The State Treasury is the Finnish Peppol authority
The State Treasury is an official member of the OpenPeppol Association. As a result of its membership, the State Treasury established its Peppol authority function in autumn 2022.
The Peppol network is intended for the transmission of electronic business documents
Peppol is an open network through which different parties can transmit electronic business documents to each other in a standardised, sector-independent manner. Electronic business documents include catalogues, orders and order confirmations. The Peppol network is available through a Peppol Service Provider. The majority of Finland’s most important trading partners are promoting the use of Peppol in their territories.
OpenPeppol AISBL is an international non-profit association registered in Belgium and under Belgian law, and it includes members from both the public and private sector. OpenPeppol is responsible for developing, maintaining and implementing the specifications, operating model and services of the Peppol network.
The Peppol network and its Advanced Ordering documents will be introduced in central government as from 1 April 2024. Read more about Advanced Ordering.
The parties to Peppol are:
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- National Peppol Authorities
- Peppol Service Providers
- End users, including companies and public organisations, that wish to influence Peppol’s development.
End users do not need to join OpenPeppol in order to send or receive Peppol-compliant documents.
Duties of the Peppol Authority
The Finnish Peppol Authority is the State Treasury, which
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- promotes Peppol network use in Finland and coordinates cooperation between different parties
- supports and oversees the Peppol Service Providers operating in Finland
- monitors the development of national legislation
- coordinates training and increases competence
- offers Finland the opportunity to participate and influence the development of the international Peppol network and its transactions. The development work is carried out openly and closely with stakeholders.
The duties of a Peppol Service Provider
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- The core task of Peppol Service Providers is to operate as Access Points between the Peppol network and end users. A Peppol Service Provider can also maintain part of the Peppol address and capability lookup service (ACL).
- End users join the Peppol network through the Peppol Service Providers. They transmit the end user’s electronic business documents, add the end user’s Peppol address to the directory, and provide support to end users.
End user
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- The term end user refers an organisation that sends and receives electronic business documents, such as orders or invoices.
- Peppol Service Providers transmit electronic business documents between end users.
Features of the Peppol network
Peppol network specifications cover the following:
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- Administrative model
- Agreements binding on the parties
- Operating methods
- Business processes and documents supported by the Peppol network
- Technical implementation of the network
- ACL
The figure below illustrates the basic structure of the Peppol infrastructure and its key parties:
Service Provider (Access Point): connects end users to the infrastructure so that they can send documents to each other.
SML (Service Metadata Locator): A central address directory of the infrastructure containing information on whether a requested address is registered in the Peppol network and which decentralised ACL has the details for that end user.
ACL (Address and Capability lookup, previously known as Service Metadata Provider, or SMP): decentralised directory containing end user capabilities (which documents the end user is able to process) and information about the physical communication link.Want to participate?
If you would like to participate in Peppol task forces and/or the work of the monitoring group organised by the national Peppol Authority, please contact: peppol@valtiokonttori.fi
The State Treasury is involved in the Real-Time Economy project, which organises webinars and training events on Peppol. Participate and stay up to date. Events arranged by the Real-Time Economy project
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The Peppol network helps all companies get a stake in the benefits of using electronic business documents
For decades, companies have used various sector and company-specific solutions to send electronic documents. For example, retailers, industrial companies and importers have used procurement messages with their suppliers. However, the exchange of these electronic documents has been based on bilateral connections, the construction of which is laborious and cost-inefficient for many organisations.
In Peppol, the exchange of information is based on a network-like model. This means that an organisation can use one connection to communicate with every other organisation in the same Peppol network. This model enables the cost-effective deployment of electronic documents across the entire business and public sector. The digitalisation of business documents is a must for Finnish companies that wish to remain competitive in the Nordic and European marketspace.
Electronic business documents provide numerous benefits
- Avoid additional costs
When you use electronic business documents, your exchanges of information will be handled by information systems. When you use Peppol business documents, your Peppol Service Provider connects you to all members of the Peppol network through a single connection. In the Peppol network, the exchange and processing of documents has been specified in advance, so you do not need to separately agree on any operating methods with your partners.
- Avoid human errors
The documents transmitted in the Peppol network are checked for errors before they are sent. You can be sure that the documents you send and receive, such as your invoices and orders, will not contain any human errors in e.g. their totals, which makes it easier to process them automatically.
- Compatible processes
The Peppol network focuses on processes, such as ordering or invoicing, instead of individual documents. By using Peppol documents, you can be sure that your documents are compatible with one another, from procurement to payment and at every stage of the process. In the best case scenario, you will avoid having to re-enter any existing data. - Security
Data transfers between Peppol Service Providers are encrypted using a secure protocol (AS4). All Service Providers are certified and identified using PKI Certificates. In addition, each Service Provider must adhere to uniform service level requirements to ensure that the network is available and business partners can be reached without delays. The Peppol Authority supervises the Service Providers in its territory. The State Treasury is the Finnish Peppol Authority.
- Internationality
The Peppol network includes Service Providers and users in more than 40 countries and is constantly expanding. Currently, the network’s coverage is the best in the EU, but new countries from e.g. the Asian and American continents have also joined the network. The majority of Finland’s most important trading partners are promoting the use of Peppol in their national territories.
- Changing Service Providers is easy
As an end user, you can change your Peppol Service Provider while maintaining the same Peppol address. These changes are handled by the network’s Service Providers.
- Avoid additional costs
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Experiences of the benefits of the Peppol network
The Real-Time Economy project is carrying out Proof of Concept testing with companies and Service Providers on the benefits of Peppol. Their results will be published as the project progresses.
The Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries tested Peppol procurement documents in spring 2023. Read about the PoC results here (in Finnish)
Peppol Service Provider
Peppol Service Providers are OpenPeppol members that have concluded a Peppol Service Provider Agreement with a Peppol Authority. The core task of Peppol Service Providers is to operate as Access Points between the Peppol network and their customers. A Peppol Service Provider can also maintain part of the Peppol address and capability lookup service (ACL).
A Peppol Service Provider concludes a Service Provider Agreement with the Peppol Authority of the country in which it mainly operates. This does not undermine the international character of the Peppol network. Service Providers can have customers in any country. In this case, however, any Authority Specific Requirements for Peppol use imposed by the Peppol Authorities in each country must be met (Peppol Authority Specific Requirements). See below for the Peppol Authority Specific Requirements in Finland. The Authority Specific Requirements apply to all Service Providers with end customers in the country in question. If a Finnish Peppol Service Provider has Norwegian customers, for instance, they must also comply with the Authority Specific Requirements laid down by the Norwegian Peppol Authority.
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Operation of the Peppol network
A Peppol Access Point refers to a system operated by a Peppol Service Provider for the transmission of business documents over the Peppol network. The operation of the Peppol network is based on a four-corner model. This means that the end customer must only set up a connection with a single Peppol Service Provider’s Access Point, through which they can reach all parties that have joined the network.
OpenPeppol has specified how the Access Points should be able to communicate with each other. Read more about the specifications and instructions on OpenPeppol website. A Service Provider can build their Access Point from a scratch themselves or use one of the ready-made solutions listed by OpenPeppol.
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Operation of the address directory
Peppol’s address directory is decentralized. The Service Metadata Locator (SML) service managed by OpenPeppol participates in the operation of the address directory. In addition, there are numerous decentralised Address and Capability Lookup (ACL) services maintained by Peppol Service Providers. Service Metadata Publisher (SMP), which is the old name for ACL, still comes up in some OpenPeppol materials. The Finnish Peppol Authority maintains Finland’s national ACL directory. For more information about this topic, see below.
Service Providers maintain their customers’ Peppol addresses and information about which business documents they can process in the ACL service. The ACL service also contains information on which Service Provider’s Access Point the business document must technically be delivered to in order to ensure that it reaches the correct recipient. The SML service is used to determine the ACL service in which the end customer’s data are maintained. OpenPeppol maintains more detailed documentation on both ACL and SML operation.
Figure 2, ‘Endpoint lookup with Service Metadata’ in the more detailed ACL documentation is a good illustration of how the address directory operates.
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Address and Capability Lookup (ACL)
Finland’s national ACL directory
The national ACL directory is maintained by the Finnish Peppol Authority. Finland’s Authority Specific Peppol Requirements contain provisions on the use of the national ACL directory. The addresses of Finnish public sector organisations must be maintained in the service. Should they wish, a Peppol Service Provider may also maintain the addresses of other Finnish organisations in the service. Using the service is free of charge for Peppol Service Providers.
Finland’s national ACL directory has been integrated into the verkkolaskuosoite.fi service maintained by TIEKE. This integration enables an easy way for end users to retrieve organisations’ e-invoicing and Peppol addresses from a single location.
Finland’s national ACL directory will be commissioned on 1 February 2024. The transition period within which the Peppol addresses of Finnish public sector organisations must be found in the service ends on 1 August 2024.
Service deployment for Peppol Service Providers
In order to use the service, a Peppol Service Provider must accept its Terms of Use
The Service Provider fills in the information of its organisation in the terms of use document and e-mails it to peppol@valtiokonttori.fi. The Peppol Service Provider must have at least one Finnish customer organisation in order to get access rights to the service. Additionally, a Peppol Service Provider must not be subject to sanctions imposed by the European Union or the UN.
The ACL directory is used through APIs. You can view the API description here. Finland’s national ACL directory is based on an open source code phoss SMP implementation.
Once a Peppol Service Provider has accepted the terms of use and meets the requirements for using the service, they will be granted access rights to it. They also get access to the support channel of the service at this time. The support channel can only be contacted by the designated contact person confirmed by the Service Provider in advance. The support service can be contacted through the support portal or by e-mail. Detailed information will be provided to the Peppol Service Provider at the time of deployment.
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How to become a Peppol Service Provider
For questions related to becoming a Peppol Service Provider, you can contact the Finnish Peppol Authority by email at peppol@valtiokonttori.fi
- Apply for OpenPeppol membership. For instructions for applying for membership, visit: https://peppol.org/join
- Contact the Peppol Authority to express your interest in becoming a Peppol Service Provider. This initiates the necessary process at the Peppol Authority’s end. The Finnish Peppol Authority is the State Treasury. E-mail: peppol@valtiokonttori.fi
- The Peppol Authority will organise a kick-off meeting with the Service Provider
- Submit the necessary documents to the Peppol Authority
- The Peppol Service Provider signs a standard Service Provider Agreement with the Finnish Peppol Authority, which is the State Treasury. The standard agreement is available on Peppol’s Confluence page.
To become a Peppol Service Provider, you must meet OpenPeppol requirements. OpenPeppol provides a test bed for this purpose. Read the instructions for passing the required tests on Peppol’s website.
- Contact OpenPeppol Service Desk and request a PKI TestCertificate. The Service Provider may request a TestCertificate based on their signature on the OpenPeppol membership application form.
- After successful testing, you can contact Peppol Service Desk to request a PKI ProductionCertificate. To obtain the certificate, the Service Provider needs a copy of the signed Service Provider Agreement.
- The Peppol Authority and OpenPeppol jointly approve the PKI TestCertificate and ProductionCertificate.
- OpenPeppol sends the Service Provider an active PKI Certificate for the test and production network.
- OpenPeppol adds the Service Provider’s information to the list of Certified Service Providers and sends out Peppol Service Provider logos for the provider to use.
The certificates expire in two years, after which they must be renewed.
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Peppol address
Finnish organisations shall use an OVT code as their actual address in the Peppol network. An OVT code is formatted as 0216:003712345678ABCDE, where:
- 0216 is the so-called Scheme-ID, which indicates to the system the code for the actual address. It is usually not necessary for the user to give this ID. The Scheme-ID of Finnish organisations is 0216. For a list of Scheme-IDs used by different countries in Peppol, visit
- 0037 is a fixed and unchangeable value
- 12345678 is the organisation’s business ID without the hyphen preceding the check digit
- ABCDEis a free-choice, five-character qualifier used on a voluntary basis that may contain capitals (A to Z) or numerals (0 to 9).
Examples
Example-Enterprise Oy:
Business ID: 1234567-8
OVT code: 003712345678
Peppol address 0216:003712345678Example-Business Oy:
Business ID: 8765432-1
OVT code: 003787654321ENNI1
Peppol address 0216:003787654321ENNI1In XML format, the address could look like this:
<cbc:EndpointID schemeID=”0216″>003787654321ENNI1</cbc:EndpointID>You can download the 0216 OVT code specification here.
Your Peppol Service Provider will make sure that your Peppol address is entered into the ACL directory.
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Authority Specific Requirements in Finland
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- Companies operating in Finland should use the EDI code 0216 as shown on Peppol’s IDD code list in their Peppol addresses (Participant IDs).
- Peppol Service Providers operating in Finland must check that the business IDs in their customers’ Peppol addresses correspond to the customers’ business IDs in the directory maintained by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.
- The Service Providers must check annually that their customers’ Peppol addresses are up to date.
- It is advisable for Service Providers to use ISO27001 compliant Peppol processes, or processes compatible with another equivalent certificate approved by Traficom.
- The Service Providers must report their transaction volumes annually by document to the Finnish Peppol Authority. This reporting requirement will be replaced by a common Peppol-wide reporting provision from 2024 on.
- The Service Providers must establish the addresses of Finnish public sector organisations in the ACL directory maintained by the Finnish Peppol Authority.
If a customer wishes to change ACL directories or Peppol Access Points, their Service Provider must fulfil this request within three working days.
For more information on all Authority Specific Requirements, see the Peppol website.
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Peppol statistics of Finland
OpenPeppol collects monthly end user and transaction statistics from the Peppol Service Providers. Each Peppol Authority gets a country specific report. These reports include the total amount of sent and received Peppol transactions per document type and the amount of active end users in the jurisdiction. The report also includes statistics of the Service providers operating in the jurisdiction.
The Finnish Peppol Authority publishes a summary report from this data quarterly.
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Transaction statistics
Quarter Sent Received Sent / received 2024 Q3 61 299 54 121 115 420 2024 Q2 64 905 53 959 118 864 2024 Q1 55 376 42 781 98 157 Sent / received is the total amount of transactions sent or received per quarter.
Sent is the total amount of sent transactions per quarter.
Received is the total amount of received transaction per quarter.
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Active end users
Quarter Sender (average) Receiver (average) Sender or receiver (average) 2024 Q3 842 783 1 587 2024 Q2 851 785 1 621 2024 Q1 849 1 432 2 178 Sender or receiver means such end users that have either sent or received at least one transaction during the quarter. The data does not include end users that have not sent any transactions during the quarter.
Sender is the total amount of end users that have sent at least one transaction during the quarter.
Receiver is the total amoun of end users that have received at least one transaction during the quarter.
OpenPeppol collects the data monthly. However, the Peppol Authority of Finland publishes the data once per quarter. That is why the active ends users is the average amount of active end users in the quarter. This ensures that one active end user is not counted multiple times in the report.
