E-invoicing: Peppol and Peppol on the roadmap
Malta has no business-to-business e-invoicing mandate yet; Peppol is the common network for public-sector invoices. Kontevia does not issue or receive structured e-invoices yet. Support for EN 16931 (Peppol BIS Billing 3.0), the Peppol network and the national system of Malta is planned. Today you issue PDF invoices with a payment QR code, and the PDF invoices you receive are read and booked.
invoice_supplier_2211.pdf
212 KB, PDF
Invoice processed: €1,416, VAT 18 %. Not a duplicate. Due date saved. Waiting for your approval in the dashboard.
How it works
Today: PDF invoice with a QR code
Issue the invoice by message or in the dashboard. You get a PDF with the mandatory details and a payment QR code, ready to send.
Planned: structured file
Alongside the PDF, Kontevia will produce a structured Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 file checked against EN 16931 and the rules of Malta.
Planned: exchange
Sending and receiving through the Peppol network and Peppol is planned. Until then, received invoices are read from PDF and booked without retyping.
Archive
Issued and received documents are archived for the retention period of Malta.
What is changing and why it concerns you
The EU is moving invoices from PDF to structured data. The ViDA package sets a common direction for cross-border invoicing, and member states are introducing their own mandates for domestic business invoices, each with its own system and timeline. Malta has no business-to-business e-invoicing mandate yet; Peppol is the common network for public-sector invoices.
For a small business this means that a PDF sent by e-mail will at some point no longer count as an invoice. The good news: if your invoicing tool produces the structured file for you, nothing changes in your daily work. You still write who and what for.
Honest about the status
Kontevia is in early access. What works today: PDF invoices with the mandatory details and a payment QR code, reading the PDF invoices you receive, and the archive. What is planned and not yet available: producing and reading structured EN 16931 invoices (Peppol BIS Billing 3.0), their validation, and the exchange through Peppol and the Peppol network.
You will not find a claim on this site that Kontevia already exchanges e-invoices. When that changes for Malta, the e-invoicing guide on this site will say so first.
E-invoicing in Malta
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | No business-to-business mandate yet |
| National system | Peppol (voluntary); DRR and e-invoicing planned by the MTCA, no fixed date |
| Format | Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (Malta CIUS) |
| Common EU standard | EN 16931 (Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, UBL, CII) |
| Kontevia | Planned: structured invoices, validation and exchange. Today: PDF invoices with a payment QR code |
Frequently asked questions
What is a structured e-invoice?
A file in a machine-readable format (XML following EN 16931, such as Peppol BIS Billing 3.0) that accounting systems and national platforms read without OCR or retyping. A PDF is not a structured e-invoice, even when sent electronically.
Does Kontevia already exchange invoices through Peppol?
No. Kontevia does not produce structured e-invoices or connect to Peppol yet; support is planned. Until then you send PDF invoices and, where the mandate already applies, submit through the official portal or your existing provider.
What is Peppol?
An international network for exchanging structured documents through certified access points. Most EU countries use it for invoices to the public sector and several are adopting it for business invoicing too. Peppol support in Kontevia is planned.
What happens to invoices I receive as PDF?
They are extracted and booked as today. Reading structured e-invoices directly, without OCR, is planned.
Related features and tools
Try it on your own documents
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Updated 7 September 2026