Europe is entering its biggest regulatory shift since GDPR, with every country moving toward structured, machine-readable eInvoices instead of PDFs.
The EN 16931 eInvoicing regulation defines the semantic and syntactic standard behind the XML formats and enables automation, accuracy, and readiness for upcoming national frameworks.
To adapt, companies need technology that simplifies operations, ensures data quality, and prepares finance teams for a fragmented landscape of formats and deadlines.
Payhawk partners with Invopop (a Peppol-certified Access Point (AP) provider), a multi-network eInvoicing gateway. Invopop is an AP provider for many countries within and outside Europe, including Peppol BIS 3.0, Factur-X, XRechnung, Facturae, and other national schemas listed in Invopop’s full list coverage.
This allows Payhawk to receive, validate, approve, pay, and export structured eInvoices across European countries, regardless of each country’s underlying infrastructure.
Below is an example of an xRechnung XML eInvoice:
How does Payhawk handle eInvoices?
Payhawk currently supports the processing of multiple eInvoice formats and versions through Invopop’s coverage, including ZUGFeRD and XRechnung (Germany), Peppol BIS 3.0 (UBL), Factur-X (France), UBL & CII variants.
Incoming structured eInvoices are routed using identifiers, such as Peppol Participant ID, VAT ID, or SIRET, depending on the country.
Lifecycle of the eInvoice in Payhawk
The processing of the structured eInvoices in Payhawk goes through the following stages:
While the steps look similar to handling PDFs, the underlying flow is fundamentally different, as XML invoices undergo deterministic validation, enforce country-specific rules, and ensure high-quality structured data for approval, payment, and reconciliation.
Receiving eInvoices
When suppliers send structured eInvoices via their country’s network, for example, Peppol or PDP/PPF, the documents are delivered to Payhawk through the following chain of steps:
Supplier
Supplier’s Access Point
Network, for example, Peppol or PDP/PPF
Invopop
Payhawk
Once the invoice reaches Payhawk, the system will identify if it's already paid by card, in which case it'll be added as a document to the relevant card transaction. If it's due to be paid, it'll be created as a new Bill and visible in the Submit tab.
Most structured eInvoices arrive as XML. Payhawk automatically generates a PDF preview for readability and preserves the original XML for audit and export.
When suppliers issue hybrid PDFs containing embedded XML, such as Factur-X in France or ZUGFeRD in Germany, Payhawk uses the original PDF and processes the embedded XML without generating an additional preview file.
Extracting data from eInvoices
eInvoices are automatically checked against EN 16931 rules and country specific-schema.
Another key advantage of eInvoices is their structured and standardized format, which allows Payhawk to extract information with 100% accuracy. Once the data is extracted, fields automatically populated from the eInvoice will be marked with a blue icon for easy identification.
You will still be able to edit expense details and select text directly from the PDF, whether it’s a generated preview or the original document, just as you would with any other document in Payhawk.
Following the approval workflow for eInvoices
The approval workflow for expenses with eInvoices in Payhawk functions exactly the same as it does for regular documents. Regardless of the type of uploaded document, Payhawk will follow the approval process you've defined. The key difference is reduced manual corrections thanks to the clean structured data.
Payment execution for eInvoices
Once approved, eInvoices can be paid directly through Payhawk. This allows finance teams to manage the full AP process in one system, from receiving the structured eInvoice to executing the payment and initiating reconciliation.
Exporting an expense with an eInvoice
Exporting works the same way as for other expenses, but includes the structured date and source files:
For XML eInvoices: Payhawk exports both the original XML and the PDF preview.
For hybrid structured PDFs (Factur-X or ZUGFeRD): Payhawk exports the original PDF containing the embedded XML.
This applies whether you're exporting to an integrated ERP or accounting system or using the standard export functionality.