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E-invoicing: what is actually required
An e-invoice is not a PDF attachment. It is a machine-readable record to a European standard - and since 2025 every business in Germany must be able to receive one.
Receiving and issuing are two different duties
Receiving has applied since 1 January 2025 for domestic business-to-business trade. Issuing follows staggered transition periods. Confusing the two makes you think you are either too late or too early.
The formats, in one paragraph
- EN 16931
- The European standard. It defines the fields, not the file.
- XRechnung
- Plain XML, required mainly by public authorities.
- Factur-X / ZUGFeRD
- A PDF with the XML embedded. One file, two readers: a person sees the invoice, the accounting system reads the data.
How we build it
Invoices are produced as PDF/A-3b with embedded XML to EN 16931. Invoice numbers run without gaps, because the number is only assigned when the document is finalised - and a finalised document no longer changes.
Questions
- Does a PDF count as an e-invoice?
- No. What counts is the structured record. A PDF that merely looks like an invoice does not meet the requirement.
Checked 2026-09-07
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