German e-invoicing: check the mandate, open files, create invoices

An e-invoice is not a picture of an invoice but a data record. Each item sits in a fixed field of EN 16931: the invoice number in BT-1, the date in BT-2, the seller name in BT-27, the amount due in BT-115. Software can take over these fields without text recognition, recalculate the totals and prepare the payment. A PDF shows the same details only as text on a page, which is why the German VAT Act calls it an ordinary invoice.

You will meet two formats in Germany. XRechnung is pure XML, machine-readable but with no view for people; you open it with a viewer. ZUGFeRD combines both: a PDF/A-3 to read and, inside it, the file factur-x.xml with the data. Someone who receives a ZUGFeRD invoice sees a normal PDF, and their accounting finds the XML as well. More on what is an e-invoice?.

There is no transition period for receiving. If a domestic supplier sends you an XRechnung or ZUGFeRD invoice, you must accept it. The Finance Ministry letter of 15 October 2025 confirms that an email inbox is enough. You need three things: an address where invoices arrive, a way to read the XML, and storage that keeps the file unchanged.

You can read any XRechnung in the viewer on this site. The pre-check is enough to check before paying: it recalculates the totals and shows whether mandatory details are missing. You must keep the XML for 8 years; a printout or a PDF made from it is not enough. The details are on receiving e-invoices and archiving e-invoices.

Until 31 December 2026 every business may still issue paper invoices and, if the customer agrees, PDF invoices. During 2027 that applies only to businesses with total prior-year turnover of no more than €800,000; EDI invoices remain possible with consent until the end of 2027. From 1 January 2028 the e-invoice is mandatory for all domestic B2B supplies.

If you send only a few invoices, you need no new software. The invoice creator builds a ZUGFeRD PDF or an XRechnung from a form, works out net, VAT and gross itself and blocks the download while mandatory details are missing. For regular invoicing, a program that produces the formats from your customer records pays off. All cut-off dates with a calculator: e-invoicing deadlines.

For invoices to businesses both formats are equivalent, as long as the ZUGFeRD file uses at least the BASIC profile. The MINIMUM and BASIC WL profiles do not hold a complete invoice and do not count as e-invoices. ZUGFeRD has the advantage that a customer without suitable software can still read the PDF; XRechnung is leaner and preferred by public bodies.

Invoices to federal authorities are governed by the E-Invoicing Regulation (ERechV): an XRechnung or another EN 16931 format with the contracting body’s Leitweg-ID is required. The federal invoice platform accepts ZUGFeRD only in the XRECHNUNG profile. The comparison with a decision aid is on XRechnung or ZUGFeRD.

The Leitweg-ID routes an invoice inside the administration, much like a postcode routes a letter. It consists of a coarse address, an optional fine address and two check digits computed with the modulo 97-10 method. The first two digits name the federal state, or 99 for the federal government. A typo almost always shows up in the check digits; the Leitweg-ID checker finds it before you send.

The federal government accepts invoices through its platforms by web entry, upload, Peppol or email. For direct awards up to €1,000 net, an e-invoice to the federal government is not required. The states have their own rules and portals; the contracting body always gives you the Leitweg-ID. More on e-invoicing the federal government.

The most common reasons an e-invoice comes back are missing mandatory details and arithmetic errors. In an XRechnung the German rules require, for example, a buyer reference (BR-DE-15), the seller’s full address and contact details with phone and email (BR-DE-2 to BR-DE-7). The sum of the line items must match the sum in the document totals to the cent.

The pre-check in the XRechnung validator lists each broken rule with its identifier and the field concerned, so you can make sense of an error message from a customer or a portal. What the individual messages mean and which of them affect the input VAT deduction is explained in the Finance Ministry letter on e-invoicing.