How to correct an incorrect electronic invoice in the Peppol network

Once mandatory e-invoicing arrives, one of the practical questions will be how to correct an invoice that was issued incorrectly. The Peppol network offers two routes, one of which tends to be simpler in practice.

The most common solution: a credit note and a new invoice

The simplest and most widely used approach in the Peppol network is:

• Issuing a credit note against the original invoice, and
• then issuing and sending a new, correct invoice.

The alternative: a corrective invoice

The alternative is to issue a corrective invoice. In that case the invoice must meet all validation requirements of the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 standard for the network to accept it. It must also contain:

• The corrected data
• An unambiguous reference to the original invoice
• A reference to the original document in the BT-25 field (InvoiceDocumentReference)

Which route to choose

Although correction through a corrective document is possible, in practice issuing a credit note and then sending a new invoice tends to be administratively simpler and clearer for business partners.

We recommend setting out the chosen approach in an internal policy so that invoicing teams follow it consistently and every correction remains traceable.

If you have questions about correcting electronic invoices or setting up internal processes, our tax team is here to help.