How electronic invoicing works in practice – what is PEPPOL and what is the role of the "digital postman"

In the previous sections, we explained what an electronic invoice is and why the PDF format is no longer sufficient. Now let's look at the most important part:

👉 How is an electronic invoice actually delivered from one company to another?

🌐 Why is it not enough to send an e-invoice by email?

With the PDF format, the process is simple:

• you create an invoice
• you send it by email

That concludes the process. However, it doesn't work this way with an electronic invoice (XML).

👉 Why?

• the system needs to know exactly where to deliver the invoice
• the correctness and security of the transmission must be ensured
• a standard is necessary so that different systems can understand each other

And that is exactly why the PEPPOL infrastructure was created.

🔗 What is PEPPOL?

PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line) is a network that allows companies to securely exchange electronic documents.

👉 You can think of it as the "internet for invoices"

Instead of email, the invoice is sent through a standardized network in which:

• every participant is uniquely identified
• individual systems understand each other
• delivery is reliable and verifiable

📦 What is a digital postman?

Companies do not connect to the PEPPOL network directly. They use a so-called digital "postman" (Access Point).

👉 This is a service that:

• sends your invoices
• receives invoices from business partners
• checks data correctness
• ensures reliable delivery

Digital postman in action: E-invoice delivered directly from system to system

💡 Simply put: digital postman = "courier for electronic invoices"

🔄 How does sending an e-invoice work?

The entire process of sending an invoice electronically is as follows:

1. You issue an electronic invoice in your system
2. You send it to the digital postman (Access Point)
3. The postman delivers it via the PEPPOL network
4. The other company's digital postman receives it
5. The invoice is automatically delivered to the recipient's system

👉 The entire process happens automatically – without emails and without manual intervention.

🏛️ And where is the state in this?

In Slovakia, the so-called 5-corner model of electronic invoicing is applied. This means that the invoice data is simultaneously sent to the Financial Administration.

The result is that:

• the state has a continuous overview of issued invoices
• VAT control is largely automated
• the room for tax fraud is reduced

⚠️ Where does it get complicated?

At first glance, the whole process may seem simple. In practice, however, companies must address several key areas:

• connection to the PEPPOL network
• selection of a suitable digital postman (Access Point)
• correct setting of business partner identifiers
• data validation
• communication between individual systems

👉 These are the areas where implementation problems most frequently arise.

🚀 How to solve it easily

To avoid having to deal with the entire infrastructure internally, there are solutions that cover the entire process comprehensively. The digital postman from Asseco essentially functions as an intelligent layer between your company and the PEPPOL network, while directly ensuring the entire process of electronic invoice exchange and connection to the digital postman (Access Point):

• provides direct access to the PEPPOL network (Access Point)
• automatically sends and receives electronic invoices
• ensures validation and data correctness
• integrates with your own ERP and accounting systems, as well as third-party external systems

👉 For a company, this means only one thing: it doesn't have to deal with PEPPOL or technical details – the entire process works reliably in the background.

💡 Why is it so important?

Electronic invoicing is not just about a new document format but also about a new way of delivering it.

If this process does not work correctly:

• the invoice may not be delivered
• it may be rejected
• or errors may occur in accounting

Therefore, the infrastructure (PEPPOL and the digital postman) is a key element of the entire solution.

👉 What's next?

Now you know how electronic invoicing works in practice. In the next part, we will look at:

👉 What a company really needs to change – processes, systems, and overall company operations

If you want to be sure that your invoices will be delivered correctly and without complications, it pays to address the infrastructure in time – ideally through a solution that already has it comprehensively secured.