Converting invoices to UBL means turning a PDF or paper invoice into a structured, machine-readable UBL file, so accounting software can read the data instead of a person retyping it. In most cases you do not have to do this by hand: your accounting package can export invoices as UBL, and scan and recognition software turns incoming PDFs into usable data. In this article you can read what UBL is, why it is worth the switch, the four ways to convert, and what to check afterwards.
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What is UBL?
UBL stands for Universal Business Language, an international standard for electronic business documents such as invoices, delivery notes and quotations. A UBL invoice is a structured XML file that carries the invoice data in named fields rather than as text on a page. That is the whole point: software can read a field called payable amount, while it can only guess at a number printed in the bottom right of a PDF.
Why convert invoices to UBL?
- No retyping. The data is read from named fields, so the invoice does not have to be entered by hand.
- Fewer reading errors. There is nothing to misread, because nothing is being read off an image.
- Faster payment. Your customer can process a UBL invoice the day it arrives rather than when someone gets to it.
- Mandates. Public bodies across Europe require e-invoices, and business-to-business mandates are being introduced country by country, with the European ViDA rules extending them from 2030.
Four ways to convert
1. By hand (not recommended)
You can write the XML yourself, structuring the tags and values by hand. It is possible, and it is slow and error-prone unless you work with XML daily. Worth knowing it exists, not worth doing.
2. Conversion tools
Online tools and software read a PDF or a scan, usually with character recognition, and generate a UBL file from what they find. The quality depends heavily on how standard the layout is: a clean supplier invoice converts well, a handwritten receipt does not. Always validate the result before you rely on it.
3. Your invoicing or accounting software
This is the route to prefer for the invoices you send. Most modern packages, among them Exact, Twinfield and Visma, export an invoice as UBL alongside the usual PDF, often as a checkbox when you create it. Nothing is converted here, because the data never became an image in the first place, which is why there is no reading error to correct afterwards.
4. An API integration
For larger organisations with their own systems, an API can generate and deliver UBL invoices as part of an existing process. It costs development time and it removes the manual step entirely, which pays off at volume.
What to check after converting
- Data completeness. VAT number, IBAN and payment terms have to be on the original, because conversion cannot add what was never there.
- The right variant. UBL has national profiles, such as SI-UBL in the Netherlands. Check which one your customer or supplier expects.
- Validation. Run the file through a validator or a test import before sending a batch, and keep the original as evidence.
What conversion does not solve
A UBL file tells you what the amounts are. It does not tell you which general ledger account they belong to, which cost centre applies or whether the invoice may be paid. That coding is a separate step, and it is the one that determines the entry in your books. Software that promises invoices are processed without any human involvement is describing the reading, not the coding, and the difference shows up when the coding is wrong and has to be corrected afterwards.
UBL in TriFact365
TriFact365 works on the receiving side. A supplier invoice that arrives as UBL or over Peppol is read straight from its fields; one that arrives as a PDF or a scan is read with character recognition and self-learning models. Either way you get a booking proposal with a general ledger account and VAT code per line, and after your check the journal entry goes to your accounting package. Issuing invoices yourself, in UBL or otherwise, stays with your accounting or invoicing software. Read more about receiving e-invoices over the network, about scanning paper invoices, or about the difference between PDF and UBL.
Frequently asked questions
Usually not. For the invoices you send, your package can export UBL directly. For the invoices you receive as PDF, scan and recognition software reads them into usable data, so there is nothing for you to convert or retype.
The data can be read straight away, and a booking proposal follows from it. Posting is a decision rather than a step: someone confirms the coding before the journal entry goes into the books, because a UBL file does not know which general ledger account applies.
UBL is the file format; Peppol is the network the file travels over. A UBL invoice can be sent by e-mail or exchanged over Peppol, and a Peppol invoice is normally a UBL file that follows the European EN 16931 standard.
It depends on the source. A supplier invoice with a standard layout converts well; handwriting, poor scans and unusual layouts need a person to check the result. That is why validation before use matters more than the conversion itself.
For invoices to public bodies, e-invoicing is required across the European Union. For business-to-business the obligation is being introduced country by country, and the European ViDA rules extend it from 2030. Check what applies where your company is registered.
