How to Become a PEPPOL Registered Business

All You Need to Know About PEPPOL Registration in VATify

Electronic invoicing via PEPPOL is becoming a legal and commercial requirement in many countries, particularly across the EU. To exchange electronic documents through the PEPPOL network, a business must first be correctly registered as a PEPPOL participant. This registration ensures that trading partners can identify your business, determine which documents you can receive, and route those documents securely to your chosen service provider.

This article provides an overview of what it means to become a PEPPOL registered business and the key elements involved in the registration process.

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What Does it Mean to Be PEPPOL Registered?

Being PEPPOL registered means that your business is discoverable in the PEPPOL network and technically ready to receive (and, where applicable, send) electronic documents such as invoices or credit notes.

Registration does not involve signing up directly with OpenPeppol. Instead, it is completed through an accredited PEPPOL service provider, typically an Access Point provider, which publishes your registration details on your behalf.

Once registered, your business:

• Is assigned a PEPPOL Participant ID
• Has its service metadata published in a Service Metadata Publisher (SMP)
• Can be discovered by trading partners via the Service Metadata Locator (SML).

Key Components Involved in PEPPOL Registration

Understandingthe core PEPPOL components helps clarify what information is required during enrolment.

Participant ID

A Participant ID uniquely identifies your business in the PEPPOL network. It consists of:

• An identifier scheme (which defines the type of identifier used, such as a national company number or VAT number)
• An identifier value (the actual company number)

Example: 0088:123456789:

• 0088 → identifier scheme
• 123456789 → identifier value

The correct choice of identifier scheme is critical and depends on the country and registration details of the business.

E-invoicing overview

Service Metadata Publisher (SMP)

The SMP publishes information about how documents can be delivered to your business. This includes:

• The document types you can receive (for example, PEPPOL BIS Billing invoices)
• The supported business processes
• The technical endpoint of your service provider’s Access Point
• Security certificates used for encrypted communication

Marosa manages the SMP publication, but the accuracy of the underlying company data remains your responsibility.

Service Metadata Locator (SML)

The SML is the central directory of the PEPPOL network. It links your Participant ID to the SMP responsible for publishing your service metadata. The SML does not store business details or document information and does not take part in message exchange.

What Information is Required to Register a Business in PEPPOL?

To complete PEPPOL registration, the following information is typically required:

• Legal company name
• Registered address details
• Country of establishment
• Company identifier (for example, VAT number or company registration number)
• Selected Participant ID scheme
• Contact Information

This information is also used to populate business card data, which supports visibility in the PEPPOL Directory but does not affect document routing.

Legal Identifiers (Schemes) and Numbers in PEPPOL

When registering a business in PEPPOL, one of the most important decisions is the selection of the correct legal identifier scheme and corresponding identifier number. Together, these two elements form your PEPPOL Participant ID, which uniquely identifies your business across the network.

The identifier scheme defines the type of official number being used. It tells the PEPPOL network what kind of identifier the number represents and which authority issued it. Examples include national company registration numbers or VAT numbers. Each scheme is represented by a four-digit code maintained by OpenPeppol.

The identifier number is the actual value assigned to your business by the relevant authority, such as your VAT number or company registration number.

Example: 0088:123456789

• 0088 → identifier scheme (for example, a national company number scheme)
• 123456789 → identifier number

Using the correct scheme is critical. If the scheme does not match the identifier type or country rules, trading partners may be unable to locate your business in PEPPOL, even if all other registration data is correct.

VATify and PEPPOL Enrolment

VATify supports the structured capture and management of the information required for PEPPOL enrolment. Recording accurate company details in VATify helps ensure that:

• The correct Participant ID is used
• Registration data shared with the PEPPOL service provider is consistent
• Future changes (such as service provider or endpoint updates) can be managed efficiently

Since we are a Peppol service provider, VATify allows our customers to directly register through our software for PEPPOL e-invoicing.