The list of solutions is long, I don't know where to start. Can't the government provide a free solution for small businesses?

Fri, 23/05/2025 - 16:17

We understand the challenge this presents and would therefore like to explain:

why you need to find a suitable application yourself,
why we, as a public authority, have not chosen for a centralised application.

Short answer

This problem is temporary: once you have a suitable solution, you will have completed the most difficult step in the process and will be able to enjoy the many advantages of electronic invoicing.

Detailed answer

We help businesses choose a suitable application by providing a list of software applications for sending, receiving and processing electronic invoices.

This list is indeed extensive: it already counts more than 250 applications and more are added every week.

This can be explained by the strategy aimed at getting businesses to link their existing invoicing software with the Peppol network so that they can continue to use their current software. This reduces the impact for these businesses and ensures that invoices can be drawn up, sent and received from a wide range of software applications:

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): automation of all business processes
invoicing: focus on the invoicing process (outbound and inbound)
CRM: focus on the sales process (outbound invoicing)
accounting: focus on the accounting process
…

For businesses that do not yet use any specific software and that are currently drawing up invoices on paper or in an unstructured electronic format (such as PDF, Word, Excel), the long list of solutions can be overwhelming.

Can you add the type of software to the list?

The type of software is a theoretical classification. In practice, combinations are possible: for example, an application can be modular and at the same time belong to the ERP, invoicing, CRM or accounting category.

Can you add the price to the list?

Adding prices to the list is not practical because that information changes frequently and the functionalities of different software applications can vary greatly. Some basic functionalities go beyond the legal requirement for the invoicing process and include other processes such as order management, payment processing, accounting and archiving. The degree of digitalisation can vary from one business to another. It is important to specify your needs, the investments that you are willing to make and which tasks can continue to be carried out manually. You can also do this in steps. The cost to meet the legal obligation may be zero euro (free of charge) as part of the basic price of other chosen elements such as accounting or bank account. In that case, the cost of the legal obligation cannot be determined.

Can the government reduce the list to a more limited number of choices for small businesses?

As a public authority, we have to remain neutral and cannot give commercial advice. The presence of a software application on the list does not imply any substantive of qualitative assessment or certification by the FPS Finance. The FPS Finance does not recommend any product or software vendor.

Can the government themselves offer a free solution for small businesses?

We have deliberately chosen for a decentralised, market-driven approach because we are convinced that this is the best solution for our businesses.

A decentralised, market-driven approach has certain advantages compared to a centralised model where every invoice has to be exchanged through a government application:

No single point of failure is created, which would prevent businesses from exchanging invoices. The invoice is a business-critical document with a significant impact on businesses’ cash flow. This would be an unreasonable risk.
A market-driven approach promotes innovation and usefulness for other business documents (tenders, catalogues, receipts) and other processes (order process, payment process, accounting process). A centralised solution limited to the invoice and the invoicing process (sending without the possibility of integration with other processes) would destroy a lot of value.

A hybrid approach, where we let the market play its role while offering a centralised solution ourselves, would also have considerable drawbacks:

Offering a centralised solution would distort the market and prevent it from functioning at optimum level, increasing the likelihood of effective failure.
If businesses choose for a centralised basic application, a lot of economic value gets lost (as mentioned above). There are already applications available on the market that deliver more value, even for free, than a centralised government solution focused merely on invoice exchange.
If businesses choose for a centralised basic application as a temporary solution, they will have to go through a change process twice.

It will certainly take some effort to analyse your needs at the beginning (see What do I need for e-invoicing? - e-invoice and I draw up my invoices in Word/Excel. How do I prepare for e-invoicing? - e-invoice) and to choose an appropriate software application. But this is in fact the most difficult step in the process. Once you have a suitable, user-friendly application, you will quickly realise that e-invoicing offers many advantages compared to the way you are dealing with invoicing today.

The administration and the legislator have always consulted with the representatives of Belgian businesses, large and small, when drafting the regulations. We will continue to do so during the practical implementation (see Business expert group: information point - e-invoice).