E-Invoicing in Estonia — e-arve, PEPPOL & B2G Guide

Partly. B2G is mandatory: Estonian state bodies and most local authorities have required e-invoices since 2019. For B2B, since 1 July 2025 any company registered as an e-invoice recipient in the e-Business Register (about 17,000 are) can require its suppliers to send e-invoices — in the European standard EN 16931 unless agreed otherwise. A general B2B e-invoicing mandate is planned for 2027, but as of September 2026 the legislation is still being drafted. In practice, e-arve via banking channels has long been the de facto standard.

e-arve is the Estonian domestic electronic invoice format published by Eesti Pangaliit (Estonian Banking Association). It uses a custom XML structure (root element <E_Invoice>, no XML namespace) that predates EU PEPPOL adoption. Two schema versions exist: 1.11 (dominant in banking channels) and 1.2 (newer, EN 16931-aligned). e-arve is separate from PEPPOL BIS 3.0 — Estonian cross-border invoices use PEPPOL while domestic invoices typically use e-arve.

Estonia is part of the PEPPOL network and has an active PEPPOL access point ecosystem. PEPPOL BIS 3.0 is the standard format for cross-border e-invoicing (to EU buyers/suppliers) and for invoices to Estonian state buyers that require PEPPOL delivery. For domestic B2B within Estonia, e-arve through banking channels remains dominant. Many Estonian businesses use both: e-arve for local partners and PEPPOL for cross-border.

E-arve is transmitted through banking channels (LHV, SEB, Swedbank) and dedicated operators: Finbite (formerly the Omniva invoice centre), Telema and Merit, among others. To receive e-arve, a business must register with one or more operators who then route invoices to and from banking channels. Most Estonian ERP and accounting software has built-in connectors to these operators.

For Estonian state bodies, both e-arve and PEPPOL BIS 3.0 are accepted — check with the specific buyer which channel they prefer. Invoices to the public sector can also be sent free of charge through RIK's e-Financials (e-arveldaja) environment. For cross-border invoices to EU buyers, always use PEPPOL BIS 3.0.

aiDoks validates both Estonian e-arve XML (versions 1.11 and 1.2) and PEPPOL BIS 3.0 invoices — covering domestic and cross-border Estonian e-invoicing; the validator detects the format from the root element. It also generates e-arve 1.2 XML from the guided form or from a PDF via AI OCR, ready to hand to your operator such as Finbite or Telema.