Peppol and the Dutch Peppol authority (NPa)
Peppol is an international system of agreements between providers that makes it possible for affiliated organizations to exchange electronic documents. The Dutch Peppol Authority (NPa) is the supervisor of Peppol in the Netherlands. As of October 1, 2020, the NPa has taken over supervision of Peppol from Simplerinvoicing. What does this mean now? And will anything change or will everything stay the same?
What is Peppol?
Peppol ensures that large and small companies, governments and other organizations can easily exchange financial documents electronically. Peppol is currently mainly focused on the electronic invoice (e-invoice) and the electronic order (e-order). To ensure all this runs smoothly, a stable network with ISO27001 certified Peppol Access Points and a strong supervisor are required.
What is the Dutch Peppol Authority (NPa)?
The Netherlands Peppol Authority (NPa) is the supervisor of Peppol in the Netherlands. She has taken over this task from Simplerinvoicing from October 1, 2020. The NPa structure is as follows:
- BZK: Ministry of the Interior is the formal Peppol authority
- Logius: Digital Government Service
- RVO: Netherlands Enterprise Agency
- AT: Telecom Agency as an independent regulator (Quartermakers report, 2020)
The Dutch Peppol Authority ensures that certified service providers adhere to the Peppol agreement system, in which joint agreements have been made about the:
- safety;
- reliability;
- interoperability of the digital infrastructure.
In addition, the NPa supports the service providers with whom it has a contract, both technically and functionally.
Has anything changed about my Peppol connection since October 1, 2020?
No, nothing has changed for end users of the eConnect platform during the transition to the NPa. The registered ID is unique to the organization and remains registered and accessible on Peppol.
Something did change for Peppol Access Points such as eConnect. We have concluded a new contract with the current Peppol Authority (NPa).
How can I connect to Peppol?
To connect to Peppol you need a registration with your own unique ID and a connection via a Peppol Access Point. That's easier than you think. The Peppol connection is often already integrated into your software and all you have to do is switch it 'on'.
So you need a Peppol Access Point for the connection to the Peppol network. Such a connection is provided by a Billing Service Provider (BSP) such as eConnect. It is best to compare this with a telephone provider. For that mobile connection you need to go to a telecom provider such as KPN or T-Mobile. This is also how e-invoicing works with the Peppol network. Every eConnect customer has standard access to the Peppol network.
What do we expect from Peppol?
Thanks to the secure exchange with Peppol, financial systems will become increasingly integrated. As a result, you can expect a purchase invoice to be automatically posted and ready for payment or the acceptance status of a sales invoice to be followed live in the debtor overview. It is understandable that a lot of attention is paid to security in this network, because it concerns sensitive data.
In addition to coverage throughout Europe, Peppol now also has a growing number of connections in Singapore and Australia. Peppol is also seen in the rest of the world as the way to securely exchange financial data in the coming years. As a result, we can say that this is the safe open network where both invoices and orders will be sent and received in the coming years. Peppol will eventually replace email as a transaction channel.
eConnect is based on the principle that e-invoicing via Peppol should be available and accessible to everyone. Regardless of the size of your organization. This means that we can offer a suitable solution for every organization.
If you have any questions, we can be reached at info@econnect.eu or via (088) 440 66 33.