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Blog Why is my XML valid but still rejected? One invoice broken at each level, with the real messages

Peppol lookup

Find out whether a company can receive e-invoices over Peppol before you send one: enter its company or VAT number, its Peppol participant ID or its name, and see whether it is registered, with which provider, and which documents it takes, as an access point would find out

A company or VAT number of the chosen country, a Peppol participant ID, or words of a company's name for the Peppol Directory

Peppol Directory

What it checks

An access point that sends an invoice over Peppol first looks the receiver up, in two steps, and this page takes the same two:

  • The SML (Service Metadata Locator), the network's directory in DNS, says whether the participant ID is registered and which SMP holds its details.
  • The SMP (Service Metadata Publisher), run by the company's Peppol provider, lists the document types it can receive: Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 invoices and credit notes, self-billing, orders, XRechnung or a PINT specification.

Where the company published a business card in the Peppol Directory, its name, country and registration date are shown too. Only the SML and the SMP decide whether an invoice can be delivered: a company can be registered without a business card, and the lookup finds it all the same.

Which number to enter

A Peppol participant ID is a scheme, four digits from the EAS code list, and a value, such as 0208:0123456749. Choose the company's country and type the number you have, with or without spaces and dots: the page tries every scheme of that country the number fits.

  • Belgium: the enterprise number (KBO/BCE) as 0208, the usual one, and the VAT number as 9925.
  • Netherlands: the KvK number as 0106, the OIN of a government body as 0190, the VAT number as 9944.
  • Germany: the VAT number as 9930, the Leitweg-ID of a public buyer as 0204.
  • France: the SIREN as 0002 or 0225, the SIRET as 0009, the VAT number as 9957.
  • Any country: a GLN as 0088, and the VAT number under its country's scheme.

A VAT number with its country prefix (BE, DE, NL…) is looked up in that country whatever is chosen. Words without digits search the Peppol Directory by name.

When a company is not found

Not registered under one ID does not mean not in Peppol: many companies are registered under one scheme only, often the enterprise number in Belgium or the KvK number in the Netherlands, so try the other numbers you have. A company that is registered but lists no Billing 3.0 document cannot take a Peppol invoice yet. Ask its accounts payable for the Peppol ID it uses: it is the electronic address (BT-49) to put on the invoice.

Since 1 January 2026, VAT-registered businesses in Belgium must be able to receive structured e-invoices for domestic B2B sales, with Peppol as the default channel, so most Belgian companies are registered by now.

Then send the invoice

A company that takes Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 gets a UBL invoice through your access point, with its participant ID as the buyer's electronic address. The e-invoice generator writes one and checks it against the Peppol rules; the validator checks one from your own software before it goes out.

Questions

What is a Peppol ID?

A company's address in the Peppol network: a scheme from the EAS code list and an identifier, such as 0208:0123456749 for a Belgian enterprise number. In full it is written iso6523-actorid-upis::0208:0123456749; the page takes both forms.

Is this the same as the Peppol Directory?

No. The Directory lists the business cards companies chose to publish. This page asks the SML and the SMP, which an access point uses to deliver, so it also finds companies without a card, and shows the documents each actually receives.

Why does a company show several document types?

Its provider registers each document it can receive: invoices and credit notes of Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, often self-billing, and sometimes orders, despatch advice or invoice responses. For an invoice, the Billing 3.0 Invoice is the one that matters.

Is what I type stored?

It goes to our server, which asks the Peppol network: DNS, the company's SMP and the Peppol Directory. Answers are kept for an hour so the same lookup does not ask again; the identifiers are public, and nothing is linked to you.

Can I check my own registration?

Yes: enter your own company or VAT number. If you are registered with a provider but not found, ask it which scheme and identifier it registered you under.

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