Switch to e-invoicing: mandatory and above all advantageous

Belgium is further ahead than the Netherlands in this field. From 1 January 2026, companies there will be obliged to issue and process business-to-business invoices electronically via a universal system. Currently in Belgium, as in the Netherlands, most invoices are still sent by e-mail, often as PDFs. “A PDF is something different from electronic invoice processing,” says Johan Stockman, manager at Dynatos of Routty, a platform for e-invoicing. 

“Six months before the deadline, 40% of Belgian companies had still not taken steps or found an external partner to arrange the implementation.” Stockman foresees that the 2026 deadline will become a bottleneck. “There is insufficient capacity to complete this transformation for the entire Belgian business community in time. Some companies will not be ready.” Apart from fines for non-compliance, this could also result in invoices not being paid. 

After Belgium, more countries will follow in 2026, including Poland (from February) and France (September). In Italy, e-invoicing and e-reporting have long been mandatory. “If you trade internationally, as a Dutch company you will sooner or later have to deal with this. You will need to take steps now.” 

In Belgium, sending, receiving, and processing electronic invoices must take place via the Peppol platform. “The way in which companies communicate with each other is therefore relatively simple,” says Stockman. “Peppol is a well-known, open European network for secure and standardised electronic document exchange. In countries such as Poland, France, and Italy it is much more complicated. They work with their own government platforms and formats.” 

Dynatos has specialised in this field. It is able to communicate with any platform. For this reason, ISPnext, a specialist in automated invoice processing, has entered into a strategic partnership with Dynatos. “It guarantees our customers that they are compliant with the infrastructure of each individual country,” says Maarten de Ru, Director Partners & Alliances at ISPnext. “And Dynatos customers now also have AP Automation at their disposal.” 

De Ru urges organisations to develop a vision on e-invoicing. “Start by examining your supplier base. Which foreign suppliers do you work with?” 

In practice, he sees three variants. “Some companies limit themselves to being compliant with suppliers in Belgium and France, so reactive. Other organisations expand this policy and also connect Dutch suppliers via Peppol. A third group opts for a more coordinated and future-oriented policy. They apply e-invoicing directly with new suppliers and are ready for e-reporting.” 

Stockman recognises this picture. In his view, the last model is the leading strategy. “Because those who modernise now spread the implementation pressure and avoid last-minute stress. Such a transformation offers many more advantages than just complying with government regulations. The invoicing process becomes much more efficient, with fewer errors and less labour and time intensity. E-invoicing is up to 75% cheaper than processing PDF or paper invoices. Moreover, in practice invoices are paid faster; also not unimportant.” 

Step towards e-reporting 

Finally, Stockman emphasises that e-invoicing is something different from e-reporting. “E-reporting is driven by governments, with the aim of obtaining real-time data on business transactions and thus combating VAT fraud. In the future, e-invoicing and e-reporting will be increasingly interconnected. Electronic invoice processing is a first step.” 

For users there is another advantage. Because when incoming and outgoing invoices are posted immediately after receipt or dispatch, accounting figures are always up to date. “It provides real-time insight into the invoice status. Current dashboards and reports greatly assist Finance with cashflow management. Accounting becomes a tool to measure the financial health of the company.” 

This article was produced in collaboration with CMweb.