Short answer
Peppol is an international network and set of standards for exchanging electronic documents, especially e-invoices, between organisations. Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 is an e-invoice format that complies with the European standard EN 16931. Companies join the network through certified access points — much as you use e-mail through a service provider.
How Peppol works
Peppol follows a “four-corner” model:
- The sender creates an e-invoice in their system.
- The sender’s access point (service provider) sends it into the network.
- The recipient’s access point receives it.
- The recipient gets the e-invoice in their system.
The sender and the recipient don’t have to use the same service provider — just like with e-mail.
Peppol and Latvia
The Latvian Ministry of Finance guidelines use the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 code list, and the Latvija.gov.lv e-address sends a commercial invoice as defined by Peppol. There is no centralised e-invoice exchange system for transactions between businesses: B2B companies can use any channel they agree on. VID publishes a list of service providers that offer creating, sending and receiving e-invoices.
What a business needs to do
Check whether your accounting or invoicing software can create and receive e-invoices in the Peppol format and which channel it sends them through. If your system is custom-built, an e-invoicing module can be added — see how to connect e-invoices to your accounting software.