Answer seven short questions to see whether XRechnung, ZUGFeRD or a PDF-first route is likely to fit your invoice process.
This orientation does not replace legal or tax advice.
Question 1 of 7
The type of recipient is an important starting point for choosing the right e-invoice route.
The format finder gives a first orientation on which e-invoice route fits your invoicing process. It asks seven short questions about your recipients, their requirements, your current system and your invoice layouts, and suggests a likely route. The following sections explain what the questions are about and how to read the result.
In e-invoicing, the format is usually not a free choice of the sender. Public-sector recipients in Germany typically expect XRechnung, often delivered through a portal or the Peppol network. Business customers may accept ZUGFeRD, XRechnung, an agreed EDI format or delivery via Peppol. Some recipients state their requirements clearly, others have not decided yet.
That is why the first questions of the format finder ask who you mainly invoice and whether the recipient has already specified a format or delivery route. Everything else builds on this.
The result names the route that best matches your answers, for example that ZUGFeRD or XRechnung is likely to fit, that a PDF-first bridge may suit your process, or that more than one route may be needed. In some cases the result recommends clarifying the delivery route, the format requirements or legal and tax questions first.
The result is a non-binding orientation, not legal or tax advice. It is meant as a starting point for a conversation with your recipients, your tax advisor and, where relevant, with us.
Many companies invoice both public authorities and business customers, or customers in several countries. In such cases one billing process may have to deliver XRechnung to some recipients, ZUGFeRD to others and invoices via Peppol to a third group. This is not unusual. What matters is that the required format and delivery route are known for each recipient, and that the invoice data needed for all formats is available in the source system or can be derived reliably.
Recipients rarely explain their requirements in technical terms. Typical statements are: please send invoices via our supplier portal, we need the Leitweg-ID on every invoice, we only accept XRechnung, or we accept PDF invoices with embedded XML. Each of these points to a different route. The first step is therefore to collect these statements from your most important recipients and translate them into format, delivery channel and required references.
Regardless of the route, every e-invoice needs the same core data: seller and buyer with their addresses and tax identifiers, invoice number and date, delivery or service date, line items with quantities, units and prices, tax rates and amounts, totals and payment details. Some recipients additionally require references such as a purchase order number or a Leitweg-ID. If any of this data is missing in your invoicing process today, it has to be added before any route can work reliably.
A PDF-first bridge is useful when your invoicing system works well but cannot create e-invoices. The system keeps producing its PDFs, and the required format is generated automatically from them, validated and handed over for delivery. This avoids a costly system change under time pressure and leaves room to modernize the source system later at your own pace. It works best when invoices follow recurring layouts and the required data is printed on the invoice or available as master data.
The format decision should be made well before the deadline that applies to your company. Recipients need time to confirm their requirements, your invoicing system may need additional fields, and the chosen route should be tested with real invoices. Starting early also leaves room to handle special cases such as credit notes, partial invoices or invoices with many lines before they become urgent. For companies that issue invoices to public authorities, the requirement may already apply today, independent of the general B2B deadlines.
The format finder focuses on invoices in Germany, but many companies also invoice customers abroad. Across Europe, the requirements differ: France introduces its own reform with approved platforms and formats such as Factur-X, UBL and CII, Italy has long required e-invoices through a central exchange system, and many countries use the Peppol network for public procurement and increasingly between companies. If you invoice customers in several countries, it is worth listing the requirements per country and recipient, because one invoicing process may need to deliver several formats.
A common European basis exists: most structured invoice formats follow the semantic model of EN 16931. This means that the same invoice data can usually be mapped to different formats, as long as all mandatory information is available.
