Verkkolaskuosoite or Peppol-identity: practical difference

In short: address, network, and intermediary are three different things

No, the e-invoice address and the Peppol ID are not the same thing – although the numbers look almost the same. The e-invoice address, or Finnish domestic e-invoice address, is usually an OVT code and only works in conjunction with the välitäjätunnus, the recipient's operator or bank ID. The Peppol ID is the same OVT code preceded by the Finnish scheme ID 0216. An example from the State Treasury (the Finnish Peppol Authority) itself makes the difference clear: The domestic address is 003702454401 and the Peppoli address is 0216:003702454401. A practical rule: if the recipient gives you two fields – address and intermediary ID – send via domestic routing; if they give you one colon-shaped code, send via Peppoli. Don't derive one from the other.

How to combine Finnish OVT and Peppol IDs

Take, for example, the Finnish company registration code 1234567-8. The OVT code is made up of three parts:

• Permanent start: 0037.
• Y-identifier without hyphen: 12345678, eight characters.
• Optional extra: up to five characters (A–Z or 0–9) that the company assigns to its own subdivision.

The result is 003712345678 or the longer version 003712345678ABCDE. In Peppolis, the scheme identifier and a colon are added in front: 0216:003712345678.

This is where the most common misunderstanding occurs. 0216 is not the country code for Finland, but a scheme identifier – it tells Peppol which type of identifier is used to the right of the colon. The old scheme identifier 0037 is no longer valid as a Peppol participant identifier: The entry FI:OVT has been removed from the code list with the date 31.12.2024. However, 0037 remains the OVT code. inside, as its first four characters. The scheme name, not the prefix, was lost.

Verkkolaskusoite + väiltäjäidentus or Peppol address?

There are two mandatory data fields in the domestic Finnish route. TIEKE states it directly: The intermediary ID shows which intermediary the invoice is going through, and without it the invoice will not arrive.. In Peppolis, you don't need to know about routing yourself - the end user connects to the network through the service provider and this service provider stores his Peppoli address in the address book and may be part of the Address and Capability Lookup (ACL) service.

Meter	Domestic Finnish route	Peppoli route
What do you ask the recipient?	electronic billing address (OVT) ja broker ID	Peppol address in the form 0216:OVT
Where do you check the data?	Online billing address book	Peppoli address book or service provider readiness request
Who will deliver the bill?	Finnish operator or bank	certified Peppoli service provider
Scope	Domestic Finland	all participants in the Peppoli network, also outside Finland
Typical format	Finvoice 3.0, TEAPPSXML 3.0	Peppol BIS Billing
Where does it break down?	The intermediary ID is missing or incorrect.	you assume that the presence of OVT means Peppoli is ready

For most small Baltic companies that send a few invoices to a Finnish customer per month: use the channel the customer has specified and keep the other one in reserve. With a public sector buyer, it makes sense to ask for both – the State Treasury's guidelines recommend publishing both the domestic e-invoice address and the Peppoli address, which means that they should be treated as two different channels, not two names for the same thing.

Peppoli readiness is not read from the OVT code

The Finnish online payment gateway is actually a good tool: Using it and adding your data is free, the data is managed by Finnish intermediaries (operators and banks) and you can see from there which organizations can send and/or receive e-invoices.. The lack is elsewhere: it describes the domestic route. Publishing the Peppoli address and readiness is not mandatory, therefore neither the Finnish Address Book nor the Peppoli directory is exhaustive. A blank result means "don't know", not "can't".

Do this:

• Ask in writing: which channel the customer wants – domestic or Peppoli.
• Check the catalog: For domestic channels, the address and the agent ID, for Peppoli, the address is in the form 0216:OVT.
• Let the readiness be confirmed by a request: Your e-invoice operator can see from the Peppoli query whether the recipient actually receives invoices.
• Agree on a format: Peppol BIS Billing, Finvoice 3.0 or TEAPPSXML 3.0.
• Save to customer card: channel, address and intermediary ID together. A verbal "we have OVT" is not an address.

There is no penalty or sanction provision in the Finnish e-Invoicing Act 241/2019 – The law only regulates the scope of application, definitions, the obligation to accept and process e-invoices, the right to receive e-invoices and entry into force.. It therefore does not provide for a separate fine for the wrong channel. The price is practical: the invoice does not arrive, no one knows about it for a week, and the payment deadline is postponed.

What Finnish law actually requires

Law 241/2019 entered into force on 01.04.2019 and implements Directive 2014/55/EU on electronic invoicing in the public sector in Finland. An entrepreneur falls under the definition of the law if the turnover for the financial year exceeds 10,000 euros. As of 01.04.2020, the contracting authority and the entrepreneur falling under the law have the right to demand an e-invoice from another contracting authority or entrepreneur. On the public sector side, the obligation to receive and process invoices was extended to central government agencies and central procurement units on 01.04.2019 and to other contracting authorities on 01.04.2020.

What is not in the law: the obligation to use Peppoli. It is a structured invoice that complies with the European invoice content standard EN 16931 – The reference to the standard and the list of permitted syntaxes were published by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1870. A standard invoice can be made in several ways: Peppol BIS Billing, Finvoice 3.0 and TEAPPSXML 3.0 can all do this. So „does the invoice comply with EN 16931“ and „did the invoice travel through the Peppoli network“ are two different questions. In pure B2B you don't have to use Peppoli – a structured invoice becomes mandatory when the customer requires it.

What changed in 2026 and what is worth preparing for 2030

The changes in 2026 concern the format and validation, not the address. OpenPeppol published Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 on 20.05.2026, which became mandatory on 17.08.2026 – this means the invoice content and verification rules, the new Finnish address format did not come with it. The same logic applies to all Peppol documentation: specifications and code lists move forward by version, The participant ID list is currently at version 9.7..

The volume is moving towards Peppoli. In Finland, the number of Peppoli transactions increased by 60.6% in 2024–2025 and the central government adopted the Peppoli network with Advanced Ordering documents on 01.04.2024. That's why you're increasingly finding yourself in a situation where the first thing a Finnish customer gives you is a Peppoli address.

The big picture comes from ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age). The package was adopted on 11.03.2025 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 25.03.2025: requirements for digital reporting of cross-border B2B transactions will enter into force on 01.07.2030 and by 01.01.2035, Member States with domestic real-time reporting will have to align their systems with EU standards.. According to the same notice, member states may introduce mandatory e-invoicing under certain conditions after entry into force. Peppolit ViDA does not make it mandatory by name.

For you, this means two things: keep both the OVT + välitäjätunnus and the Peppol address on your customer cards, and make sure that your software can produce a machine-readable invoice that complies with EN 16931. These two options will support both today's Finnish invoice and cross-border reporting in 2030.

Frequently asked questions about OVT and Peppoli

Is the Y-ID sufficient to send an invoice?

No. The Y-ID is a company ID, not a routing address. For domestic shipping, you need an OVT-format e-wallet address and an intermediary ID, and for sending via Peppoli, an address in the format 0216:OVT.

If a customer has an OVT code, is he/she in Peppolis?

Not necessarily. The OVT code is widely used in Finland even without Peppol. A Peppol participant is created when a service provider has entered the company's address in the network's address book - and since publication is not mandatory, confirm readiness with a request, not an assumption.

Does the domestic address disappear when the customer goes to Peppolis?

Not automatically. The State Office's guidelines recommend that public sector institutions publish both addresses, so keep in mind that the same recipient will be available on both channels at the same time for some time.

Read also: English · Latvian · Lithuanian

Last checked: September 15, 2026

FAQ

Is a Finnish Y-ID sufficient to send an e-invoice?

Not enough. The Y-id is just the company's registry code, not a routing address. For domestic sending, you need an OVT-format e-wallet address with an intermediary ID, and for sending via Peppoli, an address in the format 0216:OVT is required.

Does having an OVT code automatically mean Peppoli is ready?

No. The OVT code is used in the Finnish domestic network even without Peppoli. A company is only available in Peppoli if its service provider has entered the address in the Peppoli address book, which must be checked with a readiness query.