XRechnung vs ZUGFeRD: which German e-invoice format?

The difference in brief

Germany now requires businesses to exchange structured e-invoices with each other. A plain PDF no longer counts. In practice, two German formats dominate the conversation: XRechnung and ZUGFeRD.

Both carry the same kind of structured data based on EN 16931, the European standard for e-invoice content. The difference is packaging. XRechnung delivers the data on its own, as an XML file. ZUGFeRD wraps the data inside a PDF that also shows a normal, human-readable invoice.

If your team is outside Germany, think of it this way: XRechnung is a data feed, ZUGFeRD is a document with a data feed attached. Your accounting system needs to handle both on the receiving side. On the issuing side, you usually pick one based on your customers and your software.

Who must issue e-invoices, and from when, is covered in our separate guide to e-invoicing in Germany for small businesses. This guide focuses on the format choice.

What is inside each file

Understanding the anatomy of each format makes the rest of the decision straightforward.

• XRechnung: a single XML file in one of two syntaxes, UBL or CII. There is no layout, logo or page. Opened in a browser or text editor, it shows raw code. It was historically the required format for invoices to public authorities in many German federal states.
• ZUGFeRD: a PDF/A-3 file, the archival PDF standard, with an XML file in CII syntax embedded inside it. The PDF shows a normal invoice; the XML carries the same data for automatic processing.
• Common ground: both formats follow EN 16931, so the structured content is comparable. What differs is whether a human-readable layer travels with the data.
• Not an e-invoice: a plain PDF without embedded structured data. Under the German VAT Act it counts only as an other invoice (sonstige Rechnung), allowed only during transition periods and in specific exceptions.

Side-by-side comparison

The table below compares the two formats on the points that matter to a business choosing or receiving them. The profile information for ZUGFeRD is based on published summaries of the Federal Ministry of Finance’s second guidance letter of October 2025.

ZUGFeRD profiles: the detail that trips people up

ZUGFeRD comes in several profiles, which define how much structured data the embedded XML contains. A narrow profile carries little more than headline figures; a fuller profile carries line items, buyer details and tax data.

According to summaries of the BMF’s second guidance letter of October 2025, published by German chambers of commerce and specialist publishers, the EN16931, COMFORT, EXTENDED and XRECHNUNG profiles from ZUGFeRD version 2.0.1 onwards qualify as e-invoices. The MINIMUM and BASIC WL profiles do not, because they lack sufficient structured buyer and tax data.

The practical consequence: a file labelled ZUGFeRD is not automatically a valid German e-invoice. If your billing tool offers ZUGFeRD export, check which profile it writes. The technical specification is maintained by the Forum elektronische Rechnung Deutschland (FeRD), which publishes ZUGFeRD; your software vendor should be able to confirm the profile.

When the format choice becomes binding

You do not choose which format you receive. Since 1 January 2025, every business in Germany must be able to accept e-invoices, so both XRechnung and ZUGFeRD can land in your inbox. The issuing side follows your own deadline.

Choosing a format as an international business

For foreign-owned companies, the format question is usually a systems question. Your German invoices may come out of a group ERP, a SaaS billing platform or a local accounting tool. Start from what that system can produce, then check it against what your customers need.

Choose ZUGFeRD in a qualifying profile when your German customers are mostly businesses that still want to see and approve a document, and when your team abroad also needs to read invoices without special tools. The PDF layer keeps the invoice familiar for everyone.

Choose XRechnung when a public-sector customer or a large company asks for it, or when your customers’ systems ingest pure XML. It is also a clean option if your billing platform already exports structured data and you do not need a visual copy.

Example: a Swedish software company runs a German GmbH that invoices around forty German business customers each month. Its billing platform can export ZUGFeRD. The team configures the EN16931 profile, keeps the familiar PDF layout, and only switches to XRechnung for one customer, a municipal utility, that requires it.

Whatever you choose for issuing, make sure the receiving side covers both formats. That is often where a group set-up fails: supplier invoices from Germany arrive as XML and sit unread in a shared inbox.

Checking a file you received

A short routine helps your accounts team classify incoming files correctly.

According to summaries of the BMF’s 2025 guidance, the tax authority distinguishes two kinds of errors. A format error, such as broken or structurally invalid XML, means the file does not count as an e-invoice. A business-rule error, such as a missing buyer reference, is a content issue that can be corrected, and the invoice remains an e-invoice.

• File ends in .xml: most likely an XRechnung. Open it in your accounting software or a viewer, not a browser.
• PDF with an embedded XML attachment: most likely ZUGFeRD. Check the profile in your software or a validation tool.
• PDF without any embedded XML: a plain PDF, which is an other invoice, not an e-invoice.
• Format error in the XML: ask the supplier for a corrected e-invoice.
• Business-rule error, such as a missing reference: ask for a correction; the file still counts as an e-invoice.
• Plain PDF after the supplier’s transition period: ask for a proper e-invoice, since advisers warn that a non-compliant invoice can put your input VAT deduction at risk.

What to do now

Step 1: Test receiving. Send one real XRechnung and one ZUGFeRD invoice through your inbox and accounting software, and confirm that both are displayed, booked and stored in their original form.

Step 2: Ask your billing or ERP vendor which German formats it exports, which ZUGFeRD profile it uses by default, and whether that can be changed.

Step 3: Ask your main German customers, especially public-sector ones, which format they expect.

Step 4: Set the profile to EN16931 or XRECHNUNG where you use ZUGFeRD, and document the choice for your finance team.

Step 5: Agree with your German tax adviser (Steuerberater) how e-invoices are archived and passed on for bookkeeping.

If invoices come from several systems or countries, Synelo can build the integration that converts, validates and routes them, as a defined engineering project.

This guide is general information as of October 2026, not legal or tax advice — check your situation with your Steuerberater or the German tax authority.