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Peppol network in Maventa

This support article covers the international Peppol network, which is used for the secure transmission of electronic business documents and procurement messages. The article explains how Maventa operates as an official Peppol Access Point and how invoice routing, free registration for invoice receiving, and the automatic conversion of invoices into the PeppolBIS30 format work in practice. Additionally, the guide introduces the network's country-specific requirements, the embedding of attachment files into the invoice data, and other supported document types.

Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line) is an international network designed for the uniform and secure transmission of electronic business documents. Behind the network is the European Union's goal to harmonise public procurement and digital commerce in accordance with uniform procedures.

The role and operation of Peppol Access Points

The Peppol network operates according to the so-called 4-corner model, where trading partners do not connect directly to each other; instead, transmission of electronic documents takes place through certified Access Points.

Maventa operates as an official Peppol Access Point, and it is registered in the Peppol network under the name Visma Software International AS. This enables the sending and receiving of electronic documents with other parties in the Peppol network. An Access Point operates like an e-invoice operator: the sender's Access Point forwards the document to the Peppol network, from where it is routed to the Access Point chosen by the recipient.

In invoicing, the recipient operator identifier is then always stated as PEPPOL, and not the identifier of an individual operator. A company can only use one Access Point at a time for receiving invoices.

Criteria for registering receiving via Peppol

Registering to the Peppol network is free of charge for the company, and the invoice receiving is billed in accordance with Maventa's normal price list. Registration only applies to the receiving of invoices and other documents.

Sending invoices to the Peppol network is always possible without separate registration, and changes to the receiving settings do not affect outgoing invoices.

Changing the receiving channel and restrictions

If a company is already registered as a recipient through another Access Point, the old registration must be removed by the service provider in question before a new connection can be opened in Maventa.

ℹ️ Detailed and step-by-step instructions for activating receiving via Peppol network or disabling it in the Maventa user interface can be found in a separate support article: Invoice settings - Peppol network.

Address details and routing in the Peppol network

When an invoice is sent to a recipient through the Peppol network, the routing information must be stated in the following format:

  • Peppol address (e-invoice address): prefix:identifier_number
  • Operator identifier: PEPPOL

A Peppol address consists of two parts: a prefix (Identifier prefix), which indicates the identifier type used and varies by country, and an identifier number (Company identification number), which uniquely identifies the company (for example, an EIA or an organisation number).

Country-specific availability and supported identifiers

The OpenPeppol organisation includes more than 40 member countries, and certified Access Points are widely in use around the world. In addition to European countries, the network covers Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and the United States, among others.

Maventa registers companies and supports invoice transmission with the country-specific identifiers and prefixes listed in Maventa's documentation here: Supported countries and identifiers.

💡 If the recipient's precise Peppol address is not known, it can be searched for in Maventa's Peppol participant lookup, the public Peppol Directory, or by using Maventa's Finder tool.

It is recommended to always verify the correct delivery address and its format directly from the invoice recipient.

Invoice format conversion and validation

Invoices sent to the Peppol network must comply with the network's own formatting rules, and the PeppolBIS30 e-invoice format is used exclusively in its internal traffic.

The sender does not need to produce the invoice XML ready in this format within their own accounting software. Maventa receives the invoice in its original e-invoice format and automatically converts the data to fit the Peppol network before forwarding it.

💡 The XML formats supported by Maventa can be viewed in the documentation: Supported XML formats.

Before transmission, all invoices are automatically validated against Peppol rules. If the invoice fails this check (for example, mandatory information is missing or the structure is incorrect), the invoice cannot be sent to the network.

Because the receiving organisation might download the invoice from their own system in yet another format, the invoice format can change multiple times along the way:

Sender's accounting software > Maventa > Peppol network > Recipient's operator > Recipient's accounting software

Maventa handles these format changes in the background, ensuring that the invoice arrives at its destination in an e-invoice format supported by the receiving organisation.

Invoice image and attachments

Due to the technical limitations of the Peppol network, attachment files cannot be sent as separate documents in the same way as, for example, in domestic operator networks. For this reason, attachments are integrated directly as part of the invoice XML according to the following logic:

  • Automatic embedding: If a separate invoice image or other attachments (such as PDF files) are sent with the invoice XML, Maventa performs a conversion where these files are embedded directly inside the outgoing XML invoice file. The system at the receiving end extracts the embedded files to make them readable.
  • Invoices without an image: If only the purchase invoice XML is forwarded to Maventa without a visualised invoice image or attachments, an image will not be created or embedded in the data automatically.

ℹ️ In addition to PDF files, other common attachment file formats can also be embedded in the data. The list of supported file formats can be viewed here: Peppol BIS - Mime code (IANA Subset).

Supported document types and trade documents

Maventa widely supports the transmission of standardised electronic business and trade documents. In addition to e-invoices, other real-time economy procurement messages can also be transmitted through the network:

  • E-Invoices
  • E-Orders
  • E-Catalogues
  • E-Receipts

As digital business and national real-time economy projects progress, the importance and requirements of standardised procurement messages, such as e-orders and e-receipts, are growing in financial management within both the public and private sectors.

Useful links and additional information