The OpenPeppol association held its first public conference, the Peppol E-Invoicing & E-Reporting Conference 2024, on May 29-30. As annouced previously, it featured presentations and panel discussions with leading e-invoicing experts.
The Invoicing Hub attended and here are some of the highlights of the event:
Evolution of the Peppol BIS in light of PINT and EN B2B extensions
Peppol BIS 3.0, widely used even outside Europe, is already 6 years old, and is encountering a lot of success in Europe, but not only. Indeed, several countries in the APAC region have adopted the Peppol network, adding their own specifications and leading to the creation of the Peppol INTernational (PINT) format and its national adaptations.
At the same time, the CEN Standards committees are currently working on adapting the European Norm 16931 as originally created for the Directive 2014/55/EU to also cover the needs of the private B2B business, with a result expected in late 2024 or 2025. As the EN 16931 is the basis of the Peppol BIS Invoice specification, subsequent adoption is expected to require corresponding changes.
OpenPeppol mentioned planning to combine these developments into a future Peppol BIS 4.0 to accommodate these local specificities, ensure backwards compatibility with BIS 3.0 and PINT, and adopt any changes resulting from the EN B2B extensions.
XRechnung to also be a National Ruleset of Peppol BIS 3.0
The XRechnung release 3.0 (in full effect since February 2024) was designed to be fully compatible with the international Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 specification. Paul Simons, Head of the Peppol Post-Award Change Management Board announced that the required change to the Peppol network, to add the German National Ruleset, will be approved soon. This means that XRechnung invoices can then also be generated as Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 invoices fulfilling these additional rules.
KoSIT, the German Peppol Authority and maintainer of the XRechnung standard, expects to simplify generation of German invoices particularly for foreign suppliers but also streamline operations for domestic Peppol Service Providers.
OpenPeppol & GENA Collaboration and potential merger
OpenPeppol and GENA (formerly EESPA) have been collaborating for a long time and are further intensifying their shared activities. This includes an Incubation project for an Enhanced B2B Domain for yet tighter interoperability between its Service Providers based on their existing Peppol infrastructure. If all goes to plan and members agree, the two organisations may even plan to merge by January 1, 2026, with the year 2025 serving as a transition period.
The conference also featured many other interesting talks, including a presentation on e-invoicing progress in the US by the DBNA, updates on European e-invoicing and e-reporting from the European Commission, and several panels with leading e-invoicing experts.
