With the approval of the Federal Council for the Growth Opportunities Act, it was decided: Companies must be able to issue and receive electronic invoices from January 1, 2025. To ensure a smooth transition from paper invoices and seemingly simpler PDF invoices to the e-invoice format, certain aspects must be considered.
Legally regulated
What has so far been a pure option will become mandatory in a few months: billing via electronic invoice, the so-called e-invoice. The issuance, transmission, receipt, and processing of the invoice in a structured electronic format are prerequisites to comply with the e-invoice obligation. Simultaneously, they must meet the EU invoice standards EN 16931 (Directive 2014/55/EU of 16.04.2014).
However, organizations do not need to immediately part with paper and other invoices. A transition period exists until December 31, 2026. For a previous year's turnover of less than 800,000 euros, processing is even possible until the end of 2027. Until then, paper invoices and e-invoices not conforming to the newly established format can be exchanged between sender and recipient. In these cases, the recipient of the invoice must explicitly agree to such a deviation.
Priority 1: Receiving e-invoices
From next year, all companies in Germany must at least be able to receive and process electronic invoices according to the new regulations. Small businesses or organizations that only serve private customers (B2C companies) should also check whether the receipt of e-invoices can be implemented by the turn of the year. Suppliers, for example, could fully switch to the format.
But: For invoices that companies address to their end consumers, consent to e-invoicing remains required.
Format Selection
So much for the theory. But what logical steps result from this? Which format can companies choose in the future? The Growth Opportunities Act does not provide a clear answer due to the lack of format specifications. However, the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) has in its. For instance, XRechnung and ZUGFeRD meet the requirements, while pure PDF documents do not.
The standard XRechnung was developed as a purely structured format strictly according to the requirements of the EN 16931 series of standards and is thus nationally recognized. The XML-based data exchange allows for automatic further processing of the contents. XRechnung has also been used for public contracts for several years and has already proven itself.
In addition to these purely structured e-invoice formats, there are hybrid formats that fulfill all necessary conditions – foremost ZUGFeRD. As a hybrid data format, ZUGFeRD integrates structured invoice data in XML format within a PDF document (PDF/A-3). When switching to this format, it should be noted that the EN 16931 standard is fully met only from version 2.0.1 onwards.
Electronic Invoices in Everyday Work
Given the short time remaining, some entrepreneurs might now have beads of sweat forming on their foreheads. Yet, the switch to receiving, issuing, transmitting, and processing e-invoices can happen quickly and efficiently by 2025 – with the right solution.
ALVARA | Digital Solutions has been offering value service providers software for automated invoicing for some time, from which retailers and financial institutions can also benefit. In addition to support for billing provided services and comprehensive reporting, the focus here is on the creation and automatic sending of e-invoices in the common formats XRechnung and ZUGFeRD to relieve users in their day-to-day business.
In connection with the Cash Center Software, an additional value arises for an efficient invoicing process. Through Pecunia, master data and provided services can be transferred into Fakturio. Thus, the entire process is digital and automated. The risk of overlooking provided services or customer-specific conditions, inherent in the manual invoicing process, becomes a thing of the past.
Conclusion
The advantages of e-invoices are numerous: they eliminate cumbersome physical processes, save working time and costs, and increase transparency in invoice processing. Therefore, companies should not see electronic invoices merely as an unwelcome obligation, but as what they are: true everyday helpers.
Do you want to set all the course for e-invoices early on? With Fakturio, it’s easy!