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Spotlight PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 The EU e-invoicing mandate is here — France Sept 2026, Belgium Jan 2026, Germany 2025.

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Standards

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Flagship messages

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EHF — the Norwegian e-invoice

EHF (Elektronisk Handelsformat) is Norway's e-invoice format, based on UBL. Its current version, EHF Billing 3.0, is aligned with PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 and therefore with EN 16931.

What is EHF?

EHF is, like Denmark's OIOUBL, a national UBL profile. But Norway pushed the convergence further: since EHF 3.0, the format is PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0, with no significant local overlay. Issuing an EHF invoice amounts to issuing a PEPPOL invoice.

From EHF 2 to EHF 3: the PEPPOL convergence

EHF 1.x and 2.x were specifically Norwegian UBL customisations. EHF 3.0 chose to align with PEPPOL BIS / EN 16931: same model, same business rules, immediate European interoperability. Detail: the EHF format.

Anatomy of a file

xml ehf-invoice.xml 
<Invoice
    xmlns="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2"
    xmlns:cbc="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CommonBasicComponents-2"
    xmlns:cac="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CommonAggregateComponents-2">

  <cbc:CustomizationID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:3.0</cbc:CustomizationID>
  <cbc:ProfileID>urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0</cbc:ProfileID>
  <cbc:ID>2026-04127</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:IssueDate>2026-06-23</cbc:IssueDate>
  <cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>NOK</cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>

  <cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
    <cac:Party>
      <!-- 0192 = Norwegian organisation number -->
      <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="0192">991234567</cbc:EndpointID>
    </cac:Party>
  </cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
  <cac:AccountingCustomerParty><!-- recipient --></cac:AccountingCustomerParty>
</Invoice>

The CustomizationID points to the PEPPOL Billing 3.0 profile: that is what makes an EHF 3 invoice directly recognised on the PEPPOL network.

Transport: PEPPOL and ELMA

EHF travels over the PEPPOL network (four corners, AS4 transport). The Norwegian ELMA registry lists recipients able to receive electronic documents and their access point.

Norway, a PEPPOL driver

Norway plays a driving role in PEPPOL governance (a very active national PEPPOL authority). Its mature ecosystem explains the early adoption and rapid convergence of EHF onto the European standard. Detail: PEPPOL leadership.

EHF, UBL and OIOUBL

  • vs UBL: EHF is UBL, profiled by Norway then aligned to PEPPOL.
  • vs OIOUBL: the same Scandinavian logic (national UBL), with EHF 3 having converged onto PEPPOL BIS earlier and more fully.

Further reading