Peppol vs PDF and Email: Why Luxembourg Businesses Should Make the Switch

The Invoice Habits That Are Holding You Back

For many businesses in the Grand Duchy, the invoicing process has looked the same for years: create an invoice in Word or Excel, save it as a PDF, attach it to an email, and hit send. It works, it is familiar, and it seems efficient enough. But is it really?

The truth is that PDF-by-email invoicing is a relic of the early digital era. While it was a step up from paper and postage, it still creates significant manual work, errors, and inefficiencies that cost your business time and money. Peppol e-invoicing eliminates these problems entirely.

Let us look at exactly how these two approaches compare.

What Is Wrong with PDF Invoicing?

A PDF invoice might look like a digital document, but from a processing perspective, it is essentially a picture of an invoice. The data inside it cannot be automatically read or processed by your accounting software. This creates a chain of inefficiencies:

• Manual data entry — someone must read the PDF and type the information into their accounting system
• Transcription errors — numbers get mistyped, VAT rates are entered incorrectly, amounts do not match
• Lost invoices — emails end up in spam folders, get overlooked, or are accidentally deleted
• No delivery confirmation — you have no proof the invoice was received and processed
• Difficult archiving — finding a specific PDF among thousands of emails is time-consuming
• Duplicate invoices — the same PDF might be sent or processed multiple times

These issues might seem minor individually, but they add up. Studies estimate that processing a single PDF invoice costs between EUR 10 and EUR 30 when you factor in staff time, error correction, and follow-up.

How Peppol Does It Better

A Peppol e-invoice is fundamentally different from a PDF. It is a structured data file that contains all the invoice information in a format that computers can read and process automatically. Here is what that means in practice:

Automatic Processing

When a Peppol invoice arrives, it is automatically imported into the recipient's accounting system. No manual data entry, no retyping, no waiting. The invoice data flows directly into the system, ready for approval and payment.

Zero Transcription Errors

Because the data is transmitted electronically in a structured format, there are no transcription errors. The amounts, VAT rates, and details that leave your system are exactly what arrives in your client's system.

Guaranteed Delivery

Peppol provides delivery confirmations. You know your invoice was received. No more wondering if it ended up in a spam folder or got lost in someone's overflowing inbox.

Built-In Validation

Before a Peppol invoice is sent, it is validated against the EN 16931 standard. This means errors in VAT calculation, missing fields, or formatting issues are caught before the invoice reaches your client, not after.

Easy Archiving and Retrieval

Peppol invoices are stored digitally in a structured format, making them easy to search, filter, and retrieve. Need to find all invoices from a specific supplier in a specific quarter? It takes seconds, not hours of searching through email archives.

The Cost Comparison

Let us compare the real costs of PDF invoicing versus Peppol for a typical local SME processing around 100 invoices per month:

• PDF by email: EUR 10-30 per invoice in processing costs = EUR 1,000-3,000 per month
• Peppol e-invoice: EUR 0.50-2.00 per invoice (access point fee) + near-zero processing costs = EUR 50-200 per month

The savings are dramatic. Even at conservative estimates, switching to Peppol can save a business thousands of euros per year in reduced processing time and fewer errors.

Why Make the Switch Now?

For businesses here, there are additional reasons to move beyond PDF invoicing:

• B2G compliance — since March 2023, PDF invoices are not accepted by public entities; you must use Peppol or MyGuichet.lu
• Belgian 2026 mandate — your Belgian trading partners will require Peppol invoicing from 2026; getting set up now avoids a last-minute rush
• ACD expectations — the Administration des Contributions Directes is moving toward digital tax processes, and structured e-invoices support smoother VAT compliance
• SME Packages Digital — the government offers up to 70% subsidies for e-invoicing adoption, reducing the cost of transition

Making the Switch Is Easy

Moving from PDF to Peppol does not require a complete overhaul of your systems. With a provider like Peppol Box, the transition is straightforward:

1. Sign up for a Peppol Box account and receive your Peppol ID
2. Create your first e-invoice using the simple online platform
3. Send it to your recipient through the Peppol network
4. Receive a delivery confirmation

You can continue to send PDF invoices to clients who are not yet on Peppol while gradually transitioning your entire invoicing to the network. Peppol Box also offers CSV/XML/PDF export and an API available for automation, so the switch fits naturally into your current workflow. With Flexina Sync, your accountant can automatically retrieve your invoices from Peppol Box — free of charge. There is no all-or-nothing requirement.