Starting January 2025, German regulations will require all B2B transactions within the country to be processed using electronic invoices (e-invoices). This regulation aligns with the EU’s aim to promote standardised e-invoicing, improving efficiency and transparency across member states. Spendesk’s e-invoicing solution ensures your business stays compliant and streamlines your invoicing processes.
Definition of E-Invoice
An e-invoice is an invoice that is issued, transmitted and received in a predefined structured electronic format, in accordance with the European standard EN 16931. XRechnung and ZugFeRD represent the national CIUS (Core Invoice Usage Specification) for eInvoicing and are EN 16931-compliant formats.
The XRechnung format: A machine-readable format consisting of pure data structured as lines of code.
The ZUGFeRD format: A hybrid format that combines a data record XML with a readable PDF file. In this format, the PDF has embedded XML data files. This allows for both visual inspection and machine processing of the invoice.
➡️ Formats such as simple PDF documents, .tif or .jpeg are not sufficient for electronic processing because they do not contain structured data necessary for automated processing.
How Spendesk Supports E-Invoicing
Compatible Formats: Spendesk supports the processing of EN 16931-compliant e-invoices in XRechnung and ZugFeRD formats.
Submitting E-Invoices
E-invoices can be uploaded and processed via:
Desktop submission.
Invoice Inbox.
Email forwarding by suppliers.
Note: Mobile uploads are not currently supported. It is recommended to use the invoice upload processes above in order to remain compliant.
How It Works
If an e-invoice is submitted as a PDF with embedded XML, Spendesk displays it in the invoice review with an “E-Rechnung” tag, indicating compliance. The XML remains embedded and unaltered within the PDF invoice throughout its lifecycle on Spendesk, even when exported.
If the submission is XML-only, Spendesk generates a PDF that embeds the XML data, ensuring visibility and compliance without modifying the original XML. The XML remains embedded and unaltered within the PDF invoice throughout its lifecycle on Spendesk, even when exported.
In both scenarios above, when submitting or forwarding an e-invoice, the requester can click “Open E-invoice XML” and check the content of the original XML
All exports to DateV will include the compliant PDF with embedded XML data as supporting documentation.
More Resources
For additional information, please explore our E-invoicing resources.
(“E-invoice” tag and “Open E-invoice XML” link)