Peppol and Belgium: understanding the issues and preparing for mandatory electronic invoicing

A structured transition: PEPPOL and Mercury, the future of e-invoicing in Belgium

The legislative and technical framework of the reform

From January 2026, electronic invoicing will become mandatory for all companies in Belgium subject to VAT. This obligation has been implemented gradually since 2024, depending on the size of the companies and the sector of activity (health, public, small and micro-enterprises…). Companies will therefore have to use the PEPPOL network for issuing and receiving invoices. It is important to clearly distinguish two distinct channels:

• The B2G (Business to Government) invoices must pass through the Mercurius platform.
• For B2B (Business to Business) billing, companies will have to use the PEPPOL network via certified access points.

French companies working with Belgian partners or clients are also concerned. To issue admissible invoices, they will have to:

• Use the PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 format (format imposed by Belgium)
• Route the invoices via a PEPPOL certified access point to the Buyer’s access point, or via Mercury in the case of B2G billing
• Ensure that their Belgian recipients are registered in the Mercurius register in the PEPPOL directory and ready to receive electronic invoices, as unstructured PDFs or paper submissions will no longer be accepted, with limited temporary exceptions (small and micro enterprises, very low value invoices, specific sectors, entities not subject to VAT).

The key benefits for businesses

The adoption of the PEPPOL standard in Belgium is not limited to a regulatory obligation: it opens up real transformation opportunities for companies of all sizes.

French companies working with clients, partners or subsidiaries in Belgium will also benefit from these advantages, provided they also adopt a solution compatible with PEPPOL.

This ensures a structured, compliant, automated and secure invoice exchange in an interconnected and standardized environment. Companies gain productivity, reduce manual entry errors and processing and payment delays, while optimizing their internal processes (less paper, more reliable archiving, more traceability).

Finally, this modernization opens the way to new uses: integration with ERP, payment automation, automatic reconciliation of invoices with purchase orders and receipts (P2P, Purchase-to-Pay) as well as structured monitoring of the sales cycle, from the order to the payment (O2C, Order-to-Cash).

Companies thus strengthen their operational responsiveness, their visibility on flows and their competitiveness, in Belgium as well as internationally.

On the other hand, non-compliant French companies risk:

• Payment delays, because invoices sent in unstructured or paper PDF format will be refused by Belgian clients from the private sector and may be refused for the private sector.
• Contractual blockages, as the inability to issue an invoice in PEPPOL BIS format via PEPPOL and Mercury may lead to the legal invalidity of the invoice, preventing its acceptance by the client.
• Losses of customers or business partners, who will look for suppliers capable of sending them invoices in accordance with the new standard. Not being ready in time can lead to a breakdown of business relationships.
• A regulatory non-compliance in Belgium, exposing the company to legal or tax risks in the context of cross-border exchanges.
• A technological shift in the face of future European standards for E-reporting, making digital transformation more costly and urgent in the long term.

The central role of dematerialization

At the heart of this transformation lies the dematerialization of documents. This process fundamentally redefines the administrative and accounting management of companies. If electronic invoicing is the gateway, its impact extends to all commercial documents (purchase orders, contracts, supporting documents…).

Following the example of France and beyond electronic invoicing, the Belgian reform imposes an E-Reporting obligation from 1 January 2028, which consists in periodically transmitting data on invoices issued and received to the Belgian tax administration via a dedicated portal. This step completes compliance and strengthens tax transparency.

Thanks to the integration of digital document management solutions, French companies active on the Belgian market automate flows, make exchanges more reliable, and prepare for future e-obligations.reporting, and reduce the costs related to manual processing and paper archiving. They gain in traceability, compliance and responsiveness.

Beyond compliance, this transformation represents a strategic opportunity: to streamline cross-border exchanges, strengthen financial agility, and optimize the management of business processes.

Accompany change or how Artéva facilitates the transition to PEPPOL

In the context of cross-border electronic invoice exchanges with Belgium, many French companies are wondering: how to prepare effectively for electronic invoicing? How to integrate the PEPPOL network into its existing information system?

With its expertise in EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and electronic invoicing since 2006, Artéva supports French and Belgian companies in the implementation of paperless document management solutions. Thanks to its Orchestrade® platform, it notably facilitates connection to the PEPPOL network for issuing invoices compliant with Belgian standards as part of cross-border exchanges.

Artéva also supports the skills development of your teams by training your employees in new practices and ensuring continuous operational support.

Why choose Artéva?

Artéva’s positioning is unique: it is not simply a matter of complying with a Belgian reform, but rather of optimizing the entire chain of document processing by strengthening your financial efficiency and cross-border agility. Thanks to a personalized approach, Artéva optimizes the entire e-invoicing process by integrating it into a global document digitalization strategy.

The clients benefit thus :

• Proven technical expertise,
• Comprehensive support to manage their flows between Belgian subsidiaries or clients in full compliance,
• Scalable solutions, compatible with future e-reporting requirements,
• A vision of their digital transformation.

To effectively support this transformation, Artéva offers its proprietary Orchestrade® PDP solution, which centralizes and automates the management of electronic invoices, ensures compliance with PEPPOL and Mercurius standards, and facilitates communication with the various stakeholders via secure and scalable processes.

Anticipate the next steps

As the generalisation of mandatory electronic invoicing looms in Belgium, it is essential for businesses to prepare now and identify the Belgian customers, partners or subsidiaries concerned.

Anticipating these developments not only allows you to meet legal deadlines, but also to:

• Modernize your internal processes and evaluate current invoicing flows.
• Identify the Belgian entities with which you exchange invoices.
• Check if your invoicing software is PEPPOL BIS compatible.
• Choose an access point to the PEPPOL network (or use a service provider like Artéva).
• Test the sending and receiving of structured electronic invoices.
• Train your accounting and administrative teams on these new processes.

Mastering the PEPPOL standard and associated technologies (e-invoicing, e-reporting) is a key challenge. With Artéva, companies can approach this transition with complete confidence.

PEPPOL and Belgium, a lever of competitiveness with Artéva

The widespread adoption of electronic invoicing in Belgium starting in 2026 requires rapid planning. For the French companies concerned, this is also an opportunity to modernize their accounting management and strengthen their cross-border efficiency.

With Artéva, transform this regulatory obligation into a performance lever.