Your software (corner 1) hands the invoice to your access point (corner 2), which looks up the buyer's access point (corner 3) and delivers it there for the buyer's software (corner 4) (source: OpenPeppol, September 2023). Every sender connects once and reaches every receiver, so you never need to know which software your customer uses.
You do need the customer's Peppol ID, its address on the network. It combines a code for the type of number with a number the business already has, such as a company registration or VAT number (source: OpenPeppol, November 2026).
The tax authority is not one of the four corners. In the UK's plans, the Peppol Authority will not receive copies of VAT invoices between businesses (source: HMRC, October 2026); tax checks follow later, in returns and audits.
Clearance: when the tax authority sees the invoice first
In a clearanceClearanceA system in which a government platform checks and registers each invoice before, or as, it reaches the buyer. Also called continuous transaction controls. model, each invoice passes through a government platform, or must be approved by it, before it counts. The tax authority sees every invoice as it is issued, not months later in a VAT return.
Italy has worked this way since 1 January 2019 for invoices between businesses established in Italy, through the Revenue Agency's exchange system, SdI (source: Agenzia delle Entrate, November 2026). In Poland, structured invoices are issued and received through the national platform, KSeF (source: Polish Ministry of Finance, February 2026). In Saudi Arabia's integration phase, every tax invoice between businesses must be cleared by the tax authority before it is shared with the buyer (source: ZATCA, May 2023). In Mexico, an authorised certification provider validates each electronic invoice and sends it to the tax authority, SAT (source: SAT, November 2026).
France sits in between: invoices travel through approved platforms that businesses choose, and those platforms pass invoice data to the tax administration (source: DGFiP, July 2026).
A platform can reject an invoice, so someone must check rejections daily. Each country also has its own format and connection: software that handles Peppol does not automatically handle KSeF or SdI.
VAT in the Digital Age: what changes for invoices in the EU
The EU adopted its VAT in the Digital Age package, ViDA, on 11 March 2025 (source: European Commission, March 2025). For invoices it brings three changes.
- 1Since April 2025Member states may make e-invoicing mandatory for domestic transactions, under conditions set in the directive (source: European Commission, March 2025).
- 2From July 2030Sales to businesses in other member states require e-invoices, issued within 10 days, and their data is reported to the tax authorities (source: EUR-Lex, March 2025).
- 3By January 2035Member states with domestic real-time reporting in place on 1 January 2024 must align their systems with the EU standards (source: European Commission, March 2025).
The ten days run from the chargeable eventChargeable eventThe moment VAT becomes chargeable, which is generally when the goods or services are supplied.. If you invoice customers in other member states monthly, ask your adviser whether that rhythm still fits.
The Netherlands, for example, wants domestic e-invoicing from 1 July 2030 and reporting from 1 July 2031, but in September 2026 this was a government plan that still had to go to parliament (source: Dutch government, September 2026). Plan on announced dates, and check their status twice a year.
Where e-invoicing is mandatory: examples by country
Selected mandates for invoices between businesses, as stated in official sources in November 2026. Most have exceptions, so check every country where you invoice or are registered for VAT.
| Country | Status | What applies |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | In force | Clearance through the Revenue Agency's SdI for invoices between businesses established in Italy, since 1 January 2019 (source: Agenzia delle Entrate, November 2026). |
| Germany | Phasing in | Structured e-invoices between businesses established in Germany since 1 January 2025; paper or, with the buyer's consent, PDF still allowed until the end of 2026, for smaller suppliers until the end of 2027 (source: German Federal Ministry of Justice, November 2026). |
| Belgium | In force | Structured e-invoices between VAT-registered Belgian businesses since 1 January 2026, in principle via Peppol (source: Belgian federal government, October 2024; Belgian federal government, November 2026). |
| Poland | Phasing in | Clearance through KSeF: receiving since 1 February 2026, issuing since 1 February 2026 for the largest businesses and since 1 April 2026 for the others, with some relief until the end of 2026 (source: Polish Ministry of Finance, February 2026; Polish Ministry of Finance, May 2026). |
| France | Phasing in | Since 1 September 2026 every business in scope must be able to receive e-invoices, and large and mid-sized companies issue them via approved platforms; smaller companies follow on 1 September 2027 (source: DGFiP, September 2026; DGFiP, July 2026). |
| United Kingdom | Planned | From 1 April 2029, VAT-registered businesses must be able to issue and receive e-invoices, with Peppol as the framework; the law is expected in 2027 (source: HMRC, October 2026). |
| Saudi Arabia | Phasing in | Electronic invoices since 4 December 2021; integration with the tax authority's platform from 1 January 2023 onwards, with clearance of invoices between businesses (source: ZATCA, May 2023). |
In Germany and France, every business in scope had to be able to receive e-invoices before all of them had to send them (source: German Federal Ministry of Justice, November 2026; DGFiP, July 2026). Get your purchase side ready before your sales side.
How to prepare for e-invoicing
Preparation is mostly organisation and data, not technology. Five steps cover the sales side and the purchase side.
- 1Map your invoice flowsList sales and purchases by country, customer type and source system, including webshops, billing tools, spreadsheets, credit notes and intercompany invoices.
- 2Check every systemAsk each vendor whether the software sends and receives e-invoices in the formats and networks you need, and at what cost. A package that only sends leaves your purchases on paper.
- 3ConnectChoose an access point, for example through your accounting software, register your Peppol ID and collect those of your partners. Arrange clearance platforms separately.
- 4Clean the master dataPeppol BIS requires the buyer's reference or the order number, and VAT numbers with a country code (source: OpenPeppol, May 2026). Check VAT numbers and addresses, and ask large customers which reference they want.
- 5Archive the file itselfKeep the structured file as sent or received, rather than a readable copy, for as long as each country requires, and test that you can export it.
The purchase side gains most. With supplier, VAT and order number in fixed fields, software matches the invoice with the order and the goods receipt, and only exceptions reach a person.
If you are selecting an ERP now, make e-invoicing a hard requirement; see choosing and implementing an ERP. More guides are in IT and data.
How ready is your invoicing?
Eight statements from this guide. Answer them for your organisation and see where to start.
- 1We know which of our outgoing invoices are structured e-invoices and which are PDFs.
- 2We know our own Peppol ID and those of our largest customers and suppliers.
- 3Where invoices must pass a tax authority platform, our software supports it.
- 4We know which of our sales go to businesses in other EU member states.
- 5We have checked the rules in every country where we invoice or are registered for VAT.
- 6Our software can receive e-invoices as well as send them.
- 7Our records hold correct VAT numbers and the order references our customers ask for.
- 8We keep the structured invoice file itself and can export it.
Related guides
E-invoicing readiness checklist and partner mapping worksheet
Below you will find a readiness checklist with the reason and the owner of each item, and a worksheet, with example rows, to map customers and suppliers by country and rule.
Frequently asked questions
Do the mandates also cover invoices to consumers?
May we still send a PDF copy with the e-invoice?
Our customer is in another country. Whose rules apply?
Does e-invoicing stop invoice fraud?
- EUR-Lex: Council Directive amending the VAT Directive as regards VAT rules for the digital age (March 2025)
- European Commission: Adoption of the VAT in the Digital Age package (March 2025)
- OpenPeppol: Peppol Interoperability Framework (September 2023)
- Belgian federal government: From when is e-invoicing mandatory? (October 2024)
- DGFiP: Facturation électronique, guide pratique de démarrage (July 2026)
- HMRC: Roadmap for e-invoicing implementation (October 2026)