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E-invoicing · XRechnung · ZUGFeRD

Every invoice is an e-invoice too.

From 2027, Germany makes e-invoices between businesses mandatory, step by step. docket already has them: every invoice of a German workspace goes out as a ZUGFeRD PDF with the XRechnung inside. You write invoices like you always did. docket does the rest.

Try it free for 14 days How it works in detail

No card, no sales call. Invoices under German, Austrian and Swiss law.

A PDF for people. XML for accounting. One file.

ZUGFeRD & XRechnung

Looks like a PDF. Is an e-invoice.

When you publish an invoice, docket writes it twice: as an XRechnung, and as a ZUGFeRD PDF that carries the same data as XML inside. Your client opens a perfectly ordinary PDF; their accounting software reads the figures straight from the file. Both state the same lines, the same VAT and the same total as the printed PDF. To the cent.

  • ZUGFeRD / Factur-X as PDF/A-3b, profile EN 16931
  • XRechnung 3.0 (CII) to download, and attached to the mail your team gets when it's published
  • Checked with the official validators: the KoSIT validator for the XRechnung, Mustang and veraPDF for the ZUGFeRD PDF
  • No switch, no add-on: every invoice, for every client

Germany's e-invoicing mandate in three dates.

The Wachstumschancengesetz (Growth Opportunities Act) makes e-invoices mandatory between businesses in Germany, in stages. That means a structured invoice to the European standard EN 16931. XRechnung and ZUGFeRD are exactly that; a plain PDF isn't.

Since 1 Jan 2025

Receiving them

Every business in Germany must be able to accept e-invoices. Your agency too, even if you still send PDFs yourself.

From 1 Jan 2027

Issuing them, above €800,000

Businesses with more than €800,000 turnover in the previous year issue their invoices to other German businesses as e-invoices.

From 1 Jan 2028

Issuing them, no threshold

Then the threshold goes. By now, the e-invoice is simply how B2B invoicing works.

The fine print. We read it.

Producing an e-invoice is quick. Getting it right for every kind of invoice, every tax case and every client is the actual work.

01

Every kind of invoice. Not just the simple one.

Invoice, down-payment, partial and final invoice, cancellation: each becomes an e-invoice of its proper type. The final invoice deducts what you billed before, in the XML too. The cancellation names the invoice it cancels.

Side noteThe figures in the XML come from the same invoice as the ones in the PDF. There aren't two truths.
02

Every tax case.

VAT rate per line, 19% and 7% on one invoice. EU reverse charge, third country, VAT-exempt and small business under § 19 UStG: each case gets the right tax category and the note the PDF prints too.

Side noteSmall business (Kleinunternehmer)? Then the § 19 UStG note is in the PDF and in the XML. Same invoice, same reason.
03

Leitweg-ID? It goes in.

Every XRechnung carries a buyer reference. For public clients that's their Leitweg-ID: enter it once on the client's billing address, done. Everyone else gets the PO number from the billing cycle or their client number.

Side noteSo your client's accounting knows where the invoice belongs. Without asking.
04

Something missing? docket says so first.

An e-invoice has to state more than a PDF: your address, tax number or VAT ID, IBAN and a contact person. If anything is missing, docket names all of it when you publish, and where to fill it in. Not when the client sends the invoice back.

Side noteFilled in once in the settings, it holds for every invoice after.
05

What goes out stays that way.

On publishing, docket freezes PDF and XML and keeps both exactly as they went out. You'll find them on the invoice and in the workspace export, the XML next to the PDF.

Side noteNothing is generated after the fact. An XML written today would carry today's data, not what your client received.
06

Incoming e-invoices, no typing.

A supplier sends a ZUGFeRD or Factur-X PDF? Upload it and the external-cost form fills itself straight from the file: supplier, invoice number, date, amount and VAT. No AI, to the cent. A plain PDF can be read by AI if you want, but only once an admin switches it on.

Side noteThen you split the invoice across projects and pass it on to the client. Like always.

And in Austria and Switzerland?

There's no e-invoicing mandate between businesses there. Only the federal government asks for e-invoices as a client, through its own channels. docket still bills under your country's law and adds the EN 16931 XML when you need it.

Austria

Invoices under the Austrian VAT act: above €400 gross your UID number is on it, above €10,000 your client's too. If one is missing, docket says so before the invoice goes out. Small businesses included. The EN 16931 XML is there to download once the invoice has everything it needs.

UID-Nr.20 · 13 · 10%Small businessEN 16931 XML

Switzerland

Invoices in francs or euros, with Swiss number formats and the QR-bill as the last page. With a VAT number (MWST-Nr.) or as "not registered for VAT", in which case the invoice doesn't mention VAT at all. Here, too, the EN 16931 XML is there to download.

CHFQR-billMWST-Nr.EN 16931 XML

Working for public clients in Austria or Switzerland? docket doesn't serve their channels. Talk to us: info@docket.rocks.

Short questions, short answers.

When do e-invoices become mandatory in Germany?

Every business in Germany has had to be able to receive them since 1 January 2025. You must issue them for invoices to other German businesses from 1 January 2027 if your previous year's turnover was above €800,000, and from 1 January 2028 regardless of turnover. That's what the Wachstumschancengesetz says.

What's the difference between XRechnung and ZUGFeRD?

Both follow the European standard EN 16931. XRechnung is plain XML with German extra rules, made for software; a person needs a viewer to read it. ZUGFeRD is a PDF anyone can open, with the same data as XML inside. In France the same format is called Factur-X. Both are formats the German mandate provides for, and docket writes both.

Is a PDF by email still enough?

For now, yes: until the end of 2026 for everyone, until the end of 2027 for businesses with at most €800,000 turnover in the previous year. After that, invoices between German businesses need to be e-invoices. The nice thing about a ZUGFeRD PDF: it still goes out by email and looks like it always did.

How do I create an e-invoice with docket?

Like any invoice: write it, publish it. In a German workspace every invoice is automatically an e-invoice too, no switch, no add-on. Once, you enter your company details, the IBAN and a contact person. Whatever is missing, docket tells you the first time you publish. The details are in the help article on e-invoices.

Do I need a Leitweg-ID?

Only for public clients such as the federal government, states and municipalities. They give you their Leitweg-ID, you enter it on the client's billing address, and docket writes it into every XRechnung to that address. How the invoice reaches the client, for example through their invoice portal, is up to them. docket has no PEPPOL access.

What about small businesses (Kleinunternehmer)?

docket writes your invoices as e-invoices too, with the § 19 UStG note in the PDF and in the XML. Like everyone, you must be able to receive e-invoices. Whether you have to issue them yourself is best settled with your tax advisor. docket does it either way.

And in Austria and Switzerland?

There's no e-invoicing mandate between businesses there, only towards the federal government, through its own channels: ebInterface or PEPPOL in Austria, eBill in Switzerland. docket doesn't serve those. Austrian and Swiss workspaces get the EN 16931 XML as an optional download, Swiss invoices the QR-bill on top.

Your next invoice is an e-invoice.

Try it free for 14 days

No card. All the details: e-invoices in the help. Questions first? info@docket.rocks.