E-invoicing in Germany: where do we stand - and what comes next?
E-invoicing is no longer a topic for the future. Since the beginning of 2025, new rules have applied to B2B invoicing in Germany - and anyone who has not taken a close look yet should do so now.
First Receiving, Then Sending: The Legal Roadmap
Germany is following the EU-wide push toward digital tax and invoicing processes. The key framework behind this is ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age), and the national rollout is taking place in clearly defined stages.
- Since 1 January 2025, companies have been required to be able to receive structured electronic invoices. A PDF sent by email is no longer considered a fully valid invoice in B2B transactions - even if it is still tolerated during the transition period.
- From 1 January 2028 onwards, the rules become stricter: electronic invoicing will then be mandatory for domestic B2B business - including sending invoices electronically.
Companies that are not prepared by then risk process disruptions, delayed payments, and, in the worst case, being excluded from supply chains.
The Two Formats You Should Know: XRechnung and ZUGFeRD
Two formats have established themselves in the German e-invoicing landscape - both compliant with the European EN 16931 standard, but with different strengths and use cases:
- XRechnung is the classic XML format, originally developed for the public sector (B2G). It is purely machine-readable, highly structured, and unambiguous.
- ZUGFeRD combines a human-readable PDF with an embedded XML dataset - a hybrid format that is becoming increasingly popular in private B2B business because it makes adoption easier.
For many companies, the practical reality will be supporting both formats - depending on what business partners expect and which systems are on the other side.
Where Are the Practical Challenges - Especially in the Construction Industry?
The construction industry is well known for its cautious approach to digitalization. Data protection concerns, tight margins, legacy IT structures, and silo solutions are real challenges. And that is exactly why e-invoicing is such a relevant topic in this sector.
The e-invoicing requirement meets an industry where invoicing processes are often still paper-based or only partially automated. Project invoices, subcontractors, quantity structures - anyone working in construction knows how complex this can be.
In practice, the following questions come up again and again:
- Are existing ERP systems technically capable of generating and receiving structured invoices?
- Can existing SAP installations be extended easily - or is a complete rebuild necessary?
- How does e-invoicing interact with existing archiving and approval workflows?
Anyone who assumes their ERP system will handle this automatically is often mistaken. The ability to receive an e-invoice is only the first step. The real project is seamless integration into accounting, validation processes, and archiving.
SAP and E-Invoicing: What This Means in Practice
For companies using SAP, there is good news: SAP Document and Reporting Compliance (DRC) provides a solution that supports both XRechnung and ZUGFeRD - including automated compliance checks, customizable templates, and direct integration into existing SAP workflows.
The key point is this: ERP systems need to be adapted in time. Companies that only start addressing the topic in 2027 will already be running against the clock.
For construction companies in particular, it is also important to consider industry-specific billing variants - and to integrate them intelligently through suitable add-ins such as BAUSTEIN.
From Obligation to Opportunity
However inconvenient legal requirements may sometimes feel, e-invoicing brings real advantages:
- Fewer manual errors thanks to structured, machine-readable data
- Shorter processing times from invoice receipt to payment
- Greater transparency regarding invoice and payment status
- A foundation for automation: processing e-invoices creates the basis for further process optimization
Especially in the construction industry, where liquidity is everything, faster invoice processing can make a real difference.
Now Is the Right Time
E-invoicing is coming - the question is whether companies see the transition period as a grace period or as an opportunity to truly modernize their processes.
Especially for mid-sized construction companies with an SAP environment, there are already suitable solutions that can be integrated without major effort. The first step is often easier than it feels.
