XInvoice Standard

What does XRechnung mean?

Transfer of an EU standard to the national standard XRechnung

Xrechnung – In Germany, it is estimated that more than 30 billion invoices are sent by post each year. The origin of the X-bill is the european Commission’s efforts to promote e-procurement.

2014 Kick-off for the development of electronic bill

The Directive 2014/55/EU on electronic invoicing for public procurement was already adopted in 2014. The aim is to make all contracting authorities obliged to accept and process invoices electronically only by way of pan-European procurement procedures. The idea is that the transition to electronic invoices, which can be processed automatically, can save significant costs on the part of the public administration.

2017 Publication of the standard

The European standard EN16931 for electronic invoicing was drawn up by committee CEN/TC 434 of the European standardisation body CEN. In March 2017, member states adopted the first two parts of the standard. This was a necessary precondition for the completion of the national standard Xrechnung.

From 2020, XRechnung

From the end of November 2020, the XRechnung will be mandatory for all contractors of contracting authorities.

What exactly is the X-bill? When is this invoice format mandatory? How can Xinvoices be created and what is the difference to ZUGFeRD? The answers to these questions, what to consider and how you can make the changeover, can be found here.

XInvoices

Electronic invoice formats and standards

Unstructured data formats: Invoicing in .pdf-, .jpg or .tif format
Structured data formats: XML, EDI, XRechnung
Hybrid data formats: PDF/A, ZUGFeRD
Transmission channels: e-mail, DE-mail, e-mail or web download

The X-bill

Standard in Germany for contracting authorities

The X invoice is a special e-invoice. This applies in Germany to electronic invoice transmission for public contracts by default. According to the E-Invoice Regulation, billers who are subject to this e-invoice obligation must submit electronic invoices as X invoices. The XRechnung is defined by law as a German standard. This standard fully meets the requirements of the European CEN data model.

The mandatory dispatch of e-invoices for public contracts (B2G sector) is also intended to put business transactions between companies (B2B sector) on the path towards electronic procurement. In the case of electronic invoice exchange, xinvoices in XML data format and hybrid invoices according to the ZUGFeRD standard prove themselves due to legal provisions.

Invoicing XInvoice mandatory from 2020

From 27 November 2020, all contractors supplying goods or services to the Confederation will be required to prepare e-invoices in the structured formats of the XRechnung. This means that public contractors in Germany can now send more electronic invoices (x-bills) to the federal authorities. Other types of invoicing are no longer allowed. Only these invoices will be accepted in the future.

The obligation to prepare and submit XInvoices from 27 November 2020 is the result of the requirements of the EU Directive 2014/55/EU and the E-Accounting Regulation, which the Confederation has adopted in the implementation of EU rules. With the exception of a few exceptions, such as the small limit and special security arrangements, this obligation applies without restriction. Conversely, contracting authorities must accept these e-invoices from certain reference dates. This has been the case for the highest federal authorities and constitutional bodies of the federal government since 27 November 2018. All other institutions that are recipients of the invoice within the meaning of the Federal E-Rech-VO shall observe 27 November 2019 as the cut-off date. In the period up to 2020, the contracting authorities of the Länder and municipal clients will also follow.

What do Xbills look like?

From the user’s point of view, an X-bill is a data exchange model that provides all data to the invoice in a structured manner as an XML format. It is a semantic data model that maps all legally binding contents of an invoice and serves machine processing. This means that X-bills contain all general mandatory information of an invoice in accordance with Section 14 UStG and all special components of an e-invoice in accordance with Section 5 E-Rech-VO. This German data exchange standard can be implemented as a technology-neutral format in IT solutions and is purely machine-readable. From July 1, 2019 to December 30, 2019, the version of XRechnung 1.2.0 will apply. From January 1, 2020, the new version 1.2.1 will be available for XBills.

What is the Guide ID?

The routing ID allows the addressing and forwarding of the received e-invoice to the invoice release systems of the respective administrative units. In order for the supplier’s Invoice to be forwarded to the correct invoice recipient, the recipient must know the recipient’s control id and deliver it in the e-invoice. The guide ID of the invoice recipient should have been communicated either at the time of award or at the time of ordering.

The structure includes the following parts:

Key figure of the state
Key figure of the district
Key figure of the district
Municipal code
Delimiter “-” (to initiate variable manager number)
Fine-addressing
Delimiter “-” (to terminate the variable manager number)
Check digit (via the previous fields)

Transfer XInvoice

There are different ways to transfer the XBill.

Central incoming invoice platform of the federal government (routing ID with “991” or “99000000”). The website of the Confederation’s central invoicing platform offers you the opportunity to create an electronic invoice via a web form, to submit a created electronic invoice or to view the processing status of the electronic invoice you have submitted. Website: https://xrechnung.bund.de/prod/authenticate.do

Further transmission paths:

Transmission by e-mail
Various online portals, depending on the client / upload of the XRechnung
Transmission by DE-Mail
Transmission over the Peppol network

Archiving

The requirements for archiving electronic invoices are regulated differently in the countries. Since there are no uniform rules for archiving, the respective national standards must be checked.

SAP XInvoice Example

Differences between ZUGFeRD 1.0 and ZUGFeRD 2.0

The following changes are to be observed in the ZUGFeRD 2.0 specification with regard to version 1.0:

Design principles of EN 16931-1
Deviations in profiles
Rules
Calculation method
Other tags in syntax mapping
Code lists
Embedding in PDF/A-3

Software for XBills

Companies supplying to contracting authorities must create the necessary conditions to be able to draw up Xinvoices by 27 November 2020 at the latest. Until then, you have time to prepare for electronic invoice shipment and to switch to appropriate software solutions for Xinvoices. This new typeof adjustment requires adjustments to the technical systems and internal processes involved in the preparation of invoices. The obligation to invoice deliveries for contracting authorities applies to companies of all sizes.
The obligation to create e-invoices affects not only the suppliers themselves, but also those providers who sell software solutions for invoicing. It is part of their remit to develop software for the XInvoice and to provide the necessary functions for the production and transmission of such invoices. Providers have designed conversion solutions for the creation of e-invoices that convert traditional invoices into X invoices. Many companies that need to create Xinvoices use classic ERP systems from manufacturers such as SAP, Microsoft, or Oracle. For the import and export of data, the systems have standardized interfaces that provide the basis for conversion to other formats. By using a suitable conversion solution, companies can convert invoices created in ERP export format to X invoices. The reverse conversion process is also possible.

Difference XInvoice Standard and ZUGFeRD

The main difference between the XInvoice Data Model and ZUGFeRD is that XCalculations are pure XML files for machine processing. In contrast, a ZUGFeRD invoice is also readable by humans. Documents according to this hybrid data model contain, in addition to the structured electronic file, a PDF filethat can be used by the user. They can be delivered by e-mail. The invoice recipient receives a PDF document to which the XML file is attached. It can print the invoice as a PDF file and insert it into the system as an XML file. The ZUGFeRD 2.0 version fully complies with the requirements of EU standard 16931 and can therefore also be used for sending invoices to contracting authorities.

Another difference between the standard XInvoice and ZUGFeRD is in the area of use. XInvoices are the legal invoice format for public administration contracts. Thus, the data model of the XRechnung is mainly used in the B2G area (Business to Government). In contrast, many companies in the B2B sector prefer the FORMAT ZUGFeRD. ZUGFeRD enables an optimized exchange of invoices between companies and is also suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have a strong IT structure. Since ZUGFeRD additionally provides the invoice data as an image part in the PDF, companies that do not have automated invoice processing can also receive such invoices. Conversely, those companies that process invoices largely automatically transfer the invoice data of the XML data to their systems. Due to the hybrid structure (XML and PDF document), all invoice recipients can use ZUGFeRD ideally.

Accounting and ERP software vendors develop specialized application solutions that allow companies to create and process ZUGFeRD invoices as part of traditional software. It is also possible to implement ZUGFeRD in company-specific software solutions. Of course, we also have the right add-on for SAP.

Do you have any questions or would you like an SAP system demo?
We would be happy to advise you in a personal conversation.