Bilnex vs SEB e-invoices in Latvia: prices and channels

If you send up to five sales invoices a month, both options cost you nothing. SEB’s E-rēķinu portāls has a Pamata plan with no monthly fee that covers five sent invoices per calendar month, and Bilnex’s Latvian page also lists a €0 package. Above that the prices split — SEB Premium is €6 + VAT a month with 40 invoices included, and €0.15 + VAT for each one after that. But don’t decide on the price tag. Check three things first: whether the solution produces an XML file that meets the UBL 2.1 and PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 requirements, whether it reaches your partner through the channel the two of you actually agreed on, and whether it passes the invoice data on to VID, the Latvian tax authority. For invoices issued to budget institutions that filing is mandatory from 1 January 2026; for domestic B2B invoices, from 1 January 2028.

What actually decides it for your invoice flow?

• Small manual volume (1–5 invoices a month): price decides nothing, both are free. Pick the environment where the invoice gets created faster and where you can also pull the file out for your archive.
• Growing volume (40–100 invoices a month): here a real cost gap appears, but only if the free limit is confirmed to you in writing.
• Recipients expect the invoice in their internet bank or at an e-adrese: the channel list matters, not the plan name.
• Accounting software or an ERP behind it all: the existing integration matters, because without one the manual copying stays.
• B2G, meaning invoices to state and municipal bodies: filing data with VID is already an obligation today, so only a system that does it for you counts.

What’s mandatory in Latvia in 2026, and what changes in 2028?

Two deadlines get mixed up in almost every conversation, so let’s separate them properly.

The public sector: in force since 1 January 2026

The first deadline concerns the public sector. If your customer is a budget institution, the obligation to file structured e-invoice data with VID has been in force since 1 January 2026.

Domestic B2B: from 1 January 2028

The second deadline concerns invoices between private companies. The same amendment pushed the domestic B2B deadline from 2026 to 2028. So an invoice to another company registered in Latvia has to be issued as a structured e-invoice, with its data filed with VID, from 1 January 2028. If someone tells you the Latvian B2B obligation already started in January 2026, they are wrong.

The gap years are not empty

Companies that are not budget institutions may submit e-invoices to VID voluntarily from 1 January 2026. In practice that’s the cheapest way to be ready for 2028. If the process already runs in 2026, there’s nothing to rebuild in a hurry later.

Where’s the difference between PDF, XML e-invoice and Peppol?

A PDF can be a perfectly correct invoice, but it is not a structured e-invoice. Latvian law defines a structured e-invoice as a document that can be processed automatically, complies with the LVS EN 16931-1:2017 standard and is drawn up according to technical specification LVS CEN/TS 16931-2:2017. A PDF attached to an email does not meet that — not even when the file looks tidy and carries every required detail.

Peppol, in turn, is a cross-border network for delivering invoices, not a tax-authority interface. Regulation No 749 lists the channels: e-adrese (Latvia’s official electronic address, oficiālā elektroniskā adrese), an operator channel, and other channels including a system-to-system interface or email. One detail worth holding on to: the parties to the transaction agree the channel between themselves. So the agreement comes before the software choice, not after it.

Bilnex and SEB E-rēķinu portāls: price, volume, channels, integrations

	Bilnex (Latvian page)	SEB E-rēķinu portāls
Free volume per month	Price blocks: up to 5 invoices (2 users) and up to 100 invoices (5 users), both €0	Pamata plan: up to 5 sent invoices, no monthly fee
Price at higher volume	No public price. The FAQ says sending is currently unlimited and free	Premium €6 + VAT a month, 40 invoices included; each additional €0.15 + VAT
Sending channels	PDF, e-invoice, Peppol	Portal, e-adrese, SEB internet bank, Peppol, email; with Premium also the accounting system
Receiving	E-invoice receiving; PDF and Peppol “coming”	Unlimited receiving, invoices duplicated into SEB internet bank
Integrations	Merit Aktiva, Rivile, SimplBooks, SmartAccounts	Automatic data exchange (API) on the Premium plan
Filing data with VID	No confirmation on the public page	No confirmation on the public page

What it costs at 5, 40 and 100 invoices

In money: at five invoices you pay €0 on both sides. At forty invoices, SEB costs €6 + VAT a month, so €72 a year excluding VAT. At a hundred invoices you add 60 invoices × €0.15 on top of Premium, so €15 + VAT a month, €180 a year. Those figures are in SEB’s price list, and the portal is provided by SEB together with the technology company Fitek.

The Bilnex free limit needs a written confirmation

The Bilnex side needs one clarification before you sign anything, and I’ll say it plainly. The price blocks on the Latvian page show two free packages, up to 5 and up to 100 sales invoices a month, while the FAQ on the same page promises unlimited free PDF and e-invoice sending and warns that the end of the free period will be announced in advance. Ask for two things in writing: which limit applies to your account, and what happens when the free period ends. The same logic applies to Peppol. According to the Bilnex notice of 1 July 2026, free Peppol sending and receiving worked for Estonian companies, with Latvian and Lithuanian companies planned for that same summer, so check in your account whether the Latvian Peppol channel is actually live for you.

Filing data with VID: what the price tag doesn’t show

Take a concrete case. You send a €1,200 invoice to a client registered in Riga. The channel is agreed with the client, say e-adrese. In that case the e-address information system files the invoice data with VID itself, provided both you and your service provider run an up-to-date software version.

Operator channel, deadlines and what to do after a failure

If you use an operator channel, the operator’s system has to be connected to VID’s system API. Without that connection the obligation stays with you: VID EDS API or file upload. The deadline is the same for everyone: the e-invoice is submitted to VID once, no later than five working days after the day it was sent. If a system failure blows the deadline, you have to report it in EDS no later than the working day after the deadline fell and submit the invoice within three working days of the failure being fixed. If an invoice went unsubmitted for any reason other than a system failure, you have to record in EDS the reason and the period, and submit the invoices within 30 calendar days of identifying the reason.

Neither of the two public pages compared here confirms that the environment itself files a copy of every invoice with VID automatically. So ask sales for one sentence in writing: is the operator channel connected to the VID API, or does submission stay my EDS process? A separate penalty rate specifically for failing to submit an e-invoice isn’t fixed in the legislation checked here, so don’t size the risk by a fine amount, just keep the process running.

Four typical situations and the practical pick

At up to 5 invoices a month, typed by hand, either one works and the price is zero. If you were already an SEB customer and your recipients want invoices in their internet bank, the Pamata plan is the shorter route. If you also need purchase invoices digitized alongside, Bilnex is worth a look.

Once volume grows to 40–100 invoices a month, the SEB cost is known in advance and easy to calculate. Bilnex’s €0 is cheaper on paper, but only with a written limit confirmation. Otherwise you’re buying uncertainty.

If your recipients expect the invoice at an e-adrese or in their internet bank, SEB’s channel list is published and covers the portal, e-adrese, internet bank, Peppol and email. The channel still has to be agreed with the client.

For an ERP flow or B2G work, the integration decides. If you run Merit Aktiva, Rivile, SimplBooks or SmartAccounts, Bilnex’s existing integration is a strong argument. On the SEB side, automatic data exchange assumes the Premium plan.

What to ask before you open an account or sign a contract

1. XML: does the outgoing file match UBL 2.1 and the PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 CIUS? Ask for a sample file.
2. Channel: which channels can I send and receive in, and how do we record the agreement with the client.
3. VID: is the operator channel connected to the VID API, or do I file the data myself in EDS within five working days.
4. Export and archive: can I get my XMLs and my archive out myself if I change provider.
5. Price: what does an invoice cost after the free limit or the free period, and how much notice do I get before it changes.

Also available in: eesti keeles · latviski

Last reviewed: 15 September 2026

FAQ

Kas Lätis on alates 2026. aastast e-arved kõigile ettevõtetele kohustuslikud?

Ei, 1. jaanuarist 2026 kehtib e-arvete ja andmete VID-le edastamise kohustus üksnes tehingutes avaliku sektori ehk eelarveasutustega. Läti-siseste B2B tehingute kohustus lükati seadusemuudatusega edasi 1. jaanuarile 2028.

Millal tasub valida SEB E-rēķinu portāls ja millal Bilnex?

Kuni viie arve vormistamisel kuus on mõlemad keskkonnad tasuta. SEB sobib eelkõige ettevõtetele, kelle partnerid soovivad arveid kätte saada internetipangas või e-adrese kaudu, samas kui Bilnex pakub eelist suurema mahu ja Merit Aktiva või SimplBooksi liidestuste puhul.

Kuidas jõuavad müügiarve andmed Läti maksuametile (VID)?

Kui arve edastatakse ametliku e-adrese kaudu, teeb andmeedastuse süsteem ise. Operaatori kanali puhul peab pakkujal olema otseliides VID süsteemiga või peab ettevõte failid viie tööpäeva jooksul ise VID EDS-i keskkonda laadima.