UBL stands for Universal Business Language. UBL is a computer language in which documents must be drawn up to ensure that certain billing information always ends up in the same place. This makes it possible for systems to automatically read the invoices. You no longer have to enter them manually. With a UBL-Invoice you can therefore invoice fully automated electronically.

Why UBL Invoice?

Processing an invoice requires a lot of manual actions. Nowadays they are mainly sent digitally, which of course already makes a difference. But if you have to enter an invoice for the accounting and copy data, it takes time and there is always a chance of errors. The Dutch government has now opted for standard E-invoicing in the form of a UBL invoice. Since 1 January 2017, this is even mandatory. Are you still e-mailing a ‘normal’ invoice to the central government? Then it will no longer be processed.

Benefits UBL Invoice

A UBL invoice is fast, reliable, secure and error-free. This is also the reason why the central government prefers this invoice format to stimulate the general adoption of e-invoicing. The dream scenario is that soon all suppliers will easily send their UBL invoices directly into the buyer’s purchasing system. But this will take some time. Simply because many suppliers do not yet have this option.

The UBL chain test was created to improve the ease of use of UBL. This is an initiative of research agency GBNED. The primary goal of the UBL Chain Test is to provide a platform to software suppliers and self-developers (end users) who want to enable UBL in their software. In this way, UBL will eventually be integrated into more and more systems and it will be possible for everyone to send invoices in this format.