E-Invoicing Readiness Check

Why this matters

At the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025, the government confirmed that electronic invoicing will become mandatory for VAT-registered businesses issuing B2B and B2G VAT invoices from April 2029, following HMRC and the Department for Business and Trade’s national consultation earlier that year. On 23 June 2026, the government confirmed a further key detail: the Peppol network will be the interoperability framework for the mandate, using a decentralised four-corner model where invoices pass directly between trading partners rather than through a central government platform. HMRC will sit outside the invoice exchange itself, at least in this initial phase, and there is no e-reporting obligation to HMRC alongside the mandate — for now.

From January 2026, HMRC and DBT have been running in-depth engagement with businesses, trade bodies, tax advisers, and software vendors to shape the detail of the framework, with a fuller implementation roadmap — including transitional arrangements for smaller businesses and those with complex ERP environments — expected at the Autumn Budget 2026. April 2029 may feel a long way off, but accounting and ERP system changes of this scale typically take years to plan and budget for, particularly for smaller businesses on legacy software. Businesses that invoice the public sector, or that rely on older invoicing systems, have the most reason to start checking now whether their software provider has committed to Peppol support, rather than waiting for the mandate to bite.

What you'll need

• Whether your business is VAT-registered and issues invoices to other businesses or the public sector
• The accounting or invoicing software your business currently uses
• Whether your software provider has announced plans to support Peppol e-invoicing
• Any complex or legacy systems used for invoicing

What you'll get

A personalised compliance report covering: a score out of 100, an executive summary, a list of findings ranked by severity, and a prioritised action plan with timeframes.