How delivery works

The path from your invoice JSON to your buyer's system — plain-language and technical. Honest about the partner model and why it works the way it does.

The short version

You POST invoice JSON → Vantane validates it against EN 16931 and Peppol BIS 3.0 Schematron → generates a UBL 2.1 XML document → hands it to our accredited Peppol Access Point partner → it travels to your buyer's Access Point → it lands in their accounting system. You get a webhook and a status update at each hop.

Step by step

1. Validation — EN 16931 and Peppol BIS 3.0 Schematron

Before anything is transmitted, Vantane runs three validation stages in sequence:

• UBL 2.1 XSD — confirms the document structure is well-formed Universal Business Language 2.1 XML.
• EN 16931 Schematron — the official CEN business rule set (BR-*, BR-CO-*, BR-CL-* rules) that makes an invoice legally compliant across the EU. Every national mandate in Belgium, France, and Germany is built on this standard.
• Peppol BIS 3.0 Schematron — OpenPeppol's additional rules for network interoperability: party identifiers, electronic address schemes, and format constraints that ensure the document is receivable by any connected Access Point.

If any rule fires, the invoice is rejected before transmission with a structured error naming the exact JSON field to fix. Nothing reaches the network until all three stages pass.

2. Document generation — UBL 2.1 / Peppol BIS Billing 3.0

Once the invoice passes validation, Vantane generates the canonical XML: Universal Business Language 2.1 in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile — the format mandated for Peppol delivery across the EU. You can retrieve the document at GET /v1/invoices/{id}/document.xml and a visual preview at GET /v1/invoices/{id}/preview.png before and after delivery.

3. Transmission — four-corner Peppol model

The UBL document is handed to our accredited Peppol Access Point partner. Peppol uses a four-corner model:

• Corner 1 — your system, via Vantane's API.
• Corner 2 — our Access Point partner: authenticates, signs, and routes the document onto the Peppol network.
• Corner 3 — your buyer's Access Point: receives and verifies the document, forwards it to their system.
• Corner 4 — your buyer's accounting or ERP system.

After submission, the invoice status advances: submitted (accepted by our partner) → transmitted (delivered to buyer's Access Point) → delivered (acknowledged) or rejected (refused with a reason). Each transition fires a delivery-status webhook to your endpoint and is recorded in GET /v1/invoices/{id} as a timestamped status history — machine-readable proof of transmission.

4. Why businesses can't connect to Peppol directly

Access to the Peppol network requires accreditation from OpenPeppol — a certification process involving a technical audit, legal agreements with the Peppol Authority (OpenPeppol AISBL, a Brussels-based non-profit), and ongoing compliance obligations. Individual businesses are not meant to self-accredit; the architecture assumes exactly this kind of intermediary layer. Our Access Point partner carries that accreditation; Vantane carries the API layer and compliance tooling on top of it.

This is the same model used by every Peppol-connected ERP, accounting platform, and e-invoicing provider in the EU — the architecture of the network itself, not a limitation.

The mandate timeline

EU member states are mandating Peppol-compatible e-invoicing for domestic B2B transactions:

• Belgium — mandatory B2B e-invoicing live since January 2026.
• France — mandatory from September 2026 (large businesses), phasing to all businesses through 2027.
• Germany — mandatory receipt since January 2025; mandatory issuance from 2027 (large businesses) through 2028 (all businesses).

GET /v1/capabilities returns the live routing matrix with effective dates — your integration automatically discovers what is supported and what mandates are upcoming.

The partner model — a trust asset, not a secret

Vantane delivers via an independently accredited Peppol Access Point partner. We are transparent about this because the accreditation is an asset: our partner answers to OpenPeppol, not just to us — meaning the delivery guarantees are backed by a party subject to independent audit and network authority oversight. Registered Peppol Access Points are publicly listed in the OpenPeppol service provider registry.

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