Electronic document sending in Business Central

Many countries mandate electronic invoicing — invoices transmitted in structured formats (XML, UBL, PEPPOL) rather than PDF or paper. Business Central supports this through its Document Sending framework, PEPPOL integration, and country-specific localisation packs. For organisations operating in regulated jurisdictions, e-invoicing isn't optional.

The regulatory landscape.

• Italy — SDI (Sistema di Interscambio) mandatory B2B and B2G since 2019.
• France — Chorus Pro for B2G; B2B mandate phasing in.
• Spain — TicketBAI in Basque Country; broader e-invoicing rolling out.
• Poland — KSeF mandatory.
• Mexico — CFDI for years.
• Brazil — Nota Fiscal Eletrônica.
• EU broadly — moving toward mandatory by mid/late 2020s.
• Singapore, India, etc. — various mandates.

Each country has unique formats and submission routes; Microsoft and partners maintain localisations.

PEPPOL. The Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine network:

• Open standard for B2G and B2B e-invoicing.
• UBL-based document format.
• Network of certified Access Points routing documents.
• Mandated for B2G in many EU countries.

BC integrates with PEPPOL via certified access point providers (Comgate, Pagero, others).

Document Sending Profiles. In BC, Document Sending Profile records define how documents are sent:

• Email — PDF attachment.
• Disk — save to local file.
• Printer — print.
• Electronic Document — XML format, often UBL or country-specific.
• Email & Electronic Document — both.

Assigned per customer or vendor; documents respect the assignment when posted.

Configuring electronic format.

• Electronic Document Format record defines the XML schema.
• Data Exchange Definition maps BC fields to XML elements.
• Country-specific formats pre-built; custom formats possible.

Sending workflow.

1. Sales invoice posted.
2. Sending profile = Electronic Document.
3. BC generates the XML.
4. XML sent via configured method (PEPPOL access point, government portal, email).
5. Delivery confirmation captured.

Country-specific extensions.

• Italy — Microsoft Italy localisation handles SDI submission and FatturaPA format.
• France — Microsoft France localisation + Chorus Pro integration.
• Spain — TicketBAI compliance via partner extensions.
• Mexico — partner extensions for CFDI generation and SAT submission.

For each country, choose between Microsoft localisation, partner extensions, or third-party service.

Third-party e-invoicing services. Providers like Pagero, Tungsten, Tradeshift offer:

• Multi-country compliance from one vendor.
• Format translation.
• Delivery and confirmation tracking.
• Archive.

BC integrates via API or file exchange.

Receiving electronic documents. Reverse side:

• Vendor invoices arrive electronically.
• Captured via Incoming Documents.
• OCR + electronic format parsing.
• Converted to purchase invoices.

The Continia Document Capture extension is widely used for this.

Government archiving. Some jurisdictions require electronic invoice archival:

• 7–10 years retention.
• Government-accessible.
• Tamper-evident.

Service providers handle this; BC's role is delivery, not necessarily archival.

Failure handling.

• Government portal rejects invoice — operator must fix and resubmit.
• Format validation fails — investigation and fix.
• Customer/vendor identity wrong — VAT registration mismatch.

Each error type has a workflow; documented procedures essential.

Digital signatures. Some formats require signed XML:

• Certificate from certified provider.
• Signing applied before transmission.
• BC handles via partner extensions or third-party.

Operational rhythm.

• Real-time — most e-invoicing is real-time per posted invoice.
• Daily reconciliation — verify all sent invoices acknowledged.
• Monthly summary — compliance reports.

Common pitfalls.

• Underestimating implementation cost. First e-invoicing country can take 2–3 months.
• Customer / vendor master data gaps. VAT number wrong; invoice rejected.
• Format version drift. Government updates format; BC localisation lags; invoices rejected.
• No fallback for portal outages. Government portal down; invoices accumulate.
• Archiving missed. Required retention not implemented; audit findings.

Strategic positioning. E-invoicing is now table stakes for B2B operations in regulated jurisdictions. BC supports it through Microsoft localisations and partner extensions; the choice between Microsoft-direct and partner depends on country coverage and feature depth. Plan for compliance proactively — last-minute scrambles before mandates are expensive and error-prone. The investment is structural; e-invoicing isn't going away — every developed market is on the trajectory toward mandatory.