E-invoicing in Germany, free
If your business is in Germany, every invoice Spoonbill sends carries its ZUGFeRD XML inside the PDF your client already gets, checked against the official EN 16931 rules on the way out. On the free plan too.
- ZUGFeRD EN 16931
- XRechnung 3.0
- As of October 2026
What Germany requires, and when
- 1 Jan 2025
Every business in Germany must be able to receive e-invoices.
- 1 Jan 2027
Issuing them to other German businesses becomes mandatory above €800,000 prior-year turnover.
- 1 Jan 2028
Every domestic B2B invoice must be an e-invoice.
Source: Bundesfinanzministerium
Permanently exempt from issuing: small businesses under §19 UStG, invoices up to €250, and invoices to consumers. The duty binds a seller and a client both established in Germany; a client abroad, or a seller abroad, is outside it. The rest of what a German invoice must state is in invoice requirements in Germany.
How it works in Spoonbill
As always
You write the invoice as you always would: the client, the lines, the amount. Spoonbill fills in the taxes, the number and your business details.
The XML comes along
You press Send. Your client gets a PDF/A-3 with the ZUGFeRD XML embedded, as a link and as the email attachment. Any PDF reader opens it; their accounting software reads the XML.
And the XRechnung for public bodies
If the client has a Leitweg-ID, the XRechnung goes in the same email. Every sent invoice can also be downloaded as an XRechnung. It applies when your business is in Germany; sellers in Austria and Switzerland can send an XRechnung to a German public buyer.
ZUGFeRD or XRechnung?
Both are e-invoices under the same standard, EN 16931, carrying the same content. What differs is who reads them.
ZUGFeRD: the PDF with the XML inside
A person reads the PDF, software reads the XML.
XRechnung: the XML on its own, no picture
Spoonbill attaches it once the Leitweg-ID is on the client.
What goes into the file
The XML holds what the PDF shows, in a form software reads:
- The fields §14 UStG requires: both parties’ names and addresses, the tax number or VAT ID, the invoice number and date
- The delivery date or service period
- The lines, the VAT rates and the amount per rate
- The §19 small-business sentence if that is you, or the reverse-charge sentence
- The due date and your bank details with the IBAN
If something an e-invoice needs is missing, the invoice goes out as a plain PDF and the app tells you which detail is missing.
Checked when you send
Before an e-invoice leaves, Spoonbill checks its XML against the official EN 16931 validation rules, and an XRechnung against the XRechnung rules as well.
The e-invoice goes out
The PDF carries its XML, and the invoice records when it was sent and delivered.
Then a clean PDF instead
A file that fails goes out as a PDF without the XML rather than as a broken e-invoice — and the invoice tells you why.
Free means the free plan
E-invoices are on every plan at no extra cost. Free sends 5 invoices or quotes a month for as long as you like, with no credit card. Pro sends without a limit and chases late payers on its own. See the plans.
Austria: e-invoices to the federal government
Austria has no e-invoicing mandate between businesses. Anyone who supplies a federal government body has invoiced it electronically since 2014.
- On the client, tick Federal government (Bund) and enter your Supplier number.
- On the invoice, enter the government’s Order reference. Spoonbill turns it into the e-invoice the federal government accepts. Without an order reference it does not go out, because the portal would refuse it.
- You download the file and upload it yourself at e-Rechnung.gv.at.
Businesses and private clients in Austria still get the normal PDF.
E-invoicing with Spoonbill
Is e-invoicing mandatory in Germany?
Receiving is, for every German business since 1 January 2025. Issuing becomes mandatory for domestic B2B in 2027 above €800,000 turnover and in 2028 for everyone, with small businesses, invoices up to €250 and consumer invoices exempt.
Is a PDF an e-invoice?
Not on its own. An e-invoice needs the EN 16931 XML. Spoonbill embeds it in the PDF when you send, which makes the PDF a ZUGFeRD invoice. A PDF from Word, or from the free invoice generator, stays an ordinary invoice.
Do small businesses in Germany need to send e-invoices?
Not to send them; to receive them, yes, since 2025. If you send one anyway, the XML carries the §19 UStG sentence just as the PDF does.
How do I know whether a client wants ZUGFeRD or XRechnung?
Businesses nearly always take ZUGFeRD, because it stays a readable PDF. A public body gives you a Leitweg-ID and expects the XRechnung. Put the Leitweg-ID on the client and Spoonbill sends both.
Can I receive e-invoices in Spoonbill?
No. Spoonbill writes and sends invoices; it does not receive them. Your email inbox is enough to receive. Keep the XML itself, not only a printout.
This page describes what Spoonbill does. It is not tax or legal advice; for an unusual case, ask your tax adviser.
Send your first e-invoice
Your next invoice as an e-invoice: create an account, write the invoice, send it. The rest travels inside the PDF.