How to Submit a Peppol Invoice to the HSE

The HSE (Health Service Executive) accepts electronic invoices via the Peppol network. If you supply goods or services to the HSE, you'll need to set up Peppol before your invoices will be processed. This guide walks you through the complete process from supplier registration to first invoice.

Step 1: Confirm your HSE supplier registration

Before you can invoice the HSE electronically, your business must be registered as an approved supplier. If you're already a registered supplier with an active purchase order, you're likely already on the system. If not, contact the HSE procurement team for the relevant category.

You'll need your company registration number (CRO number), VAT number, and bank account IBAN/BIC for payment setup.

Step 2: Get a Peppol Participant ID

Your Peppol Participant Identifier is the address to which the HSE will send purchase orders and to which you'll send invoices. In Ireland, the standard Peppol ID format for VAT-registered businesses is: 0199: followed by your IE VAT number.

You obtain this by signing up with a Peppol Access Point — the Access Point registers your ID in the Peppol Directory, making you discoverable.

Step 3: Choose a Peppol Access Point

You need an Irish or EU-certified Peppol Access Point to connect to the network. Options range from standalone Peppol-only services to full accounts-receivable platforms. For most small HSE suppliers, a cloud-based SaaS access point is the simplest and cheapest option.

Key criteria: ensure the access point supports both Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 sending AND receiving (you may receive POs from the HSE over Peppol), supports Irish VAT treatment, and integrates with your accounting software (Xero, Sage, QuickBooks).

Step 4: Mandatory invoice fields for HSE

HSE invoices must be in Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format (UBL 2.1 XML) and must include these HSE-specific fields:

HSE GLN (Global Location Number) — the unique identifier for the specific HSE site/department you're invoicing
Purchase Order reference number — provided by your HSE contact; invoices without a valid PO may be rejected
Supplier Peppol ID
Full buyer VAT number (HSE's IE VAT registration)
Line item descriptions matching the PO
VAT breakdown by rate
IBAN for payment

Common errors that cause HSE invoice rejection

Missing or incorrect Purchase Order number — the most common cause of rejection
Incorrect HSE GLN — the HSE has many sites; using the wrong GLN routes to the wrong department
Incorrect VAT treatment — medical devices and pharmaceuticals have specific VAT exemptions
Using PDF instead of UBL 2.1 XML — a plain PDF is not a Peppol invoice
Duplicate invoice numbers — use unique invoice numbers for every submission

Testing before going live

Most access points offer a test environment. Use it to send a test invoice to the HSE's Peppol test endpoint before going live. The HSE procurement team can confirm your test invoice was received correctly. This step prevents payment delays on your first real invoice.