Odoo e-invoicing in Germany: E-Rechnung
The Germany e-invoicing picture in full: the scheme, the authority behind it, who it binds, and every requirement we map before a build is quoted.
E-Rechnung. B2B sits in section 14 UStG; federal B2G runs on XRechnung under the E-Rechnungsverordnung (ERechV)
Authority: Bundesministerium der Finanzen and the Land tax offices for B2B. For federal public contracts, the Bund's central invoice receipt platforms (ZRE and OZG-RE)
Every German business has had to be able to receive structured e-invoices since 1 January 2025. Issuing is still in transition: 2026 is the last full year in which paper or PDF is allowed with the buyer's agreement.
Domestic B2B supplies where both the supplier and the customer are established in Germany. Supplies exempt under section 4 nos. 8 to 29 UStG are out of scope and B2C is not covered. Separately, suppliers to federal contracting authorities have had to send e-invoices since 27 November 2020 for orders above 1,000 euro net.
Every requirement, in full
5 requirements. Each one has to end up as a field, a document layout, a stored response, or an API call in your Odoo build. This is the list an e-invoicing project in Germany gets costed against.
- 1 A structured electronic format that is issued, sent and received electronically and meets the European standard under Directive 2014/55/EU. XRechnung (pure XML) and ZUGFeRD (PDF with embedded XML) both qualify. Parties may also agree another format if the required data can be extracted correctly and interoperably.
- 2 Post-audit, not clearance. There is no government platform and no real-time reporting for B2B. Transmission is free choice, for example email or Peppol.
- 3 Transition under section 27 UStG: paper and other electronic formats stay allowed with the recipient's consent for supplies up to 31 December 2026, and up to 31 December 2027 if the issuer's total turnover in the previous calendar year was 800,000 euro or less. Legacy EDI that does not meet the standard also runs to 31 December 2027.
- 4 Invoices must be kept for 8 years under section 14b UStG.
- 5 Federal B2G: XRechnung as the standard, the Leitweg-ID as a mandatory field carried in the buyer reference, plus bank details, payment terms and an email or De-Mail address, submitted through the federal portal after registering a user account. Direct contracts up to 1,000 euro are exempt.
Checked Localization notes on this page checked on 22 August 2026.
Rates, formats, thresholds and submission windows change. We configure against the rules in force at build time and confirm every figure with your accountant or tax advisor before sign-off. If a rule moves after go-live, it is a support ticket, not a rebuild. Read more on our Odoo localization service.
How we build e-invoicing for Germany
The delivery method behind the list above. The same four steps on a 10-user rollout and on a multi-company programme, with the depth scaled to the scope.
- 1 Requirements first, code second. Each line above becomes a field, a report, or an API call on a written mapping sheet. Anything with no home in Odoo is quoted as a build before the project starts.
- 2 Numbering is settled on day one. Invoice sequences are the part that breaks quietly and costs the most to unwind after go-live, so they are signed off before the first test document.
- 3 Submission runs from a queue. Retries, idempotency keys, stored responses and an audit trail. A failed send becomes a ticket with evidence, not a missing invoice you find at month end.
- 4 Your finance team signs it off. Real documents, in a test database, checked with your accountant or tax advisor before cutover, with a rollback plan in writing.
What we need from you to quote it
Bring these to the first call and you get a scoped, priced e-invoicing plan for Germany instead of a range.
- โ Your tax registration details and the entity each one belongs to.
- โ A sample of every document type you issue: invoice, credit note, debit note, self-billing if you use it.
- โ Any registration, certificate or portal credential the authority has already issued you.
Services behind this work
The rest of the Germany localization detail
Each topic has its own page with the full item list, the same way this one does.
Full detail, printed as checked.
Payroll in GermanyFull detail, printed as checked.
Payments in GermanyFull detail, printed as checked.
Shipping in GermanyFull detail, printed as checked.
Germany country overviewServices, modules, client work and delivery for Germany.
E-invoicing in other markets we cover
Running the same rollout across borders? These pages carry the same depth for each market, so you can compare before scoping a multi-country phase.
Scope e-invoicing for your Germany rollout.
Send us the list above with your answers against it. We come back with what is configuration, what is a connector, and what is a build, priced before the project starts.