A market in transition

At the 2026 E-Invoicing Summit, it became clear that the digital compliance landscape is facing a fundamental transformation. An increasing number of countries are mandating electronic invoicing for businesses, more and more standards are emerging in parallel, and with ViDA, the EU is driving standardisation that extends far beyond individual countries.
For companies with international supply chains, this is more than just an IT issue. It is a strategic decision: those who set the right course now will gain a head start. Those who wait will find themselves under time pressure as soon as the new deadlines come into force.

Peppol: The international backbone

Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) is the international network for the structured exchange of electronic invoices according to the four-corner modelSender and recipient do not exchange data directly, but each via a certified access point. Originally developed for public procurement, Peppol has long been on its way to becoming the de facto standard in the B2B sector as well and, with the expansion of Peppol PINT, is also gaining importance outside Europe, for example in Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, albeit with varying degrees of legal bindingness depending on the country.

ViDA: The EU framework behind the scenes

ViDA ("VAT in the Digital Age") is the EU reform package that digitalises VAT compliance in Europe. Its core element is the Digital Reporting Requirement (DRR): from 1 July 2030, structured e-invoicing with near-real-time reporting will become mandatory across the EU for cross-border B2B transactions; existing national reporting systems (such as in France, Italy, and Poland) must be aligned with this framework by 1 January 2035. National deadlines of individual member states (such as the German B2B issuing obligation in 2027/2028) run independently of this and in some cases significantly earlier.
Peppol is considered the technical backbone upon which many member states are building their ViDA implementation.

CTC vs. Post-Audit: The Two Worlds of Compliance

To understand why e-invoicing is developing so differently around the world, it is worth taking a look at two fundamentally different compliance models:

• Post-audit invoicing:

The invoice is exchanged between the business partners; the tax audit takes place retrospectively, usually as part of a tax inspection. There are no digital checks at the time the invoice is issued.

• Continuous transaction controls:

The tax authority is involved directly or indirectly in the invoicing process, either through real-time reporting, a clearance procedure prior to dispatch, or through centralised data exchange via a government platform.

Germany has so far relied on an interoperability model without state validation, whilst France has opted for a decentralised CTC model involving public authorities. Originally conceived as the "Y-model", the French model has, following a decision by the DGFiP in October 2024, evolved into a so-called 5-corner model Further developed: All invoice exchanges now take place via certified private platforms (PA, formerly PDP), whilst the state-run PPF platform now functions solely as a central directory and data collection point for the tax authorities. It is precisely this difference that highlights why a uniform global approach is virtually impossible for businesses and why local expertise remains indispensable during the roll-out.

XRechnung: The German point of reference

For German companies, the situation remains XRechnung the key reference point: the national standard for electronic invoices in the B2G sector, based on the European Standard EN 16931. In the B2B sector, the following has been in force since 1 January 2025: Obligation to provide accommodation, the obligation to display them will be phased in until 1 January 2028.

Countries in comparison: A patchwork of rules

Germany

relies on an interoperability model without state validation. The mandatory format is XRechnung for B2G transactions and EN 16931-compliant e-invoices for B2B transactions. The obligation to accept B2B invoices has been in force since 1 January 2025, whilst the obligation to issue them will be phased in until 1 January 2028.

France

follows a decentralised CTC model, which is now organised as the 5-Corner model via certified private platforms (PA). Permitted formats compliant with EN 16931 are UBL 2.1, CII and Factur-X. The obligation to issue invoices will apply from 1 September 2026 for large and medium-sized enterprises, and from 1 September 2027 for SMEs and micro-enterprises as well. The obligation to receive invoices applies to all enterprises from 1 September 2026.

Poland

has introduced KSeF, a centralised clearance model in FA(3) XML format, which is already mandatory: from 1 February 2026 for large enterprises with a turnover in the previous year exceeding 200 million zloty, from 1 April 2026 for all other enterprises, and from 1 January 2027 for micro-enterprises as well.

Italy

exchanges invoices centrally via the government’s SDI platform in FatturaPA format. The procedure has been mandatory since 2019 and, from 2024, will apply to all businesses regardless of turnover.

Spain

combines the existing real-time reporting procedures SII (in place since 2017) and FACe in the B2G sector with a future B2B obligation under the Crea-y-Crece Act. This B2B e-invoicing requirement is not yet in force – it is expected to come into effect from 1 October 2027 for companies with a turnover exceeding 8 million euros and from 1 October 2028 for all other companies, subject to the implementing regulation which is still pending.

Romania

RO e-Factura also uses a central clearance model based on the RO_CIUS format (which is based on UBL 2.1). The B2G requirement has been in force since 2022, the B2B requirement since 1 January 2024 and the B2C requirement since 1 January 2025.

Without a common standard, this is precisely where siloed solutions arise: a company operating in six countries may, in the worst-case scenario, require six different technical interfaces, six formats and six compliance processes. At the same time, the company must also bear in mind that individual deadlines may still be subject to change.

What does that mean for companies with international supply chains?

Anyone who continues to handle e-invoicing using paper, Excel spreadsheets or unstructured PDFs faces a growing risk: reduced efficiency, missed opportunities for automation, non-compliance and, in the worst case, fines. What’s more, the introduction of e-invoicing is not a one-off project. Once a solution has been implemented, it must remain compliant at all times, as formats, standards and country-specific requirements are constantly changing.
This is precisely where a platform is needed that not only handles the initial formatting, but also evolves over the long term and automatically adapts to regulatory changes, without customers having to make adjustments themselves every time the law changes.

Conclusion: Global compliance as a strategic advantage rather than a mere formality

E-invoicing requirements are on the rise worldwide, and ViDA will shape the European standard in the long term. For companies with international supply chains, global compliance is therefore no longer just a ‘nice-to-have’, but an increasingly relevant factor for the future. Those who opt for a scalable, updatable solution at an early stage will not only secure legal certainty but also gain a genuine competitive advantage.

Arrange a personal consultation