Key takeaways
- An electronic credit note corrects or cancels an invoice already issued, without deleting it.
- On Peppol it is the CreditNote document of the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile, expressed in UBL 2.1.
- It carries the particulars of an invoice and adds a reference to the original invoice.
- Its amounts are positive: the document type is what carries the meaning of a reduction.
The electronic credit note, the structured counterpart of the invoice
An invoice that has left for the customer cannot be struck out with a pen. Once it is sent, correcting it goes through a second document: the electronic credit note. It cancels or reduces an invoice already transmitted, and it does so within the same structured frame as the invoice itself. In B2B, with the Belgian e-invoicing mandate taking effect on 1 January 2026, this document becomes structured too and travels over the Peppol network.
In practice, a credit note is not a hand-built "negative" invoice. The Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile defines it as a document in its own right, the CreditNote, alongside the invoice. This article explains when you have to issue one, what it must contain and how it travels over the network.
When to issue a credit note
You issue a credit note whenever an invoice already sent has to be brought down. The reason can vary, but the logic is constant: the original invoice stays, and the credit note corrects it.
The most frequent cases are an error in the amount, VAT rate or quantity, a full cancellation of a transaction, a return of goods, or a discount granted after invoicing. In each of these, the credit note restores the amount actually due and provides the basis for the VAT adjustment.
Situations that call for a credit note
Error on the invoice
An incorrect amount, VAT rate, quantity or unit price on an invoice already transmitted.
Cancellation of the transaction
The sale or service did not go ahead and the invoice has to be neutralised.
Return or refusal
The customer returns all or part of the goods, or refuses part of the service.
Discount after invoicing
A rebate, allowance or commercial gesture granted after the invoice was issued.
What a credit note must contain
A credit note is not a free-form document. In Belgium it carries the same mandatory particulars as an invoice — the identity of the parties, the enterprise number, the date, the breakdown of amounts and VAT — and adds one element of its own: a reference to the original invoice it corrects. That link is what lets both the customer and the tax authority tie the correction back to the right invoice.
The most sensitive point concerns VAT. When the credit note reduces a base on which VAT had been charged, Belgian VAT rules provide for a statement inviting the customer to repay to the State the VAT they had initially deducted, so that the reduction is reflected in their own return.
For the particulars common to every invoice, see Mandatory invoice particulars in Belgium.
Credit note and invoice: what differs
Structurally, the credit note and the invoice are near twins: same parties, same lines, same VAT breakdown, same totals. What sets them apart comes down to a few points, summarised below.
| Invoice | Credit note | |
|---|---|---|
| States an amount due | ||
| Corrects or cancels a document already issued | ||
| References an original invoice | ||
| CreditNote document in UBL 2.1 | ||
| Amounts expressed as positive values |
One point is worth stressing, because it often surprises: in a Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 credit note, the amounts stay positive, as on a normal invoice. It is not a minus sign that signals the reduction, but the document type itself. Compliant software reads that type and posts it correctly in the direction of a decrease.
How a credit note travels over Peppol
On the network, the credit note follows exactly the same path as the invoice. It is produced in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile, expressed in UBL 2.1, validated, then routed to the recipient's access point. The profile covers both documents — invoice and credit note — precisely so that the correction travels as well as the original.
document type
the credit note in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile
syntax
identical to the invoice
document code
sets the credit note (381) apart from the invoice (380)
The fact that the credit note references the original invoice is not just a formality: it is what lets the customer's software match the correction to the original invoice automatically, without re-keying. That is one of the concrete gains of structured invoicing over a PDF corrected by hand.
Issue compliant credit notes in a few clicks
YouInv generates your invoices and credit notes in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile, validates them and sends them over the Peppol network.
What the B2B mandate changes for your credit notes
The principle is the same as for the invoice: once your B2B invoices must be structured and sent via Peppol, their corrections must be too. A credit note sent as a PDF no longer suffices once the original invoice travelled in structured form.
The good news is that you have nothing to write by hand. Compliant software produces the CreditNote document, writes the reference to the corrected invoice into it and sends it through the same access point. Your job is limited to indicating which invoice to correct and why. To understand the underlying format, read The UBL 2.1 format explained and Peppol BIS Billing 3.0: what the format contains.
Further reading
- Peppol BIS Billing 3.0: what the format contains: the profile that covers the invoice and the credit note.
- Mandatory invoice particulars in Belgium: the base the credit note builds on.
- Peppol in Belgium: the B2B mandate on 1 January 2026: the calendar and the scope of the mandate.
What is an electronic credit note?
An electronic credit note is a structured document that corrects or cancels an invoice already issued. On the Peppol network it is the CreditNote document of the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile, expressed in UBL 2.1, just like the invoice. It references the invoice it corrects and travels over the same channels.
When should you issue a credit note?
You issue a credit note whenever an invoice already sent has to be reduced: an error in the amount, VAT rate or quantity, a full cancellation of the transaction, a return of goods, or a discount granted after invoicing. The credit note is the only document that corrects an invoice without deleting it.
Does an electronic credit note have to go through Peppol?
In B2B, if the original invoice was issued and sent through Peppol, its correction follows the same route: the credit note is a CreditNote document in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile, sent to the customer via their access point. The profile explicitly covers both the invoice and the credit note.
What must a credit note contain in Belgium?
A credit note carries the same mandatory particulars as an invoice and adds a reference to the original invoice it corrects. When it adjusts VAT, Belgian VAT rules provide for a statement inviting the customer to repay to the State the VAT they had initially deducted; check its exact wording with the FPS Finance.
Are the amounts on a credit note negative?
No. In a Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 credit note, amounts are expressed as positive values. It is the document type (CreditNote) that signals a reduction, not a minus sign on the amounts.
