Glossary

Each entry gives a short definition and a link to the page that uses the term.

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Peppol network

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Peppol

An international network for the exchange of electronic business documents. Each participant connects through an access point, and participants on different access points can exchange documents. See Introduction.

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Access Point

A service provider that sends and receives documents on the Peppol network for its customers. e-invoice.be is an access point. See Introduction.

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SMP

Service Metadata Publisher. A registry that holds, for each participant, the document types that the participant can receive and the access point that receives them. e-invoice.be operates an SMP. See Look up Peppol participants.

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SML

Service Metadata Locator. The central DNS-based service of Peppol that tells a sender which SMP holds the data of a participant. See Admin API.

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Peppol Directory

A public, searchable index of Peppol participants. It is built from the business cards that the SMPs publish. See Look up Peppol participants.

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Business card

The public company data (for example name and country) that an SMP publishes for a participant. GET /api/validate/peppol-id returns business_card_valid and, when available, business_card. See Look up Peppol participants.

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Peppol ID

The address of a participant on the Peppol network. It is also called participant ID. The format is scheme:identifier, for example 0208:1018265814. See Look up Peppol participants.

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Scheme

The four-digit code in front of a Peppol ID that tells which register issued the identifier. It is also called ICD (International Code Designator). Belgian companies use 0208. See Look up Peppol participants.

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Peppol registration

The publication of a Peppol ID on an SMP, so that the participant can receive documents. A company that only sends documents does not need a registration. See Admin API.

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Company identifiers

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VAT number

The tax identifier of a company, with a country prefix, for example BE1018265814. In the API it is vendor_tax_id and customer_tax_id. In Belgium the Dutch name is “btw-nummer” (BTW). See Create e-invoices.

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Enterprise number

The company registration number. In the API it is vendor_company_id and customer_company_id. For a Belgian company it is the CBE number: the ten digits of the VAT number without the BE prefix. See Create e-invoices.

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CBE and KBO

The Belgian company register. CBE (Crossroads Bank for Enterprises) is the English name and KBO (Kruispuntbank van Ondernemingen) is the Dutch name. The CBE number with scheme 0208 is the Peppol ID of a Belgian company. See Look up Peppol participants.

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Standards and formats

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EN 16931

The European standard that defines the data model of an electronic invoice. See Validation during development.

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UBL

Universal Business Language. An XML format for business documents. Peppol invoices and credit notes are UBL documents. The API converts JSON to UBL. See Send UBL documents.

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BIS Billing 3.0

The Peppol specification for invoices and credit notes. It applies EN 16931 to UBL and adds Peppol rules. Each document that the API sends must comply with it. See Validation during development.

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Schematron

A rule language for XML documents. The rules of EN 16931 and BIS Billing 3.0 are published as Schematron rules, and validation reports a failure with the identifier of the rule. See Validation during development.

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Tax category code

A code from the code list UNCL5305 that gives the VAT treatment of a line or a tax subtotal, for example S (standard rate), Z (zero rate), E (exempt) and AE (reverse charge). See LineItem schema.

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VATEX

The code list for VAT exemption reasons. A VATEX code tells why no VAT is charged. See Invoice totals and calculations.

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Unit code

A code from UN/ECE Recommendation 20 that gives the unit of measure of a line quantity, for example C62 (one, piece) and HUR (hour). See LineItem schema.

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Document types

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Invoice

A request for payment from a vendor to a customer. See Create e-invoices.

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Credit note

A document that cancels or decreases an invoice. See Create credit notes.

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Self-billing

A procedure in which the customer issues the invoice or credit note for the vendor. The customer is then the sender of the document on Peppol. See Self-billing and debit notes.

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Document state

The position of a document in its lifecycle: DRAFT, TRANSIT, SENT, FAILED or RECEIVED. See Document lifecycle and delivery tracking.

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e-invoice.be terms

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Company

The account unit in the app and in the guides. A company has its own API key, Peppol IDs, documents and webhooks. See Authentication.

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Tenant

The name of a company in the Admin API and in the reseller pages. A tenant is a company that a reseller manages. The webhook payload field tenant_id identifies the company. See Admin API.

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Organisation API key

The API key of a reseller. It gives access to the Admin API and to all tenants of the reseller. It is different from the API key of one company. See Admin API.

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Test mode

The mode of a company that has no connection to the Peppol network. Outbound documents go to email and inbound documents are simulated. Test mode is fixed when the company is created. See Test mode and sandbox companies.

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Sandbox company

A company in test mode. Use it for development and tests. A sandbox company cannot be converted into a production company. See Test mode and sandbox companies.

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Production company

A company that sends and receives documents on the Peppol network. See Go-live checklist.

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Simulate inbound

The function that puts a document into the inbox of a sandbox company, as if it was received from Peppol. See Testing received documents.

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Send-only tenant

A tenant that sends documents on Peppol and has no Peppol registration through e-invoice.be. See Admin API.

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Mailbox

The record of the emails that are sent to the @outbox.email.e-invoice.be address of a company. e-invoice.be makes a draft document from the attachment of each email. The Mailbox endpoints list the emails, give access to their attachments and retry a failed email. See Send invoices by email (Mailbox).

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Webhook

An HTTP request that e-invoice.be sends to your server when a document event occurs. See Webhooks.

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Next Steps