Digitálny poštár a eFaktúra: Ako eFakturácia zmení fungovanie firiem po roku 2027 (10 min)

Artificial intelligence is advancing, yet in many companies the PDF invoice still reigns. From January 1, 2027, the way invoices are delivered will change: structured data and the Peppol network will become the core. The biggest change, however, will not be technical but procedural.

From PDF to a data message: why and what is changing

A PDF invoice is essentially a digital picture of paper: the data in it are hard to extract and require manual retyping or imprecise “extraction.” Electronic invoicing therefore changes not only the format but above all the essence—the unstructured document becomes a structured data message. Such a message can be algorithmically processed and delivered, without manual intervention and with better control over data quality.

PDF as a carrier of data is gradually losing relevance: from January 1, 2027 it will no longer mean what we consider an e-invoice today. The reason is simple—the economy is digitizing, but processes around invoicing have often remained stuck at the paper level. Structured data are the key to automation, speed, and fewer errors.

Peppol and the digital postman: how the invoice is delivered

The new way of delivering invoices works similarly to a mobile network: we don’t call “directly,” but through an operator. In e-invoicing, this role is played by a “digital postman”—a service provider who hands the invoice over to the Peppol network, ensures correct addressing, and safely delivers it to the recipient’s postman. A company’s ERP system sends the structured invoice to the digital postman, who routes it via Peppol, and the recipient retrieves it on their side.

In Slovakia, the infrastructure is overseen by Finančná správa as the national Peppol authority and operates components referred to as SP and C5. SP serves for addressing and registering entities in the network, C5 oversees transactions and collects the data needed for the future preparation of the VAT control statement. The goal is that from 2030 these obligations will no longer need to be submitted manually and that the transmission of invoices will be reliable and verifiable.

Who is affected and how to prepare

The change will affect almost every company in Slovakia, not just large corporations. A legal entity domiciled in Slovakia that supplies goods or services within the territory of the Slovak Republic and is a VAT payer will be obliged to send an electronic invoice. On the receiving side, the legislation is even stricter: legal entities that are not VAT payers must also accept an electronic invoice if it is sent to them by a VAT payer.

The technical readiness of the ERP is important, but processes and people will be decisive. Receiving an invoice includes ingestion, checks, validations, approvals, and posting—this is where e-invoicing will enable a high degree of automation and save manual work. And Peppol is not limited to invoices: the same infrastructure can gradually be used for orders, their confirmations, or delivery notes, i.e., across the entire procurement and sales cycle.

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