Two out of three entrepreneurs are not yet ready for electronic invoicing via Peppol, which becomes mandatory on Jan. 1. “As long as it is not legally required, these entrepreneurs do not see it as a priority,” said Maarten Corten, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Business Economics at Hasselt University, who organized a survey of entrepreneurs together with the enterprise counter Xerius. “But delay is risky: as of Jan. 1, 2026, invoices via e-mail or post are prohibited for transactions between companies subject to VAT. Even a baker who delivers to an SME will then have to invoice via Peppol.”

“We saw the same pattern in countries like Romania and Hungary, when they started e-invoicing,” says Philippe Kimpe, co-author of the book E-invoicing Deciphered and founder of the e-invoicing platform Lucy, which was bought by accounting platform Yuki (Visma) in 2024. “Only in the last quarters before the deadline does a final spurt occur. Companies are preparing, but the urgency is not there yet everywhere.”

Digital divide:

One in seven entrepreneurs who are not yet ready for Peppol (15%) expect major problems in making the switch. “These are mainly merchants and service providers who use few digital tools and are therefore less in touch with software,” Maarten Corten knows. He draws parallels with the rise of online banking. “Then, too, you initially saw resistance from people with less digital experience.”

Remarkably, it is not the business owners who send a lot of outgoing invoices who expect the most trouble. Three-quarters of those who see major difficulties looming send out fewer than 100 invoices a year – or fewer than eight a month. In fact, 40 percent send no more than two each month. Maarten Corten: “More than a quarter (27%) work without an external accountant.”

Role of the auditor:

The research by Xerius and Hasselt University therefore clearly points to the key role of external accountants. 62 percent of entrepreneurs feel moderately to well informed by their accountant and mainly rely on his advice when choosing a solution. Entrepreneurs without an accountant appear to have a more difficult time and are more often unprepared. “It is mainly a question of unknown makes unloved,” says Philippe Kimpe. “Many entrepreneurs still work with Word or Excel and think that is free and easy, but that also ends up costing time and money.”

His message is clear: Get guidance, and don’t wait until the last minute. “Your accountant is your company’s family doctor. Go there first.” Maarten Corten also says accountants are pivotal in making the transition as easy as possible. His advice? “As an accountant, choose one or a few tools for your clients, and guide them in that as best you can. Entrepreneurs just want to comply with the law in a practical way.”

Philippe Kimpe: “An accountant with a hundred clients using five systems, that doesn’t work. New clients will presumably be asked to run with it on the accountant’s chosen platform.”

Unrest in the market:

A survey by e-invoicing specialist Billit shows that more than 23 percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed are considering stopping their operations because of the e-invoicing requirement. In the survey by Xerius and Hasselt University, only one in 10 entrepreneurs (11%) are considering quitting due to Peppol, but the concern is clearly there.

Maarten Corten finds this tragic: “I hope no one stops doing business because of this obligation. Then we as a society have failed in our communication and guidance.”

Benefits for business owners:

E-invoicing via Peppol will not become mandatory in Europe until 2030, but Belgium is introducing the requirement four years earlier, starting in 2026. Some entrepreneurs wonder why it has to be faster here. “A legitimate question,” says Maarten Corten. “The government wants to close the VAT gap. That is the difference between what the government should receive in VAT revenue and what it actually receives. In Belgium, that gap is estimated at about 5 billion euros a year. It is not only caused by fraud, but often by errors. E-invoicing makes that process much more accurate.”

Consequently, the requirement brings clear benefits to business owners. They are better protected against fake invoices and the digital sending, recording and processing ensures that fewer human errors happen. And those who also link their bank accounts to e-invoicing software get a quicker overview of their income, costs and cash flow, since the software immediately registers which invoices have been paid and which have not yet been paid. “A lot goes wrong with classic invoices: fake emails, wrong account numbers, forgotten payments. Peppol solves all that,” says Maarten Corten.

Additional complexity:

For entrepreneurs who have customers in different European countries, there is an additional difficulty, however. Invoices to Belgian companies must go through Peppol from 2026, while those to Dutch or French customers can still simply be sent as PDFs via e-mail. “Our research shows that not only small independents expect problems, also large companies with many foreign transactions indicate that they find it difficult to comply with the new legislation,” says Maarten Corten. “Often large companies work with customized ERP packages. They will have to work on their own to make e-invoicing run smoothly.”

It also remains to be seen how other European countries will approach e-invoicing. “Italy and Poland, for example, are also working on e-invoicing, but they work with slightly different systems than Belgium. That doesn’t make it any easier,” says Maarten Corten.

For invoices to theUnited Kingdom, the situation is even different. Because of brexit, that country falls outside European harmonization. Philippe Kimpe: “The UK pioneered with Peppol in healthcare and got governments to accept e-invoices, but after the brexit the rollout stalled. A consultation on a national e-invoicing framework has been running since Feb. 13, but legislation is still pending.”

Find support:

According to Maarten Corten, three things are essential to get entrepreneurs on board. “Don’t be put off. E-invoicing is not a big investment and has benefits,” he says. “Start on time. Give yourself space to choose the right tool and practice with it. And above all, seek support. Work with an external accountant or seek advice from your enterprise counter.”

“2026 is the beginning of a new reality,” Philippe Kimpe concludes. “Anyone who waits until then is simply too late.” And the perception that e-invoicing is expensive and complicated? “Unjustified. There are already user-friendly solutions for just a few euros a month. The challenge is mainly to properly inform and make entrepreneurs aware.”