Plenty of invoices around Liège still come out of Excel. One file for invoices, another for stock “because the first one is never current”, reminders in Outlook, and on the 5th someone copies the lot across to the accountant. WinBooks, Sage BOB, Exact on the other side. The source is still version_finale_v7.xlsx.
A PDF by email did the job until last year. Since 1 January 2026, between Belgian VAT-registered businesses, not really. The law of 6 February 2024 added § 2bis to Article 53 of the VAT Code: a structured e-invoice, a file software can read without retyping. The 8 July 2025 decree points to Peppol BIS (UBL, EN 16931). You can agree another EN 16931 channel. You still need to send and receive Peppol.
B2C is out. A foreign customer off Peppol can still get a PDF. Belgian B2B is what moved.
Q1 2026 had a grace period, through 31 March. Grant Thornton and EY: that was not a delay of the law. After that the administration can fine. Scale in royal decree no. 44: €1,500, €3,000, €5,000, at least three months between findings. How many have actually been issued? No public figure, so none here.
A valve on 10 February 2026: if the recipient can’t take a structured file, the issuer doesn’t have to send Peppol. They still have to invoice. The customer doesn’t get to stay unreachable.
Hermes at BOSA turned structured files into PDFs for people with no tool. PwC had it closing 31 December 2025. Fine while you get set up.
Keep Excel for a budget, a scenario, a chart. It goes wrong when it’s the customer list and the invoice channel.
That’s where it sticks: no unique ID (the BCE company number is not the VAT number), VAT 21/12/6 typed by hand, stock in one file and invoices in another, reminders only in the mailbox, and the monthly re-key to the accountant.
Peppol sends the invoice. Chasing payment is the law of 2 August 2002: 30 days if the contract is silent, interest from the day after the due date, a €40 lump sum. I’m not quoting the FPS commercial rate. Their page wouldn’t open.
Cash discount (escompte) too. In Belgium VAT is computed on the discounted amount even if the customer never takes it. Odoo Belgium documents that. In a spreadsheet people get it wrong and the VAT return drifts.
Invoicing software
Search “invoicing software Belgian SME” in 2026 and one question is enough: does it send and receive Peppol BIS 3.0? Sage BOB, WinBooks, Exact Online, Odoo with the Belgian localisation (EAS 0208, company number, BIS Billing 3.0): yes. An 18-month SAP: not for this.
Where people actually start. Tidy the records. One customer, one ID, company number one side, VAT the other, name as at the Crossroads Bank. “Dupont SPRL” and “Dupont srl” in two files, Peppol will deliver that mess on time.
Then plug the tool in. Send test, receive test. Then stop retyping into the accountant’s file. If the same line leaves Excel for WinBooks, you’ve already done the work twice. Old workbooks read-only, start from live customers. Fifteen years of history can stay put.
If mapping and Peppol eat the week, an hour pack on www.z80.be is built for that. info@z80.be, +32 494 111 041.