B2B e-invoicing in Belgium — live mandate.

Belgium's B2B e-invoicing mandate went live on 1 January 2026. If you bill VAT-registered Belgian businesses, structured electronic invoicing on the Peppol network is no longer optional. Paper and unstructured PDFs no longer satisfy the obligation for in-scope B2B transactions.

Peppol AP — landing later this year. Guliel generates the Belgian Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 invoice today (XML payload, full schema compliance). Direct transmission through the Peppol network from Guliel — i.e. Guliel acting as your Access Point — is what's still in development. Until that's live, you submit the generated XML through your existing AP or the one your accountant uses. The document is the same; only the network hop differs.

The short version

Under the Belgian mandate, in-scope VAT-registered businesses must issue and receive structured electronic invoices over the Peppol network, using Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 as the base format. Each party connects through a Peppol Access Point. The Federal Public Service Finance (FPS Finance) is the administering authority on the tax side; Peppol governance sits with the international OpenPeppol authority.

This is part of the broader EU VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) direction — structured invoicing as the default across the bloc, with cross-border B2B e-invoicing under EN 16931 coming in by 2030. Belgium is one of the early movers.

Live mandate (January 2026)

What the Belgian mandate covers:

• In scope: B2B transactions between VAT-registered taxable persons established in Belgium. Both sides must be able to issue and receive structured invoices over Peppol.
• Format: Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (the European standard aligned with EN 16931). Belgian-specific extensions where applicable.
• Out of scope (today): B2C transactions and some specific cases. Cross-border B2B continues to fall under regular EU VAT invoicing rules until ViDA's 2030 cross-border requirement lands.

The practical effect: if you sell to Belgian businesses and you don't have a Peppol-capable invoicing setup, your invoices stop being compliant. Late changes are expensive, both in operational disruption and in the risk of VAT-deduction disputes downstream.

Peppol Access Points — what they are

Peppol is a four-corner model:

1. Sender (you) issues a structured invoice.
2. Sender's Access Point validates and signs it onto the Peppol network.
3. Receiver's Access Point picks it up and validates it for the buyer.
4. Receiver (your customer) processes it in their accounting/ERP system.

You don't need to operate the network; you connect to it through a certified Access Point. There are many providers in Belgium and across the EU. The Access Point handles transmission, signing, and Peppol-level validation.

How Guliel handles it

Honest scope. Guliel issues Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 structured invoices for Belgium-bound transactions — the standard fields, the EU VAT invoice content per Article 226 of the VAT Directive, the BTW number, and a proper PDF rendering of the same data for human readers.

What we cover:

• EU VAT invoice content per Article 226 — supplier and customer details, BTW/VAT numbers, sequential invoice number, dates, line items, VAT rates and amounts, totals.
• Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 XML output alongside the PDF, generated from the same invoice source.
• Reverse charge annotations where applicable.
• Reporting — VAT by jurisdiction, supplier spend, AR aging. The pre-built reports your accountant needs at quarter-end.

What we don't cover:

• Operating a Peppol Access Point. Transmission to the Peppol network is via your chosen certified Access Point provider. We produce the compliant document and the structured payload; the Access Point relays it.
• Full Belgian statutory accounting. Guliel is not a replacement for a full ledger. Pair us with a local accountant or with Xero/QuickBooks if you need full double-entry. See /invoicing for the scope.

Why Belgium SMBs use Guliel

• Per organisation, not per seat pricing — see /pricing. $20 for the Standard tier covers up to 5,000 invoices a month.
• Multi-country out of the box — if you bill Belgian, French, German and Dutch customers from the same business, the document format adapts. We support 38+ countries today, more shipping monthly.
• Bidirectional supplier flow — unique in the market. Send orders to Belgian or EU suppliers, those suppliers invoice back, reconciliation is automatic.
• AI companion + automations — schedule the monthly accountant bundle, auto-send invoices on creation, replay any automation from history.

FAQ

Is the Belgian B2B e-invoicing mandate live?

Yes. The B2B e-invoicing obligation went live on 1 January 2026 for VAT-registered businesses established in Belgium. Structured invoices over Peppol are required; paper and unstructured PDFs no longer satisfy the obligation for in-scope B2B transactions.

Does Guliel operate a Peppol Access Point?

No. Guliel produces Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 structured invoices and the matching PDF. Transmission over the Peppol network is via a certified Access Point provider of your choice. We integrate; we don't operate the network.

What about B2C transactions?

B2C is out of scope of the current Belgian B2B mandate. Standard EU VAT invoicing rules continue to apply. Guliel handles B2C invoicing in the same EU VAT format.

What about cross-border invoices to other EU countries?

Today, cross-border B2B still falls under standard EU VAT rules. The ViDA directive will require structured EN 16931 e-invoicing for cross-border B2B transactions from 2030. Guliel already generates EN 16931-aligned Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 output, so cross-border readiness is built in.

Will my Belgian VAT number be on the invoice?

Yes. The BTW number is a mandatory field on EU VAT invoices, and Guliel includes it on every Belgium-issued document. Customer VAT numbers are included where required and where you've stored them on the customer record.

How does pricing work?

Free / $20 / $99 per organisation per month. No per-seat charges. The Free tier covers 200 invoices a month; Standard covers 5,000; Premium covers 50,000. See /pricing.

Start free at /pricing. Compliant Belgian invoices, day one.