As of January 1, 2025, the EN 16931 directive requires German companies to receive only e-invoices in business transactions. Therefore, companies must prepare technically and organizationally for electronic invoicing by the end of 2024. Companies must transmit their invoices in a structured, machine-readable format to ensure efficient, error-free, and automated processing.
Dafür wurden in der EN 16931 Richtlinie 4 eRechnungs-Formate als Standard bestimmt: ZUGFeRD, UBL 2.1, XRechnung und Peppol. Dabei dürfte ZUGFeRD die größte Zustimmung genießen, weil dieses eRechnungs-Format, quer durch alle deutschen Branchen und von den Behörden unterstützt wird.
For this purpose, the EN 16931 directive has established 4 e-invoicing formats as standard: ZUGFeRD, UBL 2.1, XRechnung, and Peppol. ZUGFeRD is likely to enjoy the greatest acceptance because this e-invoicing format is supported across all German industries and by government authorities. The technical requirements and advantages of e-invoicing in ZUGFeRD format are:
- Structured XML data for automatic processing of invoice information without manual intervention
- PDF invoice documents embedded in the XML data, making these e-invoices readable not only for machines but also for humans
- Broad support from business associations and financial authorities
- Complete fulfillment of prescribed legal requirements regarding the authenticity and integrity of the e-invoice
Beyond the legal requirements, the introduction of mandatory e-invoicing is also a digital opportunity. The switch to e-invoicing could be the first step into digitization of business processes.
E-invoicing bringssignificant advantages:
- It simplifies invoicing processes
- It reduces costs through lower administrative effort
- It minimizes manual errors in invoice creation
- It enables faster processing of orders; for example, once product and service catalogs are uploaded to the "Meine e-Rechnung" platform, they can be merged into an e-invoice more comfortably and quickly
- It improves cash flow through simple and fast invoicing
- And thus increases company efficiency.
- Thanks to the "Doku-Safe" extension, Meine e-Rechnung users benefit from legally compliant and audit-proof access to e-invoice documents at any time and over the long-term in accordance with GoBD accounting regulations.
The "Meine e-Rechnung" e-invoicing platform, however, goes beyond these advantages:
Because it's free! Additionally:
- Not only family businesses, self-employed individuals, and craftsmen benefit, but also medium-sized industrial companies
- All users secure their accounting with 60-day e-invoice storage
These services are rounded off with 2 attractive, cost-effective, and useful extension options:
- Optimized e-invoice exchange:
- Through which email invoices can be received from companies not registered on "Meine e-Rechnung"
- Which enables automatic conversion from one EN 16931 e-invoice format (XRechnung, PEPPOL 3.x, UBL 2.1, ZUGFeRD) to another
- Which allows sending e-invoices using the UBL 2.1 format from ERP systems via SFTP and REST API points
- GoBD-secure e-invoice storage through "Doku Safe":
- Which ultimately ensures the long-term legally compliant and audit-proof storage of e-invoices for a small annual fee in accordance with GoBD regulations
The benefits of e-invoicing far outweigh the truly small additional effort that companies need to make when implementing it at the beginning of the year. The transition to the new invoicing system is an opportunity to initiate further digitization processes in companies and can be the first step, or entry point, to stronger competitiveness!