PEPPOL Functional Flow

 In the PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) framework, the procurement process is often divided into several stages that reflect the lifecycle of a procurement transaction. These are:

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1. Pre-Award Phase

This is the stage before a contract is awarded. It involves activities related to:

• Tendering (publishing and responding to procurement calls)

• Qualification and selection of suppliers

• Exchange of pre-contractual information

PEPPOL capabilities (documents) here may include:

• Pre-Award Catalogue (catalogues provided during tendering)

• Tenders and Tender Responses

• Call for Tenders

• Qualification Certificates

📌 Main Goal: Help organizations find suppliers and get offers (RFQs, RFPs).

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2. Post-Award Phase

This occurs after a contract has been awarded. It includes operational procurement and invoicing processes.

Common PEPPOL post-award documents:

• Order (PEPPOL BIS Order)

• Order Response

• Despatch Advice (Shipping notification)

• Invoice / Credit Note

• Catalogue (Updated post-award catalog)

📌 Main Goal: Exchange of e-procurement documents to fulfill the contract (ordering, delivery, billing).

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3. e-Delivery (Transport Infrastructure)

This is not a procurement phase but rather the technical infrastructure that supports the secure exchange of e-documents between trading partners.

PEPPOL uses a 4-corner model involving:

• Corner 1: Sender (e.g., Supplier)

• Corner 2: Sender’s Access Point

• Corner 3: Receiver’s Access Point

• Corner 4: Receiver (e.g., Buyer)

Standards used:

• AS4 (Secure Transport Protocol)

• SMP (Service Metadata Publisher)

• SML (Service Metadata Locator)

📌 Main Goal: Ensure secure, standardized document exchange without requiring point-to-point integrations.

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4. CTC Model (Continuous Transaction Controls)

This model relates to real-time or near real-time reporting of e-invoices to tax authorities, common in countries with mandatory e-invoicing regulations (like Italy, India, etc.).

• PEPPOL is increasingly adapting to support CTC models, where:

  • E-invoices must pass through a government or clearance authority before reaching the buyer.

  • PEPPOL Access Points integrate with tax authorities to comply with national laws.

📌 Main Goal: Ensure tax compliance, transparency, and reduce VAT fraud.

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Summary Table:

Phase	Purpose	PEPPOL Role
Pre-Award	Tendering, qualification	Pre-award catalogues, tenders
Post-Award	Ordering, delivery, invoicing	Orders, invoices, despatch advices
e-Delivery	Secure transmission of e-documents	AS4, SMP/SML, 4-corner model
CTC Model	Real-time tax reporting	Integration with tax authorities

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If you’d like, I can also show you how these fit into the overall PEPPOL architecture or workflows, or tailor this for a specific use case (e.g., government procurement or B2B).