Guide

E-invoicing in the EU, explained for small teams

Belgium switched in January, Poland in February and France in September. Germany follows in 2027. Here is who has to comply, by when, and what to change in your invoicing this quarter.

Amara Okafor, VAT specialist at Lumora
Updated Oct 20, 2026 · 12 min read

Who has to comply

E-invoicing rules cover invoices between businesses. A PDF sent by email is not an e-invoice: the invoice has to travel as structured data that software can read without anyone retyping it.

Each country sets its own rules and dates, and they turn on where you and your customer are registered for VAT. Two broad lines hold almost everywhere:

In scope: invoices to other VAT-registered businesses, and in most countries to public bodies.
Mostly out of scope, for now: sales to consumers, and invoices to customers outside the EU.

Deadlines by country

Four countries have set firm dates, and an EU-wide rule follows at the end of the decade:

Belgium: since January 1, 2026, Belgian businesses send and receive invoices to each other through the Peppol network.
Poland: the national KSeF system became mandatory for the largest companies on February 1, 2026, and for almost everyone else on April 1.
France: since September 1, 2026, every business must be able to receive e-invoices. Small companies start sending them on September 1, 2027.
Germany: businesses have had to accept e-invoices since 2025. Sending them is required from January 1, 2027 above €800,000 in turnover, and for everyone from 2028.
Across the EU: invoices between businesses in different member states go digital from July 1, 2030.

What an e-invoice contains

Most formats follow the European standard EN 16931. In practice your invoicing tool has to fill in, as separate fields rather than text on a page:

Your legal name, address and VAT number, and the same for your customer.
A unique invoice number and the date it was issued.
Each line’s description, quantity, unit price and VAT rate.
The VAT total for each rate, and the amount due in the invoice’s currency.
Your payment terms and the account to pay into.

Your logo, a cover letter or a thank-you note can travel as an attachment. The structured fields are what the tax authority and your customer’s software read.

Choosing a format

You rarely choose a format yourself: your customer’s country and their accounting software decide. These are the four you will meet most often:

Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, the network format used in Belgium, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries.
XRechnung, Germany’s format for invoices to public bodies, also accepted between businesses.
Factur-X, also called ZUGFeRD, a PDF with the structured data inside it, readable by people and by software.
KSeF XML, the structured file Poland’s national system accepts and stores.

A 90-day plan

Most small teams can be ready in one quarter without changing accountants. Split it into four steps:

Weeks 1–2: list your customers in Belgium, Poland, France and Germany, and how each of them receives invoices today.
Weeks 3–6: check that your invoicing tool supports EN 16931 and Peppol, and register your Peppol ID.
Weeks 7–10: send test invoices to two friendly customers, and fix anything their software rejects.
Weeks 11–13: switch over, keep PDF copies alongside for one quarter, and tell your accountant the date.

Lumora sends Peppol and EN 16931 invoices on every plan at no extra cost. See how to turn it on.

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