Is the PDF a PDF/A archive file?

No. It is an ordinary PDF with selectable text and tagged structure, for reading, printing and sharing. It makes no PDF/A or Factur-X claim.

Are attachments included?

No. The PDF lists supporting documents the invoice refers to, by name and type, but never opens, decodes or includes their contents.

Does the PDF replace the XML?

No. The XML stays the invoice: it is what accounting systems and the Peppol network read, and it may be the legal original. Keep it. The PDF is a readable copy of what it says.

Can it convert any XML file to PDF?

No. It converts UBL 2.1 invoices and credit notes, including Peppol BIS Billing 3. Other XML, CII and Factur-X files are refused with a message saying what the file is.

Does it keep the supplier's original design?

No. UBL carries data, not a layout, so every PDF uses the same clear Ironfang layout built from the supported fields. It does not reproduce a supplier's letterhead or logo.

Yes, to Ironfang's free tools API, which reads it and builds the PDF in memory in the UK. Neither the XML nor the PDF is stored, and nothing from its contents is logged or sent to analytics.

Convert UBL invoices to PDF

Turn UBL invoice XML into a readable PDF. Preview the document, keep the original XML and download without an account.

Free to use
No signup
Nothing stored

or drop your XML file here

UBL invoice or credit noteXMLUp to 5 MiB

No file to hand? Open a fictional sample:

Samples are fictional Peppol documents. Download the XML: an invoice, a credit note or a 60-line invoice.

Processed by Ironfang in the UK, nothing stored

Opening a file sends the XML to Ironfang's free tools API, which reads it in memory and returns the readable invoice. The PDF is made the same way when you download it. Neither the document nor the PDF is kept, and nothing from its contents is logged or sent to analytics.

Validation is separate: the XML goes to Ironfang Finance only when you choose Validate invoice. Closing the page or opening another file clears the document from this page.

Real output

A 60-line invoice, as the converter makes it

The first two pages of the PDF this tool produces from the fictional long sample. The line table's headings repeat on every page, each page is numbered, and the totals stay together.

Page 1 of the example PDF: the invoice heading, supplier and customer, and the first invoice lines. — Page 1

Page 2 of the example PDF: the line table continues under repeated column headings. — Page 2

Download the example PDF

What goes into the PDF

The whole document, in reading order

The document number and dates, supplier and customer, references, every line, allowances and charges, the VAT breakdown, the totals as stated, and the payment details and notes.

Credit notes stay credit notes

A UBL CreditNote is headed CREDIT NOTE and its total is labelled as the amount credited. Amounts keep the signs and decimals the XML gives them; nothing is negated or rounded.

Long invoices paginate properly

Up to 2,000 lines. Column headings repeat on each page, long descriptions wrap rather than clip, rows are not split across pages, and every page carries its number.

A4 by default, or US Letter from the workspace. The footer says the PDF is a readable rendering of the XML and not validated. Where the document was missing something the viewer expected, the PDF prints the same notes the screen shows.

XML and PDF do different jobs

	The UBL XML	The PDF
Read by	Accounting software and the Peppol network	People
Is the invoice	Yes, it is the structured original	No, a readable copy of it
Changed by conversion	No: download it again unchanged from the workspace	Made fresh from the XML each time
Validated	Only if you choose Validate invoice	Never; the footer says so

When a conversion does not work

"Not a UBL invoice or credit note": The file is XML of another kind, a PDF, a ZIP or CII. Look for the UBL file itself: in Peppol it is what was sent, and some PDFs carry it as an attachment.
A note says something is missing: The document opened, but a field the layout expects, such as a due date or the customer, is not in the XML. The PDF shows the gap rather than inventing a value.
The PDF did not download: The invoice stays open: try again, or use Print. PDFs are rate limited per visitor, and a very long document takes a few seconds to paginate.

Ironfang Finance API

Checking or creating invoices in your application?

The converter is a free tool; there is no PDF conversion API to buy. What the Ironfang Finance API does is validate UBL invoices against EN 16931 and Peppol BIS Billing 3, and on paid plans generate checked Peppol UBL from JSON.

Get a Finance API key View API documentation

Questions about the PDF

The invoice viewer guide has the full list of fields, limits and messages.

Is the PDF a PDF/A archive file?: No. It is an ordinary PDF with selectable text and tagged structure, for reading, printing and sharing. It makes no PDF/A or Factur-X claim.
Are attachments included?: No. The PDF lists supporting documents the invoice refers to, by name and type, but never opens, decodes or includes their contents.
Does the PDF replace the XML?: No. The XML stays the invoice: it is what accounting systems and the Peppol network read, and it may be the legal original. Keep it. The PDF is a readable copy of what it says.
Can it convert any XML file to PDF?: No. It converts UBL 2.1 invoices and credit notes, including Peppol BIS Billing 3. Other XML, CII and Factur-X files are refused with a message saying what the file is.
Does it keep the supplier's original design?: No. UBL carries data, not a layout, so every PDF uses the same clear Ironfang layout built from the supported fields. It does not reproduce a supplier's letterhead or logo.
Is my file uploaded?: Yes, to Ironfang's free tools API, which reads it and builds the PDF in memory in the UK. Neither the XML nor the PDF is stored, and nothing from its contents is logged or sent to analytics.