Frequently Asked Questions

E-invoicing is the issuance, exchange, and storage of invoices in a structured electronic format — usually XML — that can be automatically read, validated, and (in many regimes) cleared by the tax authority before reaching the buyer. PDF invoices, even if emailed, are not e-invoices in this sense because their data is not machine-readable to the same standard.

The primary drivers are closing VAT gaps (estimated at €99 billion across the EU in 2022), real-time tax visibility, and reducing fraud. Secondary benefits include faster B2B payment cycles, lower invoice-processing costs, and the foundation for digital reporting obligations (such as the EU's ViDA initiative).

It depends on the jurisdiction. Saudi Arabia's ZATCA, for example, requires simplified e-invoices for B2C (with reduced reporting cadence — typically within 24 hours), whereas most EU mandates start with B2G and B2B only. The compliance map page for each country lists the scope.

ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) is the European Commission's reform package modernising EU VAT, including mandatory cross-border e-invoicing and digital reporting requirements. The agreed timeline targets July 2030 for mandatory e-invoicing on intra-EU B2B transactions, with EU member states able to implement domestic e-invoicing mandates earlier from April 2025.

UBL (Universal Business Language) is an XML data format — it defines what an invoice looks like as a document. Peppol is a network and governance framework — it defines how documents (typically UBL) are exchanged between accredited access service providers. You can use UBL without Peppol, but you can't use Peppol without an underlying document standard (today, that's almost always UBL or a UBL-derived spec like PINT).

PINT is the Peppol International Invoice — a globally consistent baseline invoice specification built on top of UBL, designed for country-specific customisation. PINT specs (e.g. PINT AE for UAE, PINT MY for Malaysia) add local fields like Arabic text, jurisdiction-specific tax category codes, and authority reporting identifiers while keeping the UBL core intact.

It is the dominant format globally because of UBL and Peppol. JSON-based formats exist (e.g. some Asia-Pacific pilots) and hybrid formats like ZUGFeRD (Germany) and Factur-X (France) embed XML inside a PDF/A-3 container so the document is both human- and machine-readable. ZATCA's FATOORA standard explicitly supports both pure XML and PDF/A-3 with embedded XML.

XSD (XML Schema Definition) checks the structural correctness of a document — element names, data types, cardinality. Schematron checks business rules that XSD can't express — for example: 'if the tax rate is 0%, the exemption-reason code must be present'. Most e-invoicing validators run XSD first, then schematron on top. einvoice studio runs both and shows you which layer flagged each error.

Yes. The public validator is free, no signup, no account required. Upload up to 5 XML invoices per session and get back rendered preview + field-level validation results. We don't store your invoice content beyond the immediate validation request.

Currently UBL 2.1 invoices conforming to the active jurisdiction's ruleset (today: ZATCA FATOORA for Saudi Arabia; UAE PINT AE coming soon). When you select a country, the validator loads that jurisdiction's specific schematron pack — so an SA invoice is validated against SA rules, an AE invoice against AE rules.

No XML content is retained. The validator captures only aggregated, anonymous metadata — country code, count of invoices in the batch, count of errors by rule code, and a salted hash of your browser fingerprint (so the rate limit can recognise you for 24 hours). No raw IP, no email, no file content beyond the validation request itself.

Yes — drop up to 5 XML files in one upload and review each invoice's results side by side. Each file is validated independently with its own report, then the results are aggregated for at-a-glance error counts by rule code.

The validator is read-only — it reports field-level errors with the exact XPath location, the rule that failed, and a human-readable explanation. Fixing the XML is on your side (or your billing system's), then you can re-upload and re-validate.

Live mandates include Italy, Hungary, Poland (B2G), Spain (B2G), most of Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina), Turkey, India (B2B above threshold), and Saudi Arabia (Phase 2 by revenue waves). Phased rollouts are underway in Romania, Belgium, France, the UAE, and Oman. The compliance map page has the full 113-country picture with current status for each.

'Verified' means the entry has been confirmed against an official source (regulator website, gazetted regulation, or major-firm advisory) and has a recorded last-verified date. 'Watchlist' entries are tracked from secondary sources (industry trackers, news releases) but haven't been deep-verified yet — useful as early signals but always cross-check with the regulator before acting on them.

Continuously when there are material changes (a new wave threshold, a postponed deadline, a published technical spec). Each country page shows its 'last verified' date — older dates mean the content was correct as of that date but may have been overtaken by newer announcements; always check the official authority link as the authoritative source.