Document Types

GoRoute supports the full range of Peppol BIS 3.0 document types. This guide covers each document type, its purpose, and when to use it.

Supported Documents

Primary Documents

Document Type	UBL Type	Process ID	Use Case
Invoice	Invoice-2	BIS Billing 3.0	Standard invoices
Credit Note	CreditNote-2	BIS Billing 3.0	Refunds, corrections
Self-Billing Invoice	Invoice-2	BIS Billing 3.0	Buyer-issued invoices

Ordering Documents

Document Type	UBL Type	Process ID	Use Case
Order	Order-2	BIS Ordering 3.0	Purchase orders
Order Response	OrderResponse-2	BIS Ordering 3.0	Order confirmations
Order Change	OrderChange-2	BIS Ordering 3.0	Order modifications

Catalogue Documents

Document Type	UBL Type	Process ID	Use Case
Catalogue	Catalogue-2	BIS Catalogue 3.0	Product catalogs
Catalogue Response	ApplicationResponse-2	BIS Catalogue 3.0	Catalog confirmations

Logistics Documents

Document Type	UBL Type	Process ID	Use Case
Despatch Advice	DespatchAdvice-2	BIS Despatch 3.0	Shipping notifications
Invoice Response	ApplicationResponse-2	BIS MLR 3.0	Invoice status updates

A Despatch Advice is not the same thing as a delivery note

The Despatch Advice above is a Peppol document: structured UBL, transmitted over the network to the buyer's system so their software knows a shipment is coming.

A delivery note is the printed slip that travels in the box. GoRoute can issue one, but it is not a Peppol document at all — it is never transmitted, never reported and never validated against a BIS rule set. The same is true of a pro forma invoice, which is likewise not one of the document types on this page. See Pro Forma Invoices & Delivery Notes.

Invoice (Most Common)

The Invoice is the most frequently used document type on Peppol.

Required Fields

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Invoice xmlns="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2"
         xmlns:cac="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CommonAggregateComponents-2"
         xmlns:cbc="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CommonBasicComponents-2">
    
    <!-- Profile and Customization -->
    <cbc:CustomizationID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:3.0</cbc:CustomizationID>
    <cbc:ProfileID>urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0</cbc:ProfileID>
    
    <!-- Invoice Identification -->
    <cbc:ID>INV-2024-001</cbc:ID>
    <cbc:IssueDate>2024-01-15</cbc:IssueDate>
    <cbc:DueDate>2024-02-15</cbc:DueDate>
    <cbc:InvoiceTypeCode>380</cbc:InvoiceTypeCode>
    <cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>EUR</cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>
    
    <!-- Seller Information -->
    <cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
        <cac:Party>
            <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="0106">12345678</cbc:EndpointID>
            <cac:PartyLegalEntity>
                <cbc:RegistrationName>Supplier BV</cbc:RegistrationName>
            </cac:PartyLegalEntity>
        </cac:Party>
    </cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
    
    <!-- Buyer Information -->
    <cac:AccountingCustomerParty>
        <cac:Party>
            <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="0106">87654321</cbc:EndpointID>
            <cac:PartyLegalEntity>
                <cbc:RegistrationName>Customer BV</cbc:RegistrationName>
            </cac:PartyLegalEntity>
        </cac:Party>
    </cac:AccountingCustomerParty>
    
    <!-- Tax Summary -->
    <cac:TaxTotal>
        <cbc:TaxAmount currencyID="EUR">21.00</cbc:TaxAmount>
    </cac:TaxTotal>
    
    <!-- Totals -->
    <cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
        <cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount>
        <cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount>
        <cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount currencyID="EUR">121.00</cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount>
        <cbc:PayableAmount currencyID="EUR">121.00</cbc:PayableAmount>
    </cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
    
    <!-- Invoice Lines -->
    <cac:InvoiceLine>
        <cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:InvoicedQuantity unitCode="EA">1</cbc:InvoicedQuantity>
        <cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount>
        <cac:Item>
            <cbc:Name>Consulting Services</cbc:Name>
        </cac:Item>
        <cac:Price>
            <cbc:PriceAmount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:PriceAmount>
        </cac:Price>
    </cac:InvoiceLine>
</Invoice>

Invoice Type Codes

Code	Description	Use Case
`380`	Commercial Invoice	Standard invoice
`381`	Credit Note	Corrections/refunds
`384`	Corrected Invoice	Invoice with corrections
`389`	Self-billed Invoice	Buyer issues invoice
`751`	Invoice Information	For reference only

These are the international codes. Some national systems differ — Nigeria reverses two of them

The codes above are the UNCL1001 international list, which is what Peppol uses. A national tax system may publish its own list, and where it does, its list is the one that governs a filing in that country.

Nigeria differs on exactly the two codes you are most likely to use. On the Nigeria Revenue Service's own invoice-type list, 381 is the commercial invoice and 380 is the credit note — the reverse of the table above. Carrying 380 from a Peppol integration into a Nigerian one files a credit note, which Nigeria then rejects for want of a reference to the invoice being amended.

Before you send to Nigeria, read the invoice-type row of the Nigeria country guide.

Credit Note

Credit Notes are used to correct or cancel invoices.

When to Use

Customer returned goods
Pricing error on original invoice
Service not delivered
Discount applied after invoicing

Example

<CreditNote xmlns="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CreditNote-2">
    <cbc:CustomizationID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:3.0</cbc:CustomizationID>
    <cbc:ProfileID>urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0</cbc:ProfileID>
    
    <cbc:ID>CN-2024-001</cbc:ID>
    <cbc:IssueDate>2024-01-20</cbc:IssueDate>
    <cbc:CreditNoteTypeCode>381</cbc:CreditNoteTypeCode>
    <cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>EUR</cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>
    
    <!-- Reference to original invoice -->
    <cac:BillingReference>
        <cac:InvoiceDocumentReference>
            <cbc:ID>INV-2024-001</cbc:ID>
            <cbc:IssueDate>2024-01-15</cbc:IssueDate>
        </cac:InvoiceDocumentReference>
    </cac:BillingReference>
    
    <!-- ... rest of credit note ... -->
</CreditNote>

Document Identifiers

Each document type has specific identifiers:

Document Type URIs

DOCUMENT_TYPES = {
    "invoice": "urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2",
    "credit_note": "urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CreditNote-2",
    "order": "urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Order-2",
    "order_response": "urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:OrderResponse-2",
    "despatch_advice": "urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:DespatchAdvice-2",
    "catalogue": "urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Catalogue-2"
}

Process Identifiers

PROCESS_IDS = {
    "billing": "urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0",
    "ordering": "urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:ordering:01:1.0",
    "catalogue": "urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:catalogue:01:1.0",
    "despatch": "urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:despatch:01:1.0",
    "mlr": "urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:mlr:01:1.0"
}

Sending Documents via API

Send an Invoice

import requests

# Send a Peppol invoice — the UBL XML goes in `document` as a string
response = requests.post(
    "https://app.goroute.ai/peppol-api/api/v1/documents",
    headers={
        "X-API-Key": "your_api_key",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    json={
        "receiver_scheme": "0106",
        "receiver_id": "12345678",
        "document": invoice_xml
    }
)

result = response.json()
print(f"Transaction ID: {result['transaction_id']}")
print(f"Status: {result['status']}")

Send a Credit Note

# Send a credit note referencing an invoice
response = requests.post(
    "https://app.goroute.ai/peppol-api/api/v1/documents",
    headers={
        "X-API-Key": "your_api_key",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    json={
        "receiver_scheme": "0106",
        "receiver_id": "12345678",
        "document_type": (
            "urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CreditNote-2::CreditNote"
            "##urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#"
            "urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:3.0::2.1"
        ),
        "document": credit_note_xml
    }
)

Validation Rules

All documents are validated before sending:

Layer 1: XSD Validation

# UBL 2.1 schema validation
# Checks document structure

Layer 2: Business Rules

# Mathematical calculations
# - Line totals match item × quantity × price
# - Tax amounts are correct
# - Invoice total = sum of lines + tax

Layer 3: Schematron Rules

# EN16931 European Standard
# Peppol BIS 3.0 specific rules
# Country-specific rules (XRechnung, etc.)

Pre-Validation

Use the validation endpoint before sending to catch errors early:

response = requests.post(
    "https://app.goroute.ai/peppol-api/api/v1/documents/validate",
    headers={"X-API-Key": "your_api_key"},
    json={"document": invoice_xml}
)

Document Capabilities

When you register on Peppol, you declare which document types you can receive:

# Register a participant for invoice and credit note reception
response = requests.post(
    "https://app.goroute.ai/peppol-api/api/v1/participants",
    headers={"X-API-Key": "your_api_key"},
    json={
        "scheme": "0106",
        "identifier": "12345678",
        "display_name": "Example BV",
        "country": "NL",
        "document_types": [
            "urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2::Invoice",
            "urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CreditNote-2::CreditNote"
        ]
    }
)

participant_id = response.json()["id"]

Check whether the registration is published in the SMP with GET /api/v1/participants/{participant_id}/smp-status.

Attachments

Peppol documents can include attachments:

<cac:AdditionalDocumentReference>
    <cbc:ID>Supporting Document</cbc:ID>
    <cac:Attachment>
        <cbc:EmbeddedDocumentBinaryObject 
            mimeCode="application/pdf"
            filename="contract.pdf">
            <!-- Base64 encoded content -->
            JVBERi0xLjQKJeLjz9MKMyAw...
        </cbc:EmbeddedDocumentBinaryObject>
    </cac:Attachment>
</cac:AdditionalDocumentReference>

Supported MIME Types

MIME Type	Extension
`application/pdf`	.pdf
`image/png`	.png
`image/jpeg`	.jpeg/.jpg
`text/csv`	.csv
`application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet`	.xlsx

GoRoute sets no size limit on an attachment. The limits that do exist, and what the receiving access point may do about a large file, are on the Attachments page.

Supported Documents​

Primary Documents​

Ordering Documents​

Catalogue Documents​

Logistics Documents​

Invoice (Most Common)​

Required Fields​

Invoice Type Codes​

Credit Note​

When to Use​

Example​

Document Identifiers​

Document Type URIs​

Process Identifiers​

Sending Documents via API​

Send an Invoice​

Send a Credit Note​

Validation Rules​

Layer 1: XSD Validation​

Layer 2: Business Rules​

Layer 3: Schematron Rules​

Document Capabilities​

Attachments​

Supported MIME Types​

Next Steps​