E-invoicing in Germany: A Complete Guide for Businesses

What is Germany e-invoicing?

Germany introduced mandatory e-invoicing for business-to-government (B2G) transactions through the E-Rechnungsverordnung (E-RechV), which came into force in November 2020 for federal suppliers. The law implements EU Directive 2014/55/EU and requires suppliers to central federal authorities to submit structured electronic invoices using the XRechnung standard or the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile.

For B2B transactions, Germany transposed the EU VAT Directive amendment (Council Directive 2022/542/EU) into national law via the Wachstumschancengesetz (Growth Opportunities Act), signed in March 2024. From 1 January 2025, businesses receiving invoices must be technically capable of accepting structured e-invoices. The full B2B sending mandate is expected in 2027, following a phased schedule based on revenue thresholds.

The XRechnung 3.0 format

XRechnung is Germany's national core invoice standard, published by KoSIT (Koordinierungsstelle für IT-Standards). Version 3.0, released in 2023, aligns with EN 16931 and supports both UBL 2.1 and UN/CEFACT CII syntax.

Key technical characteristics:

• Standard: EN 16931 (CIUS DE), CII or UBL syntax
• Version: XRechnung 3.0 (current as of 2024)
• Routing identifier: Leitweg-ID — a mandatory field that routes the invoice to the correct receiving authority. Format: {organisational-unit}--{location}--{check-digit} (e.g. 991-12345-29)
• Delivery channels: ZRE (Zentrale Rechnungseingangsplattform des Bundes) for federal suppliers; OZG-RE for state-level; Peppol network also accepted
• VAT: EN 16931-compliant VAT category codes; reverse charge documented with BT-6/BT-92

Invoices must carry the buyer's Leitweg-ID in the routing reference field (BT-10). Without a valid Leitweg-ID, the invoice will be rejected at the platform level.

Who does it apply to?

The 2025 receiving obligation applies regardless of company size. SMEs below EUR 800,000 revenue may benefit from a transitional period for sending until 2028.

Timeline / key dates

• Nov 2020: XRechnung mandatory for central federal B2G
• Jan 2025: All German businesses must be able to receive structured e-invoices
• Jan 2027: B2B e-invoicing mandate expected for large companies (revenue > EUR 800K)
• Jan 2028: Full B2B mandate expected for all businesses

How Clearvo handles Germany e-invoicing

Clearvo generates compliant XRechnung 3.0 (CII syntax) or Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 XML from a single normalised JSON payload — the CustomerInvoiceInput object. You supply your invoice data once; Clearvo handles format selection, EN 16931 validation, Leitweg-ID embedding, and delivery to the ZRE portal or Peppol network.

For B2B invoices in 2025 and beyond, Clearvo stores the structured invoice and makes it retrievable in XRechnung format for your customers who need to ingest it.

What you send: a CustomerInvoiceInput JSON with standard fields plus buyerReference (Leitweg-ID) and buyerCountry: "DE".

What you get back: a synchronous response containing the generated XML, validation result, and (for B2G) a delivery receipt from the target platform.

{
  "invoiceNumber": "INV-2025-00147",
  "issueDate": "2025-03-15",
  "dueDate": "2025-04-14",
  "currency": "EUR",
  "supplier": {
    "name": "Acme Software GmbH",
    "vatNumber": "DE123456789",
    "address": {
      "street": "Unter den Linden 5",
      "city": "Berlin",
      "postalCode": "10117",
      "country": "DE"
    }
  },
  "customer": {
    "name": "Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft",
    "buyerReference": "991-12345-29",
    "address": {
      "street": "Scharnhorststr. 34-37",
      "city": "Berlin",
      "postalCode": "10115",
      "country": "DE"
    }
  },
  "lines": [
    {
      "description": "Software-Lizenz Q1 2025",
      "quantity": 1,
      "unitPrice": 4200.00,
      "taxRate": 19,
      "taxCategory": "S"
    }
  ],
  "paymentTerms": "30 Tage netto",
  "bankAccount": {
    "iban": "DE89370400440532013000",
    "bic": "COBADEFFXXX"
  }
}

Getting started

Review the full API reference and test your first XRechnung invoice at clearvo.io/docs. The /invoices endpoint accepts the payload above and returns validated XML ready for submission. No separate SDK or format-specific library required.

Related country guides

• France — Factur-X PDP model, mandate from September 2026
• Austria — Peppol BIS 3.0, B2G mandatory
• Belgium — Peppol BIS 3.0, B2B mandatory from January 2026

Frequently asked questions

When is e-invoicing mandatory in Germany? Germany introduced mandatory e-invoicing for B2G (federal government) transactions in 2020. For B2B, all German businesses must be able to receive structured e-invoices from 1 January 2025. The sending mandate applies to large companies (revenue >EUR 800,000) from 2027 and all businesses from 2028.

What is XRechnung and is it the same as Peppol? XRechnung is Germany's national e-invoice standard (a CIUS of EN 16931). Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 is the OpenPeppol profile, also based on EN 16931. Both are accepted for German B2G invoices — they share the same semantic data model but use slightly different XML profiles. For B2B, both are also acceptable formats under the 2025 receiving obligation.

What is a Leitweg-ID and where do I get it? The Leitweg-ID is a routing identifier that directs your invoice to the correct government receiving unit. It is provided by the buyer (the public authority) when you set up the supply contract. Format: {unit}--{location}--{check-digit}, e.g. 991-12345-29. Without it, your invoice will be rejected.

Do SMEs need to send e-invoices in Germany in 2025? In 2025, all German businesses (including SMEs) must be able to receive structured e-invoices. The obligation to send structured e-invoices does not apply to SMEs (below EUR 800,000 revenue) until 2028, with a transitional option extending to 2028.

Can I use a PDF invoice for German B2B transactions in 2025? From 1 January 2025, a PDF alone is no longer sufficient for B2B invoices between German VAT-registered entities when the recipient requests a structured invoice. However, the full sending mandate (where PDFs are no longer acceptable at all for B2B) applies from 2027–2028.