Invoicing formats

XML presents invoice data in a structured way. e-invoicing supports wide variety of XML based standard invoice formats and automatically converts the invoices from one format to another when needed. See the supported formats and XML examples below.

In general, we recommend using the Peppol BIS 3.0 format for invoice exchange. The format is widely supported and is well suitable for sending and receiving invoices across countries.

If you are planning to operate in the Finnish market only and have a need to send consumer invoices, we recommend Finvoice 3.0 or TEAPPSXML. Both of the formats can handle both B2B and B2C invoicing.

All three formats fully support the European EN16931The European standard for electronic invoicing (SFS-EN 16931-1:2017), defining the minimum required invoice data elements and business rules for cross-border B2B and B2G transactions invoicing standard. Please read more about the European invoicing standard.

Supported XML formats

Recommended formats

Other supported formats

See all example XML files from maventa/invoicexmlexamples.

Document types

Maventa supports several document types beyond standard invoices. The document type is determined by fields within the invoice XML — the exact field depends on the format used.

• Invoice — A standard invoice requesting payment for goods or services.
• Credit note — Reverses or corrects a previously sent invoice. The total amount is negative. Used when an invoice needs to be cancelled or adjusted after it has been sent.
• Self-billing invoice — An invoice created by the buyer on behalf of the seller. Supported through the Peppol network with a dedicated profile.

How each format identifies the document type varies. For example, in Peppol BIS 3.0, invoices and credit notes use separate XML root elements (Invoice and CreditNote). In Finvoice, the InvoiceTypeCode field determines the type (e.g., INV01 for a standard invoice, INV02 for a credit note). In TEAPPSXML, the INVOICE_TYPE field is used.

Routing and delivery work the same way for all document types. The recipient must support the specific document type — for example, when sending via Peppol, the recipient’s Peppol registration must include CREDIT_NOTE as a supported document type.

When registering to receive invoices via Peppol through Maventa, the INVOICE_AND_CREDIT_NOTE profile automatically registers both the invoice and credit note document types:

For a detailed breakdown of type codes across all supported formats and how they behave during format conversion, see Document types and type codes.