UBL (Universal Business Language)
Definition
UBL (Universal Business Language) is an international standard for the format of electronic business documents, such as invoices and orders. Systems that support UBL can exchange documents without anyone having to manually adjust the format.
One format, recognized by every system
Without a shared standard, every company would draft its invoices in a different format, and the recipient would have to translate each one into their own system. UBL solves that with a fixed, machine-readable format.
Connection to Peppol and e-invoicing
The Peppol network, which Belgian companies must use to send e-invoices from 2026, uses UBL as the underlying format for those invoices.
Practical example
A supplier sends an invoice in UBL format to a customer. The customer's accounting system reads it in automatically, regardless of which software the supplier uses.
Related terms
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