Peppol: e-invoicing for your non-profit

11 September 2026

Since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered businesses no longer exchange their invoices as a PDF by email but as a structured electronic invoice over the Peppol network. That affects many non-profits (vzw/asbl) too. This topic page bundles what you need to know: what Peppol is, who the obligation applies to, how it is arranged at de kleine prins and what your organisation still has to do itself.

In short

Peppol is mandatory between Belgian VAT-registered businesses, and therefore also for VAT-registered non-profits.
Receiving runs through The Lantern: your suppliers’ invoices land in your purchase mailbox by themselves.
Sending runs through The Rose, after a one-off registration.
Your part: know your VAT status, activate Peppol in The Rose if you invoice yourself, and give your company number to suppliers who ask for it.

What is Peppol?

Peppol is a secure European network over which businesses exchange invoices and other documents directly from software to software. A Peppol invoice is not an image or a PDF but a standardised file: the recipient’s accounting software reads in amounts, VAT and references flawlessly, without scanning or typing. Every participant is known on the network by its company number; that number is therefore also your Peppol address.

Who is it mandatory for?

The rule is in the law of 6 February 2024 (art. 53, § 2bis of the Belgian VAT Code): a VAT-registered business established in Belgium that issues an invoice to another VAT-registered business established in Belgium must, since 1 January 2026, do so as a structured electronic invoice. The VAT-registered client must also be able to receive such invoices. The obligation does not apply to invoices to private individuals or to foreign clients.

What that means per VAT status of your non-profit, according to the official information of the Belgian Ministry of Finance on einvoice.belgium.be ↗:

Non-profit subject to VAT: mandatory, for every invoice to a Belgian client subject to VAT.
Non-profit carrying out only exempt transactions (art. 44): no obligation to send or receive structured electronic invoices. You may, and more and more clients and suppliers ask for it.
Mixed non-profit: mandatory for the invoices of your taxable transactions to Belgian clients subject to VAT, not for your exempt transactions.
Non-profit under the exemption scheme for small enterprises: the obligation applies to you too. Not charging VAT does not exempt you from the e-invoice to Belgian clients subject to VAT.

Our advice: switch on Peppol as soon as your non-profit issues even one invoice to a Belgian organisation with a VAT number. Not sure about your non-profit’s status? Ask your account manager.

How it works at de kleine prins

With our software you are compliant on both sides of the obligation.

Receiving: The Lantern. Your file is registered on the Peppol network through VOILA, a Codabox service that we activate for you. Invoices that suppliers send via Peppol arrive automatically in the purchase mailbox of The Lantern, as a structured file that is read in flawlessly. You no longer have to upload them yourself or track down the colleague who received them. Reviewing, adding a comment or label and sending on works just as for any other document. If a supplier asks for your Peppol address or e-invoicing details, your company number is all they need. If supplier invoices still arrive by email or on paper even though the supplier uses Peppol, let us know.

Sending: The Rose. If your organisation invoices businesses itself, The Rose sends those invoices via Peppol. That requires a one-off registration in The Rose (under Links, Peppol eInvoicing), where you choose only send invoices via Peppol: after all, you already receive your purchase invoices in The Lantern. For the registration you need the identity card of a board member, and activation usually takes one to a few working days. After that you create invoices as always; The Rose decides per invoice whether it goes via Peppol or by email. One requirement: fill in the client’s VAT number, otherwise the invoice cannot be sent over the network.

Other invoicing software? Ask your supplier whether the package is Peppol-ready by now. If it cannot be connected, you can switch to The Rose; that cost is already included in your quarterly fee.

What does your organisation have to do?

Know the VAT status of your non-profit and therefore whether the obligation applies to you (see above).
For receiving you need to set up nothing. Give your company number to suppliers who ask for your Peppol details.
If you send invoices to businesses yourself: activate Peppol in The Rose and complete your clients’ VAT numbers in your client list.
If a delivery fails, first check the client’s VAT number and whether the client is already on the network; the most common error messages are in course part 7 of The Rose.
In doubt or with questions: one call to your account manager is enough.