E-invoicing to the Dutch government goes through the Peppol network and requires a specific identification: the OIN (Organisation Identification Number). This article explains how to correctly send a government invoice and which settings you need.

The OIN (Organisation Identification Number) is the unique identifier for Dutch government organisations on the Peppol network. Think of municipalities, provinces, ministries, water boards and other public organisations.

The term OINO (OIN-Government) is sometimes used as a synonym. In the Peppol registry, schemeID 0190 (NL:OINO) is used. The older schemeID NL:OIN has been removed from the standard; always use NL:OINO (0190).

An OIN/OINO is always 20 digits long, including leading zeros. It typically starts with 00000004 followed by the identification number. It is essential to use all 20 digits: an OIN without leading zeros will not be recognised on the network.

Important: if you enter an OIN with an apostrophe or do not include all leading zeros, it may happen that the invoice is routed internally instead of via Peppol. Always check that the number is exactly 20 digits.

You can find the OIN of a government organisation in the OIN register of Logius. Search for the name of the organisation and you will find the corresponding OIN number.

Below are some commonly used OIN numbers:

Tip: some government organisations have multiple OIN numbers, for example for different departments or cash flows. The UWV even has two separate OINOs for the Large and Small Cash Flow. When in doubt, check with the receiving organisation which OIN to use.

Before you can send invoices to the government, you need to configure two settings correctly in your eConnect organisation:

1. Organisation ID: set this to the OIN/OINO number of the recipient
2. Send via: set this to OIN/OINO as well

Both settings must be set to OIN. If either one is not configured correctly, the invoice cannot be delivered.

The process is largely the same as sending a regular invoice:

1. Create an invoice in the platform or via your software integration.
2. Look up the recipient using the OIN number (schemeID 0190).
3. Check that the OIN is 20 digits long, including leading zeros.
4. Send the invoice. It is routed via Peppol to Digipoort and from there to the receiving government organisation.

The routing works as follows: eConnect (Access Point) to Peppol network to Digipoort to receiving government body.

The Province of Noord-Brabant and Groen Ontwikkelfonds Brabant (GOB) use the same invoicing rules. Receipt is only via Peppol, in NLCIUS. Post, e-mail (including a PDF) and an XML file as a mail attachment are not processed. This applies to new agreements since 1 January 2020.

The Peppol address is NL:OINO:00000001009261606000. The identifier value is 00000001009261606000 (exactly 20 digits). The scheme is 0190. Do not put an 0190: prefix in the value field. Set OrganisatieID and Zenden-via both to OIN/OINO, with the same value. The number is also in the table above.

The order number is mandatory, unless you agreed otherwise with the province. The order number starts with 45. Copy it exactly from the order. Without an order number, contact the contracting party or the contact at the province. The province does not publish a mandatory field for department or cost centre. Fill those in only if the contracting party asks for them.

Fonds Nazorg Gesloten Stortplaatsen is not on this Peppol address. Invoices for that fund go as a PDF by e-mail or post to Fonds Nazorg Gesloten Stortplaatsen Provincie Noord-Brabant, Financiële Administratie, Postbus 90151, 5200 MC 's-Hertogenbosch. The e-mail address is on the province's invoicing rules.

The payment term (30 days after receipt, unless agreed otherwise, under the General Purchase Conditions of the provinces) is a condition of the province, not an eConnect agreement.

When invoicing the national government, including your IBAN is mandatory. The NLCIUS validation rule BR-NL-BFR-3 checks this. Make sure your bank account number is correctly filled in your organisation settings before sending an invoice to the government.

For invoicing the Dutch government, the NLCIUS standard is mandatory (the Dutch implementation of Peppol BIS Billing V3). The eConnect platform automatically generates NLCIUS-compliant invoices, you do not need to configure anything for this.

The NLCIUS validation rule BR-NL-BFR-2 requires that the recipient's schemeID is 0190 (OIN/OINO) for government recipients.

In rare cases, a technical issue may occur with the recipient's delivery service (error code 420 or AFS400). This means that eConnect has successfully sent the invoice and Digipoort has received it, but an error occurs during further processing on the recipient's side.

In this case:

1. You receive an error notification in your eConnect Outbox.
2. Forward the error notification to the Government e-invoicing Helpdesk (helpdesk-efactureren.nl).
3. The helpdesk can investigate and resolve the issue on the receiving end.

Want to check whether a government organisation is reachable via Peppol? Look up the OIN in the OIN register of Logius.