ZUGFeRD or XRechnung: the difference, simply explained

The difference in two sentences

An XRechnung is data only: an XML file without a page view. ZUGFeRD is a PDF with exactly such data embedded as an XML file; the person reads the PDF, the program reads the XML.

The XRechnung

• An XML file under EN 16931 with German rules, published by KoSIT, valid in version 3.0.
• The standard for invoices to public authorities, addressed with the Leitweg-ID in the buyer reference field (BT-10).
• Hardly readable without software: the recipient needs a program that displays it.

Create an XRechnung and send it to authorities

ZUGFeRD

• A PDF/A-3 with an embedded XML file, published by FeRD and technically identical to the French Factur-X.
• Common between businesses, because every recipient can open the PDF.
• An e-invoice from the BASIC profile up; the MINIMUM and BASIC WL profiles are not e-invoices within the meaning of § 14 UStG.
• For tax purposes, the data in the XML file counts, not the picture.

Create a ZUGFeRD invoice

Which format when?

• An invoice to a public authority: the XRechnung, with the contracting authority's Leitweg-ID.
• An invoice to a business: usually ZUGFeRD, because the customer can read it without software; the XRechnung is just as valid.
• Your customer processes invoices automatically: the format their system expects; both carry the same data.
• A plain PDF without an XML file is allowed between businesses in Germany only during the transition, at the latest until the end of 2027.

The e-invoicing mandate: every deadline from 2025 to 2028

Both from the same invoice

In TWT Invoice you write the invoice once and choose the format: ZUGFeRD in the EN 16931 profile or XRechnung 3.0. Before sending, the KoSIT validator checks the XML file and veraPDF the PDF/A-3; the invoice stays in the archive in its original for eight years.