What is this page about: How Nemhandel works in Light, how to get an entity set up on it, and what is different about invoicing Danish, Faroese and Greenlandic customers. This article covers what is specific to Nemhandel. The wizard, registration statuses and EDIFACT codes are the same everywhere and are explained in E-invoicing in Light.
On this page
- At a glance
- What is Nemhandel?
- Nemhandel and Peppol
- Getting registered
- What you need to fill in
- The Faroe Islands and Greenland
- Document rules
- Credit notes
- Limits
- Frequently asked questions
- Related articles
At a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Countries | Denmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland |
| Kind of network | Delivery. The document travels to your customer |
| Set up yourself | No. Contact support |
| Sending / receiving | Both |
| Address issued | Not through the self-serve flow |
What is Nemhandel?
Nemhandel is Denmark's national e-invoicing infrastructure. Invoicing Danish public bodies has been mandatory through it since 2005, and it is widely used for business-to-business invoicing too.
Documents are OIOUBL, the Danish localisation of the UBL standard. Like Peppol, it is a delivery network, so your customer has an address and the document travels to it.
Nemhandel and Peppol
The two networks are interoperable. In practice that means a Peppol registration already reaches Danish receivers, so you do not necessarily need a separate Nemhandel setup to invoice a Danish customer.
Where Nemhandel matters is when the receiving side specifically expects OIOUBL, or when a Danish public body requires it. If you are unsure which you need, ask us, because it depends on your customers.
Because the networks are interoperable, a Danish entity often ends up on Peppol rather than Nemhandel, and that is a perfectly normal setup.
Getting registered
Nemhandel is not self-serve. It is operated for you rather than through the wizard, so if you open + Add and select the provider behind Nemhandel (Avalara), you will see the message "Avalara networks are set up by the Light team. Contact support to add a network." instead of the usual fields, and the wizard will not let you continue.
To get set up:
- Make sure the entity's country, VAT number and CVR number are filled in
- Contact Light support and tell us which entity needs Nemhandel
- We complete the registration and connect it to your entity
Once it is connected, your entity is set to both send and receive through Nemhandel.
What you need to fill in
On your entity
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Country | Denmark |
| VAT (optional) | Danish SE number |
| Business reg. number (optional) | Danish CVR number |
On each customer
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| E-invoice network | Nemhandel |
| EAS code | Depends on what they are registered under. See below |
| E-invoice address | Their identifier |
| VAT | Required |
| Business reg. number | Required |
| Address (under Business information) | Required, and it must be their real country. See the Faroe Islands section |
Payment terms matter more here than elsewhere. OIOUBL expects payment information on the invoice, so make sure the invoice carries a due date before you send it, since this is enforced. It's also good practice to set a payment type, though Light does not currently require it for Nemhandel.
Which identifier to use
Danish businesses can be registered under more than one identifier, and there is no single default. Ask your customer which one to use rather than deriving it.
| Identifier | Notes |
|---|---|
| GLN (GS1 Global Location Number), 13 digits | Historically the most common in Denmark, and still the norm for public bodies, who often call it an "EAN-nummer". Public buyers frequently register one per department |
| CVR, 8 digits | The Danish company registration number. Increasingly common for private businesses, since every Danish company has one |
If a customer publishes both, the GLN is usually the one to prefer.
0184 appears in the Peppol code list under the name DIGSTORG, which is why some documentation refers to it that way. It carries the ordinary CVR number.
Danish companies may also have an SE number (a separate tax registration, where branches file VAT separately) or a P-number (identifying one production site). If a customer gives you one of those rather than a CVR or GLN, check with us before setting it up, because they route differently.
The Faroe Islands and Greenland
Both are part of the Kingdom of Denmark and are reachable through a Danish Nemhandel registration, but their companies have their own identifiers, which are not Danish CVR numbers.
Light handles this automatically. A customer whose billing address country is the Faroe Islands or Greenland has their identifiers sent under the OIOUBL "mutually defined" scheme rather than a Danish one, because a Faroese registration number sent as a Danish CVR number is rejected by the receiving system.
The one thing you need to get right is the customer's billing address country. Set it to Faroe Islands or Greenland, not Denmark. If a Faroese customer is recorded as Danish, their identifier goes out under the wrong scheme and the invoice is rejected.
Faroese registration numbers are six digits, not eight, and are written with an FO prefix, so FO123456. They do not pass the Danish CVR checksum, which is exactly why recording them as Danish fails. Enter the identifier as your customer gives it to you, prefix included.
Document rules
There is no document-number format requirement.
Tax codes need EDIFACT codes, as everywhere, but Nemhandel supports a narrower set than the other networks.
| Code | Supported |
|---|---|
| S, standard rate | Yes |
| Z, zero rated | Yes |
| E, exempt | Yes |
| G, export | Yes |
| O, outside scope | Yes |
| AE, reverse charge | Yes |
| K, intra-community supply | No |
| L, Canary Islands IGIC | No |
| M, Ceuta/Melilla IPSI | No |
An invoice using an unsupported tax code is rejected with the message "Found tax code not supported by e-invoice network 'NEMHANDEL'. Please contact Light admin." It doesn't name the specific code on screen, so check which EDIFACT code the tax code on the failing line uses. If you invoice intra-community supplies from a Danish entity, that is a case to raise with us rather than work around.
Credit notes
Credit notes go over Nemhandel the same way invoices do, with the same field requirements and the same tax-code restrictions.
Limits
- Not self-serve. Registration goes through support.
- Three EDIFACT codes are unsupported, namely K, L and M. See the table above.
- OIOUBL version. Light sends OIOUBL 2.1. Denmark has been phasing that version out in favour of a newer one. If your customers or advisors are asking about this, talk to us rather than relying on this page for where it stands.
What you can do instead. Because Nemhandel is interoperable with Peppol, a Danish customer who can receive Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 can be invoiced over Peppol rather than Nemhandel. If you are setting up a new Danish entity, that is worth discussing with us first.
Frequently asked questions
Can I set up Nemhandel myself?
No. Contact support and we will do it.
Do I need Nemhandel if I am already on Peppol?
Often not. The networks are interoperable, so a Peppol registration reaches Danish receivers. Ask us if you are unsure what your specific customers require.
What EAS code do I use for a Danish customer?
Either 0088 with their GLN or 0184 with their CVR number, depending on which they are registered under. Ask them, because most Danish public bodies use a GLN and often call it an "EAN-nummer".
How do I check whether a Danish customer is registered?
Look them up in the Nemhandel register at opslag.nemhandel.dk. A CVR-based search returns every identifier that company has registered.
My invoice to a Faroese customer was rejected over the identifier scheme.
Check the customer's billing address country. It needs to be Faroe Islands, not Denmark, because that is what tells Light to send their identifier under the right scheme.
My invoice was rejected because of a tax code.
Nemhandel does not accept the intra-community (K), IGIC (L) or IPSI (M) codes. Check which EDIFACT code the tax code on the failing line uses.
Does Nemhandel cover Greenland?
Yes, along with the Faroe Islands. Set the customer's billing address country correctly and Light handles the rest.