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Getting Started with PEPPOL Just Became a Whole Lot Easier

By Mathieu Pasture
September 23, 2015

For B2B invoicing, PEPPOL is nothing less than a complete game changer. Increasing number of European governments and companies are adopting this standard. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise: PEPPOL promises to save the industry tremendous amount of cost and effort spent on electronic document exchange.

As of now, you can get started with PEPPOL quickly—without having to invest in implementation yourself.

A bit of background: the PEPPOL project was started 2008 with objective to enable businesses to communicate electronically with any European government institution in the procurement process, thus increasing efficiencies and reducing costs.

Seven years later, PEPPOL standard is gaining traction, both by the European governments (with Norway, Sweden, Austria, France, and recently Belgium taking the lead) but also within the industry (the peppol.eu site lists 99 certified PEPPOL Access Points providers).

Here is why we think PEPPOL is a game changer

Babelway is an adamant supporter of the PEPPOL initiative. For B2B invoicing, PEPPOL is nothing less than a complete “game changer”. As Mathieu Pasture – CTO Babelway – states:

Mathieu Pasture, CTO Babelway

Before PEPPOL , any full end-to-end invoice exchange automation required an implementation project between each newsender or receiver. This created costs and delays, often leading to reverting to old paper-based processes.

For the first time, PEPPOL holds the promise to enable full end-to-end invoice exchange without any set-up project for each new partner. PEPPOL solves the document format and routing issues once and for all. This maybe the missing link to unlock wide-scale e-invoice adoption.

PEPPOL forces the various e-invoice service providers to freely interconnect. This promotes the 4-corner model whereby each company can freely choose their e-invoice service provider (or Access Points in Peppol jargon). Babelway has always advocated for open networks and easy interconnect across all companies, applications and networks. We have always resisted practices of some market players that impose tolls and charges to enable interconnectivity. PEPPOL may well be the solution for general interconnectivity.

The quickest way to get started with PEPPOL

If you are considering implementing PEPPOL as a supplier, the peppol.eu provides a guide.

Or if you don’t have the time or capacity to implement the document exchange yourself, consider using a product that already supports it.

Babelway is the first SaaS, do-it-yourself integration platform that allows you get started with PEPPOL within days.

Babelway launches PEPPOL in production

Babelway previously announced the strengthening of its partnership with Tradeshift. As part of this partnership, Babelway is also PEPPOL access point of Tradeshift.

As from this month, all invoices received via PEPPOL from providers like DHL or KUEHNE & NAGEL, will be handled by Babelway for Tradeshift.

The service for Tradeshift includes the full range of PEPPOL services: PEPPOL Access Point, Adressing (SMP) and translation between PEPPOL formats (Invoice BIS formats, EHF format …..) and Tradeshift formats (UBL).

Considering PEPPOL implementation?

Are you wondering if Babelway can help you speed up your PEPPOL implementation?

Babelway is easy and free to try, and we’ll be happy to provide you a personal demo and discuss your specific requirements.

Just drop us a note at info@babelway.com or call us at +32 10 390 013.

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