Key takeaways
- The SBDH (Standard Business Document Header) is the envelope around every document exchanged on Peppol, distinct from the invoice itself.
- It is an XML envelope based on the UN/CEFACT specification (version 1.3), adopted by OpenPeppol as the Peppol Business Message Envelope.
- It carries the routing identifiers: sender, receiver, document type and business process.
- You never write the SBDH: your access point builds it and reads it on your behalf.
The SBDH, the envelope around your Peppol documents
When you send an invoice over the Peppol network, the UBL file never travels alone. It moves inside an envelope: the Peppol SBDH, short for Standard Business Document Header. That envelope tells the network who to deliver the document to, what type of document it is and which process it belongs to. Without it, the best UBL file in the world would not know where to go.
The B2B e-invoicing mandate in Belgium, on 1 January 2026, requires your invoices to travel over Peppol. Understanding the SBDH means understanding the concrete mechanism that carries an invoice from an issuer to its recipient, beyond the accounting content alone.
This article describes what the envelope contains and how it serves routing. For the structure of the business document itself, read The UBL 2.1 format explained; for the network that carries the whole thing, The Peppol four-corner model explained.
What the Standard Business Document Header actually contains
The SBDH builds on the Standard Business Document Header technical specification from UN/CEFACT (version 1.3). OpenPeppol publishes a precise implementation of it, the Peppol Business Message Envelope, which pins down which fields are mandatory and how to fill them on the network. The envelope is an XML fragment placed around the business document.
Four blocks of information structure the envelope. Two name the parties, one identifies the document, and a last one describes the business context.
The four blocks of the SBDH
The sender identifier (Sender)
The participant issuing the document, expressed with its identification scheme.
The receiver identifier (Receiver)
The participant that must receive the document; this is the value the network uses to route.
The document identification (DocumentIdentification)
The standard, the version, the instance identifier, the type and the creation date and time.
The business scope (BusinessScope)
The document type (DOCUMENTID) and the business process (PROCESSID) that frame the exchange.
The instance identifier is worth a mention: it gives each message a unique reference, distinct from the invoice number. It is what lets you find a specific exchange in an access point's logs, independently of the accounting content.
SBDH and the four-corner model: how the envelope routes your documents
On Peppol, a document passes through four corners: the sender (corner 1), its access point (corner 2), the recipient's access point (corner 3) and the recipient (corner 4). The SBDH is what corners 2 and 3 read to do their job. The table below places the envelope's role against the document's.
| UBL 2.1 invoice | SBDH envelope | |
|---|---|---|
| Describes the accounting content (seller, lines, VAT, totals) | ||
| Carries the network's routing identifiers | ||
| States the document type and the process | ||
| Read by access points to deliver the message |
In practice, the sending access point reads the receiver identifier in the SBDH, queries the network directory (the SML then the SMP) to locate the recipient's access point, then transmits the document; the recipient's access point receives it and hands it to the recipient. The document type and process declared in the SBDH must match what the recipient has announced it can receive: that consistency is what guarantees delivery without a prior arrangement between the two businesses. For the directory that makes this routing possible, see SMP and SML: the Peppol network directory explained.
routing identifiers
receiver, document type, process
UN/CEFACT version
the SBDH specification adopted by Peppol
Belgian scheme
identifies a business by its CBE number
The routing identifiers: participant, document type, process
Three values in the SBDH carry all of the routing. The first is the recipient's participant identifier. Every business connected to Peppol has such an identifier, made up of a scheme and a number. In Belgium, the scheme used for B2B billing is the 0208 prefix, which designates the enterprise number (Crossroads Bank for Enterprises). A business whose VAT number is BE0123.456.789 is reachable at the address 0208:0123456789. For the detail of that identifier, read The Peppol identifier: what it is for and how to get one.
The two other values live in the business scope. The DOCUMENTID declares the exact type of document being carried, for example an invoice or a credit note in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile. The PROCESSID declares the business process the exchange belongs to. Together, these three values answer the three routing questions: to whom to deliver, what to deliver, and in which context.
Send your Peppol invoices without ever touching the SBDH
YouInv builds the envelope, fills it with the right identifiers and routes your invoices over the Peppol network in a few clicks.
What it changes for your business
The good news is simple: you never build the SBDH by hand. Your access point and your invoicing software assemble the envelope, write the identifiers into it and read it on receipt. Your job is limited to entering correct invoice data and holding a valid Peppol identifier.
What changes is the criterion for choosing your tool. Compliant software does not just produce a nice PDF: it generates the UBL document, wraps it in a valid SBDH and can read it when a supplier sends you an invoice. Checking that your solution handles the envelope as much as the content is checking that it is really Peppol-ready.
Further reading
- The Peppol four-corner model explained: the access points that read the SBDH.
- The AS4 protocol: how Peppol transports your documents: the transport that carries the envelope.
- SMP and SML: the Peppol network directory explained: where the network finds the recipient's address.
The reference source is authoritative: the Peppol Business Message Envelope (SBDH) documentation published by OpenPeppol.
What is the SBDH on the Peppol network?
The SBDH (Standard Business Document Header) is the standardised header that wraps a business document exchanged over Peppol. It is an XML envelope based on the UN/CEFACT technical specification (version 1.3), adopted by OpenPeppol as the Peppol Business Message Envelope. It carries the identifiers that route the invoice to the right recipient.
What does the SBDH of a Peppol document contain?
The SBDH contains the sender identifier, the receiver identifier, a document identification section (standard, version, instance identifier, type, creation date and time) and a business scope (BusinessScope) that carries the document type identifier and the process identifier.
What is the difference between the SBDH and the UBL invoice?
The UBL 2.1 invoice is the business document: the seller, the buyer, the lines, the VAT and the totals. The SBDH is the envelope around it: it does not repeat the invoice content, it carries the routing metadata the network needs to deliver the document to the right access point.
What are the DOCUMENTID and PROCESSID in the SBDH for?
The DOCUMENTID states the type of document being carried (for example an invoice or a credit note) and the PROCESSID the business process that frames it. Together with the receiver identifier, these two values tell the network what to deliver, to whom and in which context: they are the keys to Peppol routing.
Do I need to know the SBDH to send a Peppol invoice?
No. Your access point and your invoicing software build, validate and read the SBDH for you. You enter the invoice data; the envelope and its routing identifiers are produced automatically.
