Peppol and e-invoicing in Exact Online

What exactly is Peppol?

Peppol is a European framework plus network for exchanging e-invoices and procurement documents. Participants have a Peppol ID and send through a certified access point. The advantage is that sender and receiver need no bilateral technical arrangement: everyone on the network speaks the same format.

That format is usually UBL, an XML standard that fixes which fields an invoice contains and what they are called. As a result the receiver's accounting package knows exactly which amount is the VAT amount, without anyone re-keying it.

• Peppol ID: an organisation's address on the network.
• Access point: the provider that puts your invoice onto the network.
• UBL: the XML format the invoice is written in.

What changes with ViDA?

ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) is a European package modernising VAT rules, including mandatory e-invoicing and digital reporting for cross-border transactions. Roll-out is phased and the exact dates differ per member state.

For most small and medium-sized businesses it mainly means this: the move from PDF to structured invoices is coming, and it pays to get your item master data, VAT codes and customer records in order now. An invoice that goes out wrong is harder to correct under e-invoicing than a PDF you simply email again.

Check the official sources for the current state and the dates that apply to your situation; this topic keeps moving.

Where does an AI integration actually help?

Ledger Botje is not in the delivery chain. What it does do is make the surrounding administration queryable and editable from your AI assistant. That is exactly where the handwork in e-invoicing sits: not in the sending, but in getting right what gets sent.

• Checking that VAT codes and item data are consistent before invoices go out.
• Creating sales invoices and adding lines in Exact Online through natural language.
• Looking up purchase invoices and comparing them with the matching order and receipt.
• Spotting outstanding items and discrepancies without building a report first.
• Cleaning up customer records: missing VAT numbers, duplicate relations, stale addresses.

What does Ledger Botje not do?

Being straight about this saves disappointment. Ledger Botje is not an access point and not a Peppol service provider. It does not register you on the network, does not send UBL files and does not receive them.

For the delivery itself you use the e-invoicing functionality of Exact Online or a connected provider. Ledger Botje works on the administration that precedes and follows it.