Structured status feedback from recipient to sender via Peppol. No more phone calls or emails asking whether an invoice has been approved, is being processed, or is scheduled for payment. eConnect has supported this since 2015 and co-developed the standard.
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Without Invoice Response Message, a supplier must manually follow up to find out whether an invoice has been received, reviewed, and approved for payment. That costs time, strains the relationship, and produces no predictable cash flow. With Invoice Response Message, the sender automatically receives a structured notification at every status change: received, in process, conditionally accepted, approved, paid, or rejected with a reason. Invoice Response messages travel via the same Peppol Access Point as the invoice itself — no separate infrastructure required. The technical operation of status messages is explained in the knowledge base status messages.
Invoice received and readable. The recipient confirms the document is processable in terms of content.
Invoice is being processed within the recipient's ERP or approval system.
Additional information needed from the supplier before the invoice can be processed further.
Invoice conditionally accepted. The recipient accepts the invoice subject to additional agreements or corrections.
Invoice rejected (final status). The recipient refers to the reason via a Clarification Reason code.
Invoice approved and released for payment. Payment follows on the agreed term.
Invoice fully paid (final status). Payment confirmation closes the life cycle of the invoice.
Each Invoice Response Message contains one of seven statuses covering the life cycle of an invoice.
In addition to the status code, each message optionally contains a Clarification Reason (why this status was given, for example incorrect reference or price discrepancy) and a Clarification Action (what the recipient expects, for example a new invoice or credit note). As a result, the supplier knows not only that something is wrong, but also what needs to be done. This reduces the number of contact moments and significantly speeds up resolution.
Content status of the invoice, sent by the receiving organisation itself. Optional; individual countries may make it mandatory.
Delivery and validation status of the message, sent by the receiving Access Point. Standard part of the Peppol protocol.
For every invoice you know both whether the message was technically delivered (MLS) and how the recipient is handling it from a content perspective (Invoice Response).
eConnect combines both statuses in one status history and one webhook stream. The integrator does not need to model the difference.
Both are status messages on Peppol, but they operate at different levels.
At eConnect, Invoice Response Message is included as standard in the document price. With many competitors, each status message counts as a separate transaction, meaning a single invoice that goes through the full life cycle quickly costs three to four times the transaction price. At eConnect you pay only for the document, regardless of how many status messages are exchanged along the way. Registration for Invoice Response is handled via the Peppol SMP — eConnect activates the capability automatically. See also the API documentation for status messages for technical integration.
Invoice Response Message (BIS Invoice Response 3.0) is the Peppol process by which the recipient of an invoice sends a content-level status back to the sender. It is a business-level status message that indicates how the invoice has been processed by the receiving organisation: received, in process, conditionally accepted, approved, rejected, or paid. The feedback travels via the same Peppol network as the invoice itself and is fully structured.
Invoice Response Message is optional within Peppol. Individual countries may make it mandatory for specific segments — for example, suppliers to Dutch central government who automatically report back the three-phase model (acceptance, validation, processing). For most B2B flows it is optional, but it is increasingly requested by large organisations to sharpen their cash flow forecasts.
To receive Invoice Responses as a sender, you must be registered as a receiver of this document type. eConnect handles this automatically in the SMP configuration: the invoiceResponse capability is set to on. From that point on, status messages arrive via your platform inbox or via webhooks on the PSB. No separate integration required.
Invoice Response Message is a business-level status message: it comes from the receiving organisation and relates to the content processing of the invoice. Message Level Status (MLS) is a technical status message: it comes from the receiving Access Point and relates to the delivery and validation of the message itself. Both coexist and complement each other. eConnect supports both and combines the statuses in one overview.
It depends on the processes of the receiving organisation. An AB (Acknowledge) arrives almost immediately after receipt. An IP (In Process) follows once the invoice has been taken into the approval system, typically within 24 hours. An AP (Approved) or PD (Paid) follows when the recipient authorises or executes payment. eConnect guarantees that status changes received are communicated within 3 days of receipt; in practice this is almost immediate.
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