Do you need to invoice businesses in Germany?
If you answered yes, you may need electronic invoice processing.
Transalis eInvoice™ is a trusted provider of digital invoice processing with companies in Germany
More and more countries, including Germany, are looking for new ways to streamline their processes, eliminate tax avoidance and collect more VAT. Already across the EU, government and public sector organisations are required to use B2G eInvoice processing, and B2B suppliers are being encouraged do the same.
An eInvoice solution from Transalis will streamline your invoice processing with trading partners in Germany.
- Reduce time spent on administrative tasks
- Improve accuracy and minimise disputes
- Remain compliant with complex cross-border regulatory and tax requirements
- Automate invoice validation
- Speed up the entire billing process
eInvoicing in Germany
eInvoicing with Transalis eInvoicing in Germany
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Germany eInvoicing regulations
June 2024
Germany: B2B electronic invoicing developments
On the 22nd of March 2024 the German Bundestag approved the Growth Opportunities Act (Wachstumschancengesetz), which confirms the country’s B2B electronic invoicing mandate. The proposed timelines remain unchanged, therefore we can expect businesses to start preparing for 2025, with the official roll-out confirmed for 2027:
Businesses are advised to commence preparations for electronic invoicing, ensuring readiness to receive electronic invoices compliant with EN 16931-1 formats by the 1st of January 2025.
Rolling out the mandate for sending electronic invoices is set to commence on the 1st of January 2027.
Electronic Invoicing Germany
Germany has adopted a post-audit invoicing model, but it is currently moving towards implementing e-invoicing.
For Business-to-Government (B2G) invoicing, Germany imposed electronic invoicing on the federal level from 27 November 2020 with the introduction of the Central Federal Invoice Receiving Platform (Zentrales Rechnungseingangsportal – ZRE).
The implementation of this mandate varies across different federal states, each issuing its own legal decrees to outline the specific requirements governing communication systems, formats, and entry points for e-invoices.
As the national adaption of EU Directive 2014/55/EU, XRechnung is the B2G invoice standard. Other formats that follow this directive are also accepted.
The Main drivers for e-invoicing in Germany are the automotive and retail industries, which have developed industry-specific e-invoice formats, e.g. ViDA format.
For Business-to-Business (B2B) invoicing, true electronic invoicing is not mandatory.
However, the European Commission has officially approved the derogation of the EU VAT Directive allowing to apply B2B e-invoicing as of 1st January 2025.
On 22nd March 2024, the Bundesrat Federal Council gave the green light to implement the B2B e-invoicing mandate in Germany in a phased rollout from 2025, and 2028.
According to the law of the German e-invoicing obligation, accepting electronic invoicing in a structured format will be mandatory starting on on 1st January 2025 for all German businesses, from 1st January 2027 companies with turnover equal or more to 800K Euros must issue e-invoices that comply with the EN-16931; and from 1st January 2028 full implementation. All other companies must be able to issue their invoices electronically in compliance with EN-16931.