Create XRechnung and ZUGFeRD from your ERP

If your ERP or industry software cannot produce an e-invoice, we add that through an integration. It reads the invoice data from your system, generates an XRechnung or ZUGFeRD document from it, validates it against the standard and sends or hands it over. We read incoming e-invoices in automatically as well.

What it is about: obligations and deadlines

Since 1 January 2025, domestic businesses must be able to receive e-invoices. For issuing them, transitional rules apply: from 1 January 2027, businesses with prior-year revenue above €800,000 must issue e-invoices, and from 1 January 2028 all businesses. Invoices for small amounts up to €250 are exempt from the obligation.

An e-invoice is an invoice in a structured electronic format that conforms to the European standard EN 16931. A simple PDF does not count. The BMF (German Federal Ministry of Finance) names as examples the XRechnung standard and the hybrid format ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1, excluding the MINIMUM and BASIC-WL profiles. With hybrid formats, the structured data is what counts, not the visible PDF.

The problem: the software cannot do it

Many businesses work with programs that output invoices only as PDF or on paper. The vendor has no update yet, or the update means an expensive system change. The result is workarounds: invoices are entered again in a second program to produce an XRechnung. That is double work with all the familiar sources of error.

Receiving is similar. E-invoices arrive as an XML file by email, and nobody can read them without a helper program. So they are printed or retyped instead of taking over the data automatically.

How we add e-invoicing

The integration sits next to your existing software, not in its place. It picks up the invoice data via an API, an export or the database. If your program has no API, we use the routes from connection without an API.

From the data it generates the desired format. Every invoice is checked against the rules of the standard before sending. If a mandatory field is missing, such as the buyer reference, which is mandatory in an XRechnung, the invoice does not go out but lands in an error list with a note. After that it is sent by email, uploaded to a portal or handed to accounting. Every dispatch is logged.

1. Invoice becomes XRechnung or ZUGFeRD on creation
2. Validation against EN 16931 before each dispatch
3. Dispatch by email or portal after validation
4. Copy goes to accounting daily

Incoming e-invoices

For receiving, we set up a mailbox or a folder from which the integration picks up incoming invoices. It extracts the structured data, creates a readable view and hands the invoice to your accounting, for example via the DATEV integration. The original file is kept unchanged.

XRechnung or ZUGFeRD?

Both formats are permitted, ZUGFeRD in the versions and profiles mentioned above. They differ in form. The XRechnung is a pure XML file without a visible document. Your customer needs a program that displays or processes it. ZUGFeRD combines a normal PDF with embedded structured data. People read the PDF, programs read the data. Which format you send often depends on the recipient. Some customers specify a format, others accept both. The integration can generate both formats and choose the right one per customer. This way you do not have to decide by hand for each recipient.

Typical data objects

When you do not need an integration

Many vendors have built in e-invoicing by now. Ask there first whether an update delivers XRechnung or ZUGFeRD. If so, that is almost always the simpler route. For a few invoices a month, invoicing programs that generate e-invoices out of the box are also enough.

An integration is worthwhile when your software is still needed, the vendor offers no suitable update and there are many invoices. This is typical for grown industry software, for example in skilled trades or wholesale.

Process

In the free check (30 minutes) we clarify how the invoice data comes out of your system and where the e-invoices go. Within 3 working days you receive a fixed-price quote. Implementation usually takes 2 to 4 weeks, and testing is done with real invoices from your system. More under process and pricing.

Updated: 10/20/2026