Processing UBL and e-invoices automatically in your bookkeeping

What is UBL?

UBL stands for Universal Business Language: an open XML standard in which invoice details sit in the file itself as named fields. Supplier, invoice number, invoice date, lines, amounts and VAT rates are not pixels on an image, but data that software can read directly. In the Netherlands and the EU, UBL is the most widely used format for e-invoices; the substantive requirements are set out in the European standard for electronic invoicing (EN 16931), which the German ZUGFeRD format and the Peppol BIS invoice also build on.

Worth knowing: a PDF is not an e-invoice, not even when it is sent digitally. A PDF is an image of an invoice that has to be recognised first. A UBL file is the invoice, in a form machines can read without interpretation. Many suppliers now send both at once: a PDF for people and a UBL file for software, often as two attachments in the same email.

What is the difference between image recognition and structured data?

With a PDF or a scan, software first has to reconstruct what is there: recognise text, find fields, interpret amounts. That works well these days, but it remains interpretation, with a margin of error that grows with poor scans, unusual layouts and composite invoices. As a basis for calculation we assume 60% automation for a typical scan & recognise setup; the rest falls out as exceptions and needs human attention.

With a UBL invoice that whole recognition step disappears. The VAT rate is stated literally as 21%, 9% or 0%, every invoice line is its own block of data and the totals can be checked against the lines. Reading it can therefore be virtually error-free. What remains is the real accounting work: determining which administration and contact the invoice belongs to, which GL account and VAT code apply per line and whether the invoice is correct in substance. Structured data solves the reading problem, not the posting problem. How that posting step works is explained in our guide to posting invoices automatically.

Why do you want a separate path for UBL invoices?

Many processing lines push every document through the same image recognition, even when a UBL file is included. That is a waste: you throw away exact data only to win it back through interpretation, margin of error included. A well-designed document flow recognises a UBL file by its content and treats it differently from a scan. That brings three concrete benefits.

• Fewer exceptions. Fields that cause doubt in a scan, such as an invoice number or a VAT split across several rates, are unambiguous in UBL. Those documents should therefore almost never end up in the manual review stack.
• Line level comes free. Every UBL invoice already contains the individual invoice lines as data. Splitting across several GL accounts or cost centres no longer requires any extra recognition.
• Verifiability. Totals and VAT amounts can be checked against the lines. With UBL, a difference between the lines and the total is a hard signal that something is wrong with the invoice itself, not with the recognition.

A separate path does not mean blind trust, by the way. A UBL file can be wrong in substance too: an incorrect VAT rate, an unknown supplier or an amount that does not match the agreement. The review step stays; only the reading errors disappear.

What is Peppol, and what is it not?

Peppol is often mentioned in the same breath as UBL, but they are two different things. UBL is a file format: it describes how the invoice details sit in the file. Peppol is a set of agreements and a network for sending e-invoices: parties join through a certified access point and can then deliver invoices to each other, much as banks exchange payments between themselves. The invoice files travelling over that network are based on UBL and the European standard.

To be clear about our own role: Agentancy is a processing service, not a sending network, and is not connected to Peppol. We read UBL files that reach us by email or upload, for example forwarded from the mailbox where supplier invoices already arrive. Anyone who wants to receive or send invoices via Peppol needs an access point or an accounting package with a Peppol connection for that; the UBL files that come out of it can then simply be read in a processing flow like ours.

What is changing legally around e-invoicing?

In the EU, e-invoicing is shifting from voluntary to mandatory, but in stages and not everywhere at once. The state of play at the time of writing, summer 2026, in broad terms:

• To government (B2G): in the Netherlands, suppliers to central government have been required to invoice electronically since 2017.
• EU-wide (ViDA): the "VAT in the Digital Age" package adopted in 2025 makes e-invoicing based on the European standard the starting point. Cross-border B2B transactions within the EU will require e-invoices with digital reporting; that is scheduled to come in towards 2030. Member states may also introduce a domestic e-invoicing obligation more easily.
• The Netherlands domestically (B2B): there is currently no general domestic obligation between businesses. Several neighbouring countries are further along; Belgium, for instance, is introducing a B2B obligation from 2026. Whether and when the Netherlands will follow has not yet been settled.

A cautious reading, then: the direction is settled, the pace per country is not entirely. For current obligations, consult the Dutch tax authorities or your adviser. For firms the practical conclusion is the same regardless of exact dates: the share of UBL and e-invoices in the document flow grows every year, and a processing line without a separate path for them leaves quality on the table that is already sitting in the files for free.

How does Agentancy process UBL invoices?

Up to here this article has been general explanation; this part is about our own approach. Agentancy recognises an incoming UBL file automatically, whether it arrives by email or through an upload, and reads the structured data directly instead of putting the document through image recognition. A number of things happen along the way:

• Duplicate prevention. If a supplier sends a PDF and a UBL together in one email, they are treated as one invoice. Without that step you post the same invoice twice, a classic pitfall with mixed submissions.
• Consistency check. Lines, VAT amounts and totals are checked against each other. If the sum does not add up, the document is parked with the specific reason, instead of being posted on silently.
• The same posting context as any other document. Even a perfect UBL invoice has to go to the right administration, contact, GL account and VAT code. The same firm and administration agreements and learned rules apply as for scanned documents, including splitting per invoice line.
• Posting in your package. The result goes to the administration's accounting package as a proposed posting or a posting; with packages that support this through their connection, the source document goes along as an attachment. Which packages we support is listed on the page integrations.

For completeness: hosting runs in the Netherlands and storage stays within the EU. And as described above, we are not a Peppol access point; UBL reaches us by email or upload.

What does this mean for your document flow?

Most firms will have a mixed flow for years to come: a growing share of e-invoices alongside a steady stream of PDFs, scans and receipts. The gain is in the combination. UBL invoices should run through with virtually no exceptions, so that human attention is left for the documents that genuinely need interpretation. If you are choosing or renewing a processing line now, it pays to test both paths explicitly; our buyer's guide choosing scan & recognise software sets out a concrete assessment framework for that, and for firms that want to start alongside their current setup there is the alternative to Exact Scan & Recognise.

Want to see what this looks like in practice? Take a look at posting invoices automatically with Agentancy or the current rates on our pricing page. Forwarding an email with a UBL attachment is the quickest way to see the difference with image recognition for yourself.