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E-invoicing duty 2027/2028 No installation EN 16931

Meet the issuing duty: compliant e-invoices for every customer

From 2027 businesses in Germany must issue their invoices as e-invoices, from 2028 almost all of them. GetZUGFeRD gets you there without an expensive ERP system: fill in a guided form or convert the PDF you already write, check the file against the official rules before it goes out, and keep every issued invoice in a GoBD-compliant archive. Then send it by email, the way you do today.

Create a ZUGFeRD invoice See all tools
Meets the standards EN 16931 ZUGFeRD / Factur-X XRechnung KoSIT GoBD Archive PDF/A-3
The issuing duty

Your deadline at a glance

The law regulates the file, not your software: an invoice following EN 16931, sent any way you like, email included.

Since 1 January 2025

Every business in Germany must be able to receive e-invoices. Issuing them is allowed, but not yet required.

From 1 January 2027

Businesses with more than EUR 800,000 turnover in 2026 must issue e-invoices to other businesses in Germany.

From 1 January 2028

The duty applies to every business, whatever its size.

Kleinunternehmer and small amounts

Kleinunternehmer never have to issue e-invoices, and invoices up to EUR 250 stay exempt for everyone.

Every route to a compliant invoice

Eight tools for every invoice you issue

Start from a form, a PDF or XML you already have. Every tool runs in your browser.

01

Guided form

A hybrid PDF from a guided form.
02

For authorities

An XRechnung with the Leitweg-ID.
03

From your PDF

Keep writing invoices the way you do.
04

Corrections

When an invoice you sent was wrong.
05

Validate

Check the file before it goes out.
06

After a rejection

Edit any field, download again.
07

From your XML

Your software's XML, made ZUGFeRD.
08

Archive

Keep what you issue for eight years.
01 · Guided form

One form for invoices to businesses

The invoice for business customers. One form walks you through seller, buyer, line items and payment terms, calculates net totals and VAT for lines at 19 %, 7 % or exempt, and produces a PDF/A-3 with the XML embedded: readable for your customer, bookable for their accounting software.

  • Totals and VAT breakdown calculated as you type
  • Prefill the form from an existing invoice
  • Validated against EN 16931 before you download it
Create a ZUGFeRD invoice
02 · For authorities

Invoices to authorities, with the Leitweg-ID in place

Authorities, municipalities and public companies expect an XRechnung, a pure XML file addressed by the Leitweg-ID. The XRechnung form gives the Leitweg-ID its own field, applies the German XRechnung rules on top of EN 16931 and checks the file the way the public portals do on receipt.

  • The Leitweg-ID in the buyer reference (BT-10), where it belongs
  • German VAT rates preset per line
  • Checked against the KoSIT rules before download
Create an XRechnung
03 · From your PDF

Turn the invoices you already write into e-invoices

No need to change how you write invoices. Upload the PDF from Word, Excel or your current software, and the converter reads parties, line items, VAT and totals. Check every field online, then download a ZUGFeRD invoice or, with the Leitweg-ID added, an XRechnung.

  • Every field shown for review before export
  • With Premium, your own layout and logo stay as they are
  • ZUGFeRD for companies, XRechnung for authorities
Convert a PDF to ZUGFeRD Convert a PDF to XRechnung
INVOICE.PDF
<rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice>
<ram:ID>INV-0042</ram:ID>
<ram:IssueDateTime>2026-05-08
<ram:SellerTradeParty>
…
<ram:GrandTotalAmount>1240.00
</rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice>
Passed EN 16931 No errors · no warnings
04 · Corrections

When an invoice you sent needs a correction

Sent an invoice with a mistake, or for a service that fell through? The credit note forms produce the matching correction document for ZUGFeRD and XRechnung, linked to the original invoice by its number and date, so your customer's software books it against the right invoice.

  • Type code 381 and the reference to the original built in
  • Totals and VAT recomputed as you type
  • Validated before download
Create a ZUGFeRD credit note Create an XRechnung credit note
05 · Validate

Catch errors before your customer does

A rejected invoice is a late payment. Run any ZUGFeRD or XRechnung file through the validator before you send it, whichever program made it: the same official EN 16931 and KoSIT rules your customer's software and the public portals apply, with every finding explained in plain language.

  • Files from any program, not only ours
  • XML schema, business rules and the PDF/A-3 container in one check
  • Errors and warnings kept apart, each with the rule behind it
Validate a ZUGFeRD invoice Validate an XRechnung
06 · After a rejection

One wrong field should not cost you the whole invoice

When a customer's system or a portal sends a file back, you do not have to write the invoice again. Open the file in the editor, change the value the report names and download a valid invoice. Everything you leave alone, attachments included, stays as it was.

  • Every field of the invoice editable
  • Validated again before download, so it does not bounce twice
  • For ZUGFeRD and XRechnung
Edit a ZUGFeRD invoice Edit an XRechnung
07 · From your XML

Your software already writes XML? Make it a ZUGFeRD invoice

If your software already produces CII XML, you are one step away from ZUGFeRD. Embed the XML into the PDF you send today, or turn the XML into a PDF/A-3 with a readable page of its own. A customer on Peppol needs UBL instead? The same data converts between CII and UBL.

  • Your PDF and your XML in one PDF/A-3
  • A readable page generated from the XML
  • CII to UBL and back, for Peppol
Embed XML into a PDF Convert CII to ZUGFeRD
08 · Archive

Keep every issued invoice for eight years

The retention duty covers the invoices you issue as much as the ones you receive: the original file, unchanged and machine-readable, for eight years. Put each invoice into the GoBD archive once you have created it, in the same account as the tools.

  • Every invoice stored exactly as it arrived: XML, PDF or photo
  • Locked against changes, so nothing can be altered afterwards
  • A second copy in another German data centre
  • Find any invoice by date and export it with an index for your tax advisor
Discover the GoBD archive See plans
More tools

Around the invoice

Check a VAT number

Verify your customer's VAT ID live against VIES before you invoice, and get their Peppol address with it.

Check a VAT number

The AI assistant

Describe what you need and attach a file: the assistant converts, creates and validates in one chat.

Open the assistant

CII and UBL

Convert between the two XML syntaxes of EN 16931, for Peppol or a customer who asks for the other one.

Convert CII to UBL

The API

Invoices coming from your own software? The same engine as an API, one call per validated ZUGFeRD or XRechnung file.

See the API

Why GetZUGFeRD

Built for the invoices you issue

Everything the issuing side needs, without an ERP system or a desktop program.

Both formats, one place

ZUGFeRD for companies, XRechnung for authorities, credit notes for both: every invoice type German customers expect.

Official rules, kept current

Every check runs against the official EN 16931 and KoSIT rule sets. When they change, we update them, not you.

Send it by email

No portal, no network contract, no provider: a compliant file attached to an email fulfils the issuing duty for invoices within Germany.

Runs in any browser

Windows, Mac, Linux or tablet: open the page and start. Nothing to download, nothing to configure, nothing to update.

Nothing stored unless you archive it

The tools process your files in memory and keep no copy. Only the invoices you put in your archive are stored.

Free to start

The core tools are free with a usage allowance and need no account. Premium adds unlimited use, batch processing and a history.

Issuing e-invoices in Germany: what the duty means

The Growth Opportunities Act (Wachstumschancengesetz) makes the e-invoice the standard for invoices between businesses in Germany. Receiving has been mandatory since 1 January 2025. Issuing follows in two steps: from 1 January 2027 for businesses with more than EUR 800,000 turnover in the previous year, from 1 January 2028 for all others. Kleinunternehmer under § 19 UStG stay exempt from issuing, and so do invoices up to EUR 250.

An e-invoice is a structured file that follows the European standard EN 16931. A PDF created in Word or Excel is not one, not even when it is sent by email. Two formats cover almost every case: ZUGFeRD, a PDF/A-3 with the XML embedded, for business customers, and XRechnung, pure XML with the Leitweg-ID, for public-sector clients. After your deadline, a plain PDF no longer counts as a proper invoice for business customers and puts your customer's input VAT deduction at risk.

What issuing takes in practice

The law regulates the file, not the software. There is no government portal, no mandatory network and no certified provider for invoices within Germany, and sending the file by email is explicitly allowed. What you need is a correct file: every mandatory detail of § 14 UStG in its data field, totals that add up to the cent, and for authorities the Leitweg-ID in the buyer reference.

GetZUGFeRD has a route for every starting point: the ZUGFeRD form and the XRechnung form for new invoices, the PDF converter for the PDFs you already write, the validator to check any file before it goes out, and the GoBD archive for the copy you keep.

Switching without a big project

For a small business the switch fits into an afternoon: check which deadline applies to you, collect the mandatory details once, create or convert the first invoice, validate it and send it to a customer who can confirm the import. Many businesses switch before their deadline, because larger customers ask for e-invoices.

Related reading

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about issuing e-invoices.

A handful of invoices or a fresh start: the form. Invoices you already write in Word, Excel or other software: convert the PDF. Software that already produces CII XML: embed the XML into your PDF. Every route ends in the same kind of validated file.
Use the XRechnung form, or convert your PDF to an XRechnung, and enter the Leitweg-ID the authority gave you. It goes into the buyer reference, and the file is checked against the German XRechnung rules before you download it.
If your customer sent the file back, open it in the editor, correct the field and send the corrected file. If it was accepted but the amount or the service was wrong, issue a credit note that refers to it.
Yes. The validator checks any ZUGFeRD or XRechnung file against the official rule sets, whichever program produced it. That makes it a quick test for an accounting module or a printer driver before you rely on it.
No. Each tool works on its own: start with the customer who asks first, keep writing in your current template and convert the PDF, and add the archive when you are ready. There is nothing to install, so there is no migration project either.
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