Stripe and Peppol e-invoices (How to issue e-invoices)

With e-invoicing becoming mandatory around the EU, companies using Stripe to process money transactions may require issue Peppol e-invoices to either comply with local policies or desire to automate delivery of e-invoices to their business partners. To issue e-invoices through the Peppol network from Stripe, you need a compliant e-invoicing layer that connects the two - as Stripe by itself issues only payment confirmations, which are, in many EU countries, not legal invoices.

This guide explains what Peppol and Stripe are, and how to issue Peppol e-invoices for Stripe transactions using a DDD Invoices plugin for Peppol e-invoices.

What is Peppol and what is Stripe?

Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) is an international e-document exchange network that enables businesses and public authorities to exchange structured electronic invoices securely and in a standardized format. Peppol is mainly used in EU and works through certified Peppol Access Points, using standardized formats such as Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, and a secure 4-corner delivery model.

You can read the full Peppol overview and Access Point explanation in our detailed Peppol guide.

Stripe is a global payments platform that allows businesses to accept online payments, manage subscriptions, create invoices, and automate billing workflows through dashboards and APIs.

Stripe focuses on:

• Payment collection (aka money transfer)
• Subscription billing
• Checkout and payment events
• etc.

However, Stripe does not natively issue Peppol-compliant e-invoices, nor does it handle country-specific fiscal or e-invoicing requirements.

How to issue Peppol e-invoices for Stripe transactions

Issuing Peppol e-invoices from Stripe requires three key elements:

• Stripe as the payment and billing system
• A Peppol-certified e-invoicing service (such as DDD Invoices)
• Correct Peppol buyer identification included on the invoice

At a high level, the process looks like this:

1. A payment or invoice is created and paid via Stripe
2. Stripe sends the invoice data via webhook / event
3. DDD Invoices generates a Peppol-compliant XML invoice
4. The invoice is delivered through the Peppol network to the buyer’s Access Point and to the Peppol ID

Here is a full video guide to help you send Peppol e-invoices for your Stripe transactions (once the plugin is already installed):

NOTE: We recommend you first see the general tutorial How to install Stripe plugin for e-invoices.

Additional information about Buyer Peppol ID

To send an invoice through Peppol, the buyer must be identifiable in the Peppol network. This is done using a Buyer Peppol ID (also called a Peppol Participant ID). This is important for businesses issuing Peppol invoices manually or via the Stripe Dashboard.
You will need to insert the Buyer Peppol ID in the custom field on the invoice, shown in the Stripe invoice UI or via API.

For the custom field name in Stripe write one of the value below:

• "Buyer Peppol Id" (this one is used in video)
• "BuyerPeppolId"
• "buyer peppol id"
• "buyerpeppolid"
• "BUYERPEPPOLID"

Stripe currently allows custom fields on the invoice level & customer level, however:

• You cannot set the Buyer Peppol ID at the Customer level via the Stripe UI
• You must insert the Buyer Peppol ID on the invoice level using custom fields via Stripe UI

For developers integrating into Stripe (API flow)

For software providers, platforms, and SaaS products that integrate into Stripe via API, the setup is more flexible and scalable.

Stripe allows custom fields at the customer level & invoice level via API, even though this is not possible via the UI.

If you are integrating Stripe programmatically, you can store the Buyer Peppol ID:

• On the customer object (Stripe then automatically propagates customer-level custom fields to the invoice level.)
• Or directly on the invoice object

End-to-end flow for API integrations

The full technical flow looks like this:

• Your software
  → Buyer Peppol ID is inserted on the invoice or customer level and mapped to the Stripe field either on the invoice or customer level
• Stripe
  → Stripe invoice contains "Buyer Peppol Id" as structured metadata
• DDD Invoices
  → DDD Invoices receives the invoices with the "Buyer Peppol Id" under the key "BuyerPeppolId" in the DDDI_Save API (on the invoice level)
  → DDD Invoices creates a fully compliant Peppol XML and sends it to the Peppol Network
• Peppol Network
  → Invoice is delivered via Peppol to the buyer’s Peppol Access Point
• Buyer
  → Buyer receives the Peppol e-invoice into their system connected to the Access Point (ERP/Accounting system etc.)

This approach is ideal for:

• SaaS platforms
• Marketplaces
• B2B2B software providers
• Multi-entity or multi-country setups

Automate Stripe with Compliant Peppol E-invoices Today

You can download DDD Invoices plug-in from official Stripe's marketplace.

The process is streamlined and easy to follow, especially with our guide you can also find here.

Stripe and Peppol solve different problems, but together they form a complete invoicing and payment stack.

• Stripe handles billing, payments, subscriptions, and checkout
• Peppol handles regulated, structured e-invoice delivery
• For API users, it can be managed at customer or invoice level
• DDD Invoices bridges Stripe and Peppol into one automated flow

If you are unsure whether your Stripe invoices must be sent via Peppol, or how to implement this correctly, our team can review your setup and compliance requirements in under 30 minutes.

Trusted by clients all around the globe

DDD Invoices solves e-invoicing for more than 1000 clients around the globe, many of which issue their Peppol compliant e-invoices with DDD Stripe plug-in.