Self-billing (also known as reverse billing) is the process where the buyer creates the invoice on behalf of the supplier. This is common in industries where the buyer can calculate the delivered goods or services more accurately than the supplier, for example in the staffing industry or for contracted services. The PSB supports self-billing in two variants, each with its own technical characteristics.

The PSB offers two ways to send self-billing invoices via the Peppol network:

With this variant, you only change the InvoiceTypeCode in your existing NLCIUS invoice:

• InvoiceTypeCode 389 for a self-billing invoice
• InvoiceTypeCode 261 for a self-billing credit note

The CustomizationID and ProfileID remain identical to those of a regular NLCIUS invoice. The PSB automatically recognises the document type based on the InvoiceTypeCode and routes the document correctly. If the supplier is already registered to receive regular NLCIUS invoices, no additional registration is needed.

This is the simplest variant and suitable for most Dutch integrations.

This is a separate Peppol profile with its own identifiers:

With this variant, the supplier must be separately registered in the Peppol SMP to receive self-billing documents. The buyer (sender) sends the document via the Generic endpoint of the PSB.

Use this variant if the supplier explicitly supports the BIS Self-Billing 3.0 profile, or if the recipient is located outside the Netherlands and does not accept NLCIUS.

Before sending a self-billing invoice, check whether the supplier can receive the desired document type:

GET /api/v1/queryRecipientParty?identifier={schemeID}:{id} HTTP/1.1
Host: psb.econnect.eu
Authorization: Bearer {access_token}

The response contains the supported document types of the supplier. Check whether the self-billing profile (BIS Self-Billing 3.0) or the standard invoice profile (NLCIUS) is available.

The technical details for sending and receiving self-billing invoices are covered in separate articles:

• Send a self-billing invoice describes the endpoints, request structure and error handling
• Receive a self-billing invoice describes the SMP configuration and processing flow as a supplier

• With self-billing, the buyer is the creator and sender of the invoice, while the supplier is the recipient. This is the reverse of a regular invoice.
• On PDF versions of self-billing invoices, the text "Invoice issued by the buyer" is mandatory.
• UBL submission is always preferred over PDF. If the UBL is invalid, any attached PDF is used as a fallback.
• The AccountingSupplierParty element contains the details of the supplier (who "receives" the invoice), not of the buyer who creates the invoice.

The PSB handles the routing and validation of self-billing documents automatically. The technical implementation differs per variant, but in both cases you send the document via the PSB API and the supplier receives it through their Peppol registration.

• Send a self-billing invoice
• Receive a self-billing invoice
• Send an invoice via the API
• Receive an invoice via the API
• NLCIUS: the Dutch e-invoicing standard
• Self-billing in practice
• E-invoicing with eConnect