Retarus has been granted the full “PEPPOL Access Point” certification, which allows our customers to transmit electronic invoices to an increasing number of public institutions throughout Europe. As Peppol is set to become mandatory next year, the network is both essential and beneficial for companies dealing with the public sector.
PEPPOL is the acronym for “Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line”. The Peppol network gives public institutions and private companies the opportunity to exchange electronic commercial documents amongst each other through an interoperable, Europe-wide network.
This network is accessed exclusively by way of certified “Access Points” such as Retarus. The connection between Access Points is multilateral, requiring only one connection to Peppol. Data is shared between Access Points using the communication protocol AS2 and, as of next year, AS4. Retarus already supports both of these communication protocols. This is especially crucial for connecting with German authorities, as in future they will only be accessible in the Peppol network by means of AS4.
Peppol in Germany
In Germany, this in practice means implementing the XRechnung standard (our “XRechnung and ZUGFeRD 2.0” white paper is available for download here). Federal government authorities are already prepared to receive invoices as per the XRechnung model, while the federal states and local authorities are expected to follow next spring. As soon as November 2020, it will be mandatory for suppliers to submit invoices in the XRechnung format.
Peppol has been stipulated as the chosen communication channel for the automated transmission of invoices. Small numbers of invoices may also be submitted individually via (decentralized) portals provided by the federal government or the various local state governments, or by way of a wide variety of email or DE-Mail (a German electronic communication service) addresses.
Peppol offers added benefit
Compared with the above-mentioned billing options, Peppol offers companies the significant advantage of enabling automated access to all participating recipients through one single connection – the Access Point. Moreover, the data is transmitted in an encrypted form and acknowledgements reliably confirm the receipt of records.
Furthermore, the Peppol specifications not only cover the billing process, but include the whole procurement procedure. As a result, it is always possible to develop, update or extend existing processes swiftly.
A brief overview of Peppol’s benefits
- Automating the B2G billing process
- Encrypted, confirmed transmission
- Covers the whole purchase-to-pay process chain
- International coverage
- Utilization as B2B network possible
Another advantage of the Peppol network is that an increasing number of countries, even outside of Europe, are joining the network. Countries that are already connected to Peppol include Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Croatia, Poland and Ireland – while Singapore, Australia and New Zealand can also already be reached via Access Points.
In the medium term, it is also entirely conceivable that Peppol could be used as a B2B network. The network additionally offers a high amount of potential in the context of integrating business partners as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
Joining the Peppol network
Your path into the Peppol network is extremely easy via Retarus. All we need from you are your invoicing details in a format of your choice by way of any communication protocol. Our EDI team takes care of everything else with our Managed EDI Service.
Processing your invoices with Retarus
- With our Managed EDI Service we take over the entire task of connecting you with Peppol and your trading partners.
- We connect you comprehensively with B2B, B2G or B2C customers.
- We offer all possible inbound and outbound channels for receiving and sending invoices.
- We recognize all invoice formats and are able to meet virtually any of your customers’ requirements.
- We check all incoming invoices to ensure their correctness, avoiding additional manual processing.
- We carry out automated archiving of your invoices in a legally compliant manner.
Companies that implement Peppol are enhancing their business opportunities, shortening their payment cycles and reducing their costs. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS), for instance, has estimated that processing an order with Peppol including billing could reduce their costs from around US$ 9 to US$ 1.30. If you would like to leverage these potential savings for your company, please contact our experts.
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