ISDOC 5.2 — national XML standard since 2009

ISDOC (Information System Document) is the XML e-invoicing format first published in 2009 by SPIS (Sdružení pro informační technologie, the Czech association of IT vendors). It is one of Central Europe's earliest free and open national XML standards, pre-dating Directive 2014/55/EU and now aligned with EN 16931. Current version 5.2 remains the dominant format among Czech ERP vendors.

History — from SPIS 2008 to ISDOC 5.2

The Czech Republic published its free national XML standard as early as 2009, ahead of most large European economies. The initiative came from 14 Czech ERP vendors clustered inside SPIS who wanted a common B2B exchange format without dependency on any proprietary format (Stormware Pohoda, ABRA Software, Money S3, Helios, K2 atmitec, etc.). The spec was published freely with no royalties and direct download on isdoc.cz.

text isdoc-timeline.txt

2008       | SPIS (Sdružení pro informační technologie) launches the ISDOC
           | project on the initiative of 14 Czech ERP vendors (Stormware,
           | ABRA Software, Money S3, Helios, K2 atmitec, etc.).
           |
2009       | ISDOC 5.0 published — first free national XML
           | e-invoicing standard in the Czech Republic.
           | Free download on isdoc.cz, open license.
           |
2010       | ISDOC 5.1 — extensions for advance management and
           | credit notes, support for order headers.
           |
2013       | ISDOC 5.2 — current version. Overhaul aligned with
           | European Business Terms (EN 16931 preparation).
           |
2014       | Directive 2014/55/EU — ISDOC recognised as a national
           | format acceptable for B2G alongside PEPPOL.
           |
2017       | CEN publishes EN 16931 — ISDOC 5.2 publishes its official
           | mapping to European BT/BG on isdoc.cz.
           |
2019-2020  | Mass adoption by Czech ERP vendors. ABRA, Money,
           | Helios, Pohoda integrate ISDOC export/import natively.
           | Download via the isdoc.cz portal.
           |
2022-2026  | ISDOC remains the dominant voluntary standard among Czech
           | ERP vendors. PEPPOL BIS 3.0 grows for cross-border and
           | B2G flows via third-party Authorities access.

Governance — SPIS + MF ČR ministry

The standard is governed by SPIS (Sdružení pro informační technologie), the non-profit association of Czech business software vendors. The Ministry of Finance (MF ČR, Ministerstvo financí) and the General Financial Directorate (GFŘ, Generální finanční ředitelství) recognise ISDOC as an acceptable national format for B2G flows alongside PEPPOL BIS and UBL.

The SPIS technical group publishes schema evolutions on isdoc.cz. Any change goes through a public call for comments among member vendors. Version 5.2 (2013) remains the current stable version — no 6.x version announced to date; the roadmap focuses on EN 16931 alignment and PEPPOL coexistence.

Technical schema — XML, isdoc.xsd

ISDOC 5.2 is a single-file XML schema isdoc.xsd published on isdoc.cz. It defines several mandatory sections:

DocumentType — 1 (standard invoice), 2 (credit note), 3 (advance), 4 (corrective).
ID + UUID — business identifier + universal UUID for tracking.
AccountingSupplierParty / AccountingCustomerParty — issuer and recipient, IČO + DIČ.
InvoiceLines / InvoiceLine — lines with quantity, unit price, VAT code, UNCL classification.
TaxTotal / TaxSubTotal — totals per VAT rate (21%, 12%, 0%).
LegalMonetaryTotal — net, gross, payable amounts after advances.
Payments — bank transfer, IBAN, BIC, variable reference (Variabilní symbol).

xml isdoc-5.2-sample.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Invoice xmlns="http://isdoc.cz/namespace/2013"
         version="5.2">
  <DocumentType>1</DocumentType>
  <ID>2026-CZ-000412</ID>
  <UUID>4f5e6a7b-8c9d-4e3f-9a1b-2c3d4e5f6a7b</UUID>
  <IssueDate>2026-06-15</IssueDate>
  <TaxPointDate>2026-06-15</TaxPointDate>
  <VATApplicable>true</VATApplicable>
  <ElectronicPossibilityAgreementReference />
  <Note>Faktura — daňový doklad</Note>
  <LocalCurrencyCode>CZK</LocalCurrencyCode>
  <CurrRate>1</CurrRate>
  <RefCurrRate>1</RefCurrRate>
  <AccountingSupplierParty>
    <Party>
      <PartyIdentification>
        <ID>12345678</ID>
      </PartyIdentification>
      <PartyName>
        <Name>Příklad dodavatel s.r.o.</Name>
      </PartyName>
      <PostalAddress>
        <StreetName>Václavské náměstí 1</StreetName>
        <CityName>Praha</CityName>
        <PostalZone>11000</PostalZone>
        <Country>
          <IdentificationCode>CZ</IdentificationCode>
          <Name>Česká republika</Name>
        </Country>
      </PostalAddress>
      <PartyTaxScheme>
        <CompanyID>CZ12345678</CompanyID>
        <TaxScheme>VAT</TaxScheme>
      </PartyTaxScheme>
    </Party>
  </AccountingSupplierParty>
  <AccountingCustomerParty>
    <Party>
      <PartyIdentification>
        <ID>87654321</ID>
      </PartyIdentification>
      <PartyName>
        <Name>Příklad odběratel a.s.</Name>
      </PartyName>
    </Party>
  </AccountingCustomerParty>
  <InvoiceLines>
    <InvoiceLine>
      <ID>1</ID>
      <InvoicedQuantity unitCode="HUR">10</InvoicedQuantity>
      <LineExtensionAmount>20000.00</LineExtensionAmount>
      <Item>
        <Description>Consulting services May 2026</Description>
      </Item>
      <ClassifiedTaxCategory>
        <Percent>21</Percent>
        <VATCalculationMethod>0</VATCalculationMethod>
      </ClassifiedTaxCategory>
    </InvoiceLine>
  </InvoiceLines>
  <TaxTotal>
    <TaxSubTotal>
      <TaxableAmount>20000.00</TaxableAmount>
      <TaxAmount>4200.00</TaxAmount>
      <TaxCategory>
        <Percent>21</Percent>
      </TaxCategory>
    </TaxSubTotal>
    <TaxAmount>4200.00</TaxAmount>
  </TaxTotal>
  <LegalMonetaryTotal>
    <TaxExclusiveAmount>20000.00</TaxExclusiveAmount>
    <TaxInclusiveAmount>24200.00</TaxInclusiveAmount>
    <PayableAmount>24200.00</PayableAmount>
  </LegalMonetaryTotal>
</Invoice>

ISDOC vs PEPPOL BIS 3.0

Since 2017, ISDOC and PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 officially coexist in the Czech Republic. PEPPOL grows for cross-border and certain B2G flows via third-party Access Points, but ISDOC remains dominant among domestic ERP vendors:

Dimension	ISDOC 5.2	PEPPOL BIS 3.0
Schema	Proprietary XML (isdoc.xsd)	UBL 2.1 + CIUS
Encoding	UTF-8 mandatory	UTF-8 mandatory
Transport	Email attachment, FTP, vendor portal	AS4 + SMP/SML PEPPOL
Addressing	IČO 8 digits	iso6523-actorid-upis + ICD 0151 (IČO)
Native bank reference	Yes (Variabilní symbol)	No — via PaymentMeans
Cross-border	Weak — domestic CZ + SK usage	Native (78 Authorities)
EN 16931 conformance	Yes (mapping published)	Yes (base standard)

Adoption — Czech ERP vendors

Stormware Pohoda — Czech SME/SMB leader, native ISDOC export/import.
ABRA Software (ABRA Flexi, ABRA Gen) — mid-market ERP vendor, ISDOC included in the B2B baseline.
Money S3 / Money S4 / Money S5 (Solitea) — ISDOC + PDF/A-3 combined in recent versions.
Helios (Asseco Solutions) — Helios Orange, Helios Green, ISDOC as standard output across all invoicing modules.
K2 atmitec — K2 ERP, native ISDOC support since 2010.
OneSoft, Vario, OBIS — vertical vendors with ISDOC import/export.

Common pitfalls

Confusing IČO and DIČ. IČO = 8 digits, legal company identifier at Justice.cz / ARES registry. DIČ = VAT number, prefixed CZ + IČO most often.
Forgetting the Variabilní symbol. Without the bank reference in the Payments block, automated bank-accounting reconciliation fails on the recipient side.
Wrong DocumentType. 1 = invoice, 2 = credit note, 3 = advance, 4 = corrective. Mixing up 1 and 2 distorts VAT analysis on the recipient side and complicates the DPH return.
Thinking ISDOC = PEPPOL. The two formats coexist but do not substitute. The recipient must explicitly declare ISDOC acceptance in its SMP or via B2B contractual negotiation.
Encoding and diacritics. Czech names heavily use ě, š, č, ř, ž, ý, á, í, é. Every ISDOC flow must explicitly declare UTF-8.

Foundations

Standards

Flagship messages

Tools