UBL, EN 16931, BIS Billing, PINT, NLCIUS, XRechnung, Factur-X, ZUGFeRD, FatturaPA. Which format applies when, how they relate, and why your organisation rarely needs to worry about it.
Plan a meeting
E-invoicing revolves around structured data in a standard format. Europe uses the EN 16931 standard as its semantic foundation: which information belongs on an invoice and what each field means. On top of that sit multiple syntaxes (UBL and CII), and above those are country-specific profiles (NLCIUS for the Netherlands, XRechnung for Germany, BIS Billing for all of Peppol-Europe). Understanding the hierarchy makes it clear that most formats share the same underlying model.
The European Peppol profile. UBL syntax with validation rules that guarantee EN 16931 compliance. Standard within Peppol for B2B and B2G across Europe.
The Dutch implementation. Adds rules for KvK, OIN, G-account and Dutch VAT. Mandatory for invoicing the Dutch central government.
The German CIUS of EN 16931. Mandatory for B2G in Germany and widely used for B2B flows since the reception obligation of 2025.
The international Peppol profile with country-specific extensions (PINT A-NZ, PINT-SG, PINT-MY, PINT-AE). For Peppol exchange outside Europe. The PSB supports PINT-SG and PINT-SK production-ready today; other variants are on the roadmap.
Four formats cover the majority of international and Dutch e-invoicing flows.
Beyond the core formats there are hybrid variants (Factur-X and ZUGFeRD: PDF with embedded XML) and purely national standards (FatturaPA in Italy, FA(3) in Poland). ISDOC (Czech Republic/Slovakia) is planned on the roadmap and not yet available on the PSB. The PSB automatically transforms between all supported formats. Read more on the Hybrid solutions page for guidance on when to use which hybrid format.
Purchase orders, order responses, order changes and cancellations per Peppol Advanced Ordering. Full purchase-to-pay chain via e-procurement.
UBL CreditNote (381), negative Invoice (380), Peppol BIS Self-Billing 3.0 and the NLCIUS variant.
Invoice Response Messages (AB, IP, UQ, CA, RE, AP, PD) and Message Level Status (MLS).
SETU timecards (staffing industry), SEEF (energy), DICO (construction), despatch advice.
A Peppol connection via eConnect covers much more than invoices alone.
The PSB automatically transforms between all supported formats. The recipient receives documents in the format configured in their system, regardless of the sender's format. An invoice submitted by a French supplier in Factur-X can arrive at a Dutch recipient as NLCIUS and at a German recipient as XRechnung. Because all formats trace back to the same semantic model (EN 16931), lossless conversion is technically possible. Customers do not need to adapt their integration when a sender invoices in a different format.
EN 16931 is the European standard that describes the semantic model for an invoice: which data it contains, what each field means and how they relate to one another. UBL (Universal Business Language, version 2.1) is one of the two official syntax bindings of EN 16931. UBL provides the concrete XML structure. The other official syntax is CII (Cross-Industry Invoice). In short: EN 16931 says what is on an invoice; UBL says how to write that in XML.
For B2B and B2G in Europe via Peppol: BIS Billing 3.0. For the Dutch central government: NLCIUS (technically an extension of BIS Billing). For Germany: XRechnung or ZUGFeRD. For Italy: FatturaPA via SDI. For France: Factur-X via PPF/PDP. For Poland: FA(3) via KSeF. Outside Europe via Peppol: the appropriate PINT profile (PINT A-NZ for Australia/New Zealand, PINT-SG for Singapore, etc.). In practice your system doesn't need to know: the PSB selects the correct format per recipient.
A hybrid format is a PDF with a structured XML file embedded inside it (PDF/A-3). Factur-X and ZUGFeRD are hybrid formats that combine a visual PDF and a machine-readable XML in a single file. Suitable for the transition period: recipients who cannot yet process automatically can read the PDF, while automated systems use the XML directly. Read more on the Hybrid solutions page.
PINT (Peppol International Invoice) is the international Peppol profile with country-specific extensions. PINT A-NZ for Australia/New Zealand, PINT-SG for Singapore, PINT-MY for Malaysia, PINT-AE for the United Arab Emirates, PINT-JP for Japan. PINT is intended for regions where Peppol is used as infrastructure for local e-invoicing obligations. For European B2B, BIS Billing 3.0 remains the standard. The PSB supports PINT-SG and PINT-SK production-ready today; other PINT variants are on the roadmap.
You don't have to. The PSB automatically transforms between all supported formats and selects the correct format per recipient based on the SMP lookup. Your integration submits invoices in one format (UBL, another structured format, or even PDF via IDR) and the PSB handles the correct conversion to the format the recipient expects. On the receiving side it works in reverse: you receive invoices in the format your ERP expects, regardless of the sender's format.
The free eConnect Document Validator supports validation of all common formats: UBL, BIS Billing 3.0, NLCIUS, XRechnung, Factur-X, ZUGFeRD, FatturaPA and the PINT profiles. Freely accessible, also as a commercial tool for prospects. Within PSB and Control, the validator can be extended with customer-specific validation rules.
Plan a conversation about the formats relevant to your customers and suppliers. Or dive straight into the docs for technical details.
Plan a meeting
Read the docs