For many businesses an invoice has so far been a PDF: created in a program, sent by email, printed or filed by the customer. That is coming to an end. Invoices between businesses in Germany are moving step by step to e-invoicing, in both directions: you have to be able to receive them, and soon you will have to issue them as well.

This article explains what changes and reflects the position as of September 2026. How the rules apply to your business in detail is something to settle with your tax adviser. The point here is what your programs and workflows need to be able to do.

What an e-invoice is

An e-invoice is an invoice in a structured data format. A program can read it without anyone retyping anything and without text recognition having to guess. Invoice number, date, line items, tax rates and amounts sit in fixed fields.

A PDF is not an e-invoice, even if it was created on a computer and sent by email. Since 2025 the German tax authorities have treated it as an “other invoice”. The same goes for a scanned paper invoice.

Which formats count

Two formats are common in Germany:

  • XRechnung: a pure XML file with no human-readable view. It is familiar from invoices to public authorities. You can only read it with a program that displays it.
  • ZUGFeRD: a PDF with the data embedded as an XML file. People see the familiar invoice, programs read the data. ZUGFeRD is accepted from version 2.0.1. According to the tax authorities, the MINIMUM and BASIC WL profiles are not sufficient because they lack mandatory details.

Both formats follow the same European standard. Other formats are possible if they reproduce the data correctly under that standard, but in day-to-day business you will almost always meet these two.

The dates

  • Since 1 January 2025: every business in Germany must be able to receive e-invoices from other domestic businesses. According to the tax authorities, an email inbox is enough for that.
  • 2025 and 2026: a transition period applies to sending. Paper invoices are still allowed, as are PDF and other electronic invoices if the recipient agrees.
  • From 1 January 2027: businesses with total turnover of more than 800,000 euros in 2026 must issue e-invoices for supplies to other domestic businesses. Those below that threshold may carry on as before until the end of 2027. EDI invoices remain possible in 2027 if the recipient agrees.
  • From 1 January 2028: the obligation applies to all domestic businesses.

More on the 2027 deadline in our article e-invoicing from 2027.

What is not affected

  • Invoices to private customers: paper or PDF remains fine.
  • Small-amount invoices up to 250 euros and travel tickets.
  • Invoices from small businesses under the German small business rule: they do not have to issue e-invoices.

Receiving, however, applies to businesses that sell almost only to private customers too, because their suppliers send them e-invoices.

What your software needs to do when sending

The invoice has to come from a program that keeps its data properly. An invoice from Word or Excel cannot be turned into an e-invoice without someone entering the fields again.

Most current inventory systems, invoicing programs and ERP systems can produce XRechnung and ZUGFeRD. Still, check carefully:

  • Which format and which profile does the program output?
  • Is your master data complete? An e-invoice needs, for example, the customer’s address in fixed fields and, for public authorities, a routing ID (Leitweg-ID). Gaps in your master data now show up.
  • How does the invoice reach the customer? By email to a dedicated invoice address, through a portal or via EDI?
  • What about credit notes, instalment invoices and cancellations? They need the right format too.

What your software needs to do when receiving

Receiving is where the benefit lies. An e-invoice brings its data with it. Nobody has to retype it, and no program has to read a PDF. But that only works if the workflow afterwards plays along:

  • The XML file has to be displayed in a readable form so that someone can check the invoice.
  • The invoice should be matched automatically: to the supplier, the purchase order, the goods receipt.
  • Approval and handover to accounts should run without printing. Anyone who prints an e-invoice, signs it and scans it back in turns a clean file into a picture.

How that works step by step is described in processing incoming invoices automatically.

Keeping records

According to the tax authorities, the structured part of an e-invoice, the XML file, counts as the original. It has to be kept unchanged and retrievable. The PDF view alone is not enough. Which form of storage is sufficient for your business, and what applies to the PDF view of a ZUGFeRD invoice, is something to settle with your tax adviser.

Where it tends to go wrong

  • Several programs write invoices: the shop, the inventory system, a program for service jobs. Each one has to handle e-invoices, or invoicing has to run through one program in future.
  • Some invoices are still written in Word. Often for exceptions such as installation, repairs or additional charges. These are exactly the invoices that now need a proper route.
  • Incoming invoices are scattered across personal mailboxes. Set up one central address and tell your suppliers.
  • The handover to accounts is manual. How documents reach your tax adviser digitally is covered in handing documents to DATEV.

Where several programs write or receive invoices and their data does not fit together, an interface can, where possible, bring them together without you having to replace the programs you already have.

Checklist

  • What was your total turnover in 2026, and from when do you have to issue e-invoices?
  • Which programs write invoices today, and can each of them produce XRechnung or ZUGFeRD?
  • Are some invoices still created in Word or Excel?
  • Is there one central address for incoming invoices?
  • Do you have a program that displays an XRechnung in readable form?
  • Has your tax adviser confirmed how e-invoices are to be kept and handed over?