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The fields, the VAT line and the Peppol question
An invoice template for Belgium needs the fields every EU invoice carries, a VAT number for both sides, the right reverse charge wording when you charge no VAT, and an answer to the question Belgian clients now ask first: can you send it through Peppol?
This template in Excel and Word is written for a supplier outside Belgium who invoices Belgian clients: a web studio in Amsterdam, a consultant in Lille, a software company in Dublin. You download it without leaving an email address.
The required fields on an invoice to a Belgian client
The EU VAT Directive sets the fields, and Belgium did not add many. If your invoice already meets the rules of your own EU country, most of it is right for a Belgian client too. Check these rows.
| Field | What it means in practice | In the template |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice date and sequential number | One unbroken series, no gaps, no reuse | Top, yellow cells |
| Your name, address and VAT number | As registered in your country | Your details |
| Client's name, address and VAT number | Required when you apply the reverse charge | Client block |
| Date of supply | When it differs from the invoice date | Below the number |
| Quantity, description, unit price excl. VAT | Per line | The lines |
| VAT rate and VAT amount per rate | 0% plus a mention when the client accounts for VAT | Computed at the bottom |
| Reverse charge or exemption mention | The legal reason no VAT is charged | Shown by customer type |
| Payment details and due date | IBAN, term, reference | Computed due date and reference |
Belgian clients also look for a structured communication on the invoice, a payment reference in the form +++123/4567/89012+++ that their bank matches automatically. As a foreign supplier you do not have to use it, but it gets you paid faster. The sheet makes it from your invoice number; you can also make one with the structured communication tool.
VAT: when you charge it and when the client does
Most foreign suppliers of services to a Belgian business charge no VAT: the client accounts for it under the reverse charge. Selling to a Belgian consumer is a different story.
| You sell | To | VAT on your invoice | Mention |
|---|---|---|---|
| A service | A Belgian VAT-registered business | 0% | Reverse charge, with both VAT numbers |
| A service | A Belgian consumer | Usually your own country's VAT | None, unless an exception applies |
| A digital service or goods at a distance | Belgian consumers, above EUR 10,000 a year across the EU | Belgian VAT, 21% for most, via the One Stop Shop | None |
| Anything | A business outside the EU | Depends on your country | Your own country's rule |
Belgium's standard rate is 21%, with 12% and 6% for specific goods and services. Which rule fits your sale depends on what you sell; check it with your accountant before the first invoice, not after the client's accountant rejects it. Before you apply the reverse charge, check the client's VAT number.
Your first Belgian invoice in five steps
- Ask for the client's VAT numberA Belgian VAT number reads BE plus ten digits. Check it in the EU VIES register before you invoice without VAT.
- Pick the customer typeThe sheet then shows the VAT treatment, the mention and whether a PDF is enough.
- Number the invoiceOne unbroken sequence across all your clients. The sheet turns the number into a Belgian structured communication.
- Fill in the linesQuantity, unit, price excluding VAT and the rate. For a reverse charge sale, 0% on every line.
- Agree the formatAsk the client's finance team whether they accept a PDF or want Peppol, before the first invoice, not after it bounces.
Peppol: the question your Belgian client will ask
Since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered businesses must exchange structured e-invoices through the Peppol network with each other. A PDF between two Belgian businesses is no longer a valid invoice. The guide to e-invoicing in Belgium has the full picture.
You, as a supplier without a fixed establishment in Belgium, are outside that mandate, even if you hold a Belgian VAT number for a specific reason. A PDF stays valid. In practice it is less simple: a Belgian finance team that now books every supplier invoice from Peppol has to handle yours by hand. Large clients therefore ask suppliers to send through Peppol anyway, and some write it into their purchase terms.
Sending through Peppol is not hard. You register with a Peppol service provider, often through your invoicing software, and you can send to any Belgian business that is registered. Check whether a client is reachable with the Peppol check, and see which software can send through Peppol. A Peppol invoice is a UBL invoice, a structured file rather than a document, so you will not design it in Word. Use this template to compute and check, and the software to send.
Belgian consumer
PDF or paper
Peppol does not cover consumers
PDF with the right VAT
You have a fixed establishment in Belgium
Peppol required
The mandate then applies to you
Invoice from a Peppol package
Belgian business client, no Belgian establishment
PDF, Peppol if the client asks
Outside the mandate, but large clients ask
PDF with reverse charge, or Peppol on request
Client outside the EU
PDF or paper
Belgian rules do not apply
PDF under your own rules
Belgian non-profit without VAT number
PDF or paper
Not VAT-registered
PDF
VAT on a cross-border sale depends on what you sell and to whom. Check it with your accountant.
The invoice example: a Dutch web studio and a Ghent logistics firm
The filled-in example is a fictional web studio in Amsterdam that redesigns the website of a logistics company in Ghent. A service to a Belgian VAT-registered business, so 0% VAT and the reverse charge note.
What makes this invoice easy to book
The reverse charge wording names the article of the VAT Directive and both VAT numbers are on the invoice, so the Ghent client's accountant can book it without asking. Pay attention to the payment term: between businesses, Belgian law allows a maximum agreed term of 60 days and adds statutory interest plus a EUR 40 recovery fee when an invoice is paid late. If that happens, the payment reminder template has the letters.
Before you send the first invoice, agree a quote with the same lines, so the invoice holds no surprises. What each line leaves you after costs shows in the margin calculator.