Peppol and Business Central: setup and country timeline

Peppol is the interoperability network businesses use to exchange e-invoices and other structured documents through certified access points (the 4-corner model). Business Central supports the PEPPOL BIS 3.0 format natively through its E-Documents framework and connects to the network via access point service providers such as Avalara, B2BRouter, Continia, Logiq, Pagero and SignUp, with native AppSource connectors from Business Central 26.1. With Belgium's B2B mandate live since January 2026 and more countries following, most European Business Central companies will touch Peppol soon.

What Peppol is and how Business Central connects

Peppol is not software you install: it is a network. Documents travel between certified access points, and Business Central plugs into one of them. The building blocks:

• The 4-corner model: the sender delivers the invoice to its access point, which routes it across the Peppol network to the receiver's access point. Neither side needs to know the other's software.
• Native format support: Business Central speaks PEPPOL BIS 3.0 out of the box through the E-Documents framework, which handles sending, receiving and processing structured documents.
• Access point providers: Business Central connects to the network through a service provider. Avalara, B2BRouter, Continia, Logiq, Pagero and SignUp offer connectors, available natively from AppSource starting with Business Central 26.1.
• Setup in practice: choose a provider, install its connector, register your company identifiers on the network, and map document flows in E-Documents. Details vary by provider and country, so plan the rollout with your Business Central partner.

Country timeline: where Peppol is becoming mandatory

Peppol adoption moves country by country, and the pace has picked up. The highlights as of mid-2026, keeping in mind that more countries keep adding Peppol-based mandates: check the rules for each country where you invoice.

• Belgium, live since 2026: structured B2B e-invoicing has been mandatory since 1 January 2026, with Peppol BIS as the preferred implementation. A progressive penalty regime (EUR 1,500 / 3,000 / 5,000) has applied since 1 April 2026, and real-time reporting via a Peppol 5-corner model is planned for January 2028.
• Germany, 2027 and 2028: Peppol BIS is accepted among the EN 16931 e-invoice formats, and the obligation to issue structured invoices phases in during 2027 and 2028.
• France, a different route: the French reform runs through accredited PDP platforms aligned with EN 16931 rather than the public Peppol network directly, with the receiving obligation starting in September 2026.

Where Zentriq fits (and where it does not)

Peppol covers the structured exchange between registered endpoints, and Zentriq is neither an access point nor a compliance connector. Plenty of documents never travel on the network: PDFs from foreign suppliers, receipts, scans. For those, AI document capture reads the file without templates and drafts the record in Business Central, where a human approves before anything posts. For the Business Central side of the structured flow, the E-Documents module guide walks through the setup step by step.

Frequently asked questions

For the broader regulatory picture, start with our e-invoicing overview, and if you invoice in Germany, the German E-Rechnung guide covers the 2027 and 2028 issuing phases.