The Peppol Coordinating Authority is a body within the Peppol organisation which is responsible in particular for technical specifications within the network, for server administration and for overall contract management. The Peppol Coordinating Authority passes on specific tasks to what are known as Peppol authorities which are located worldwide. In Germany, the KoSIT performs the tasks of the Peppol authority on behalf of the IT Planning Council. Specifically, it provides information and consultancy services to businesses and public authorities and performs tasks related to contract management in Germany. Furthermore, it provides expert and technical support and represents German interests within the overall organisation.

OpenPeppol is a Brussels-based non-profit organisation established under Belgian law which aims to enable smooth, standardised and automated cross-border e-procurement. OpenPeppol is responsible for operating the Peppol network. Peppol users who wish to set up an access point of their own need to become members of the Peppol community which, in turn, gives them the opportunity to take an active role in developing Peppol. The cooperation and work on specific issues takes place in domain-specific working groups which are open to all members. OpenPeppol pursues the following aims:

• Promoting the use of electronic procurement processes by public administrations worldwide and their suppliers, using the Peppol specifications
• Advertising and using ICT products and services to support public procurement processes
• Facilitating the use of e-procurement processes in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
• Ensuring continuous growth of the Peppol network
• Guaranteeing interoperability for European public administrations

Note: Generally speaking, any organisation can become a member of Peppol; membership fees depend on the status and size of the member organisation.

Peppol (originally Pan-European Public Procurement Online) emerged from an international project aimed at standardising public procurement and contract award procedures in the European Union and globally. Peppol is run by OpenPeppol AISBL, a Brussels-based non-profit organisation established under Belgian law.

Peppol essentially pursues the vision of creating full interoperability across different systems. This means that any business in a given country should be able to manage all procurement and contract award procedures electronically, whether it be with an administration located in the same country or abroad. For this purpose, Peppol provides a data transmission network (the Peppol eDelivery Network) and specifications for the documents to be transmitted (Peppol Business Interoperability Specifications, BIS). The main advantage offered by this organisation is the entirely electronic, seamless and automated exchange of documents. Peppol also supports the automated mass import of documents.

The invoice submission portal OZG-RE uses the Peppol network to enable suppliers to automatically submit their e-invoices.

Technically speaking, Peppol is based on what is known as the “four-corner model”.

More information about Peppol is available on the Peppol website and the KoSIT website.

In order for the invoice issuer or sender to be able to send an electronic invoice to the correct address, the invoice recipient of the Federal Administration must be uniquely identified and addressable. The buyer reference is called “Leitweg-ID” in German.

The buyer reference enables electronic addressing and forwarding of the e-invoice by the Federal Central Invoice Submission Portal of the federal government to the connected ERP or release systems of the authorities of the federal administration.

The buyer reference is specified in the standard XRechnung invoice in the field ‘Buyer reference’ (BT-10) and must be transmitted as mandatory information on every e-invoice.

From 1 January 2025 – accompanied by transitional regulations – it will also be mandatory to use an electronic invoice (e-invoice) for transactions between domestic companies. The Federal Ministry of Finance is responsible for legal issues related to invoicing in the B2B sector. Companies do not need their own buyer reference for this purpose, as this is only used to address invoice recipients in the federal administration.

The buyer reference is basically made up of three components:

• Basic address,
• Specific address and
• Check digit.

The basic address is used to distinguish whether the invoice recipient belongs to the federal administration or to a federal state:

• 991: The invoice recipient is part of the direct federal administration or a constitutional body and receives electronic invoices via the OZG-RE.
• 992: The invoice recipient is part of the direct federal administration and receives electronic invoices via the OZG-RE.
• 993: The invoice recipient is part of the direct federal administration and receives electronic invoices via its own solution (not OZG-RE).

Additional information on basic addressing in Germany’s federal states can be found in the document on Buyer Reference ID set-up (in German only) of the KoSIT.

The buyer reference must be indicated on every electronic invoice to public contracting authorities of the federal administration.

When placing the order, the public contracting authority provides the invoice issuer (contractor) with the buyer reference. The OZG-RE platform also has a list of connected buyer references within the web entry. However, please only use the listed identification number when you are placing the order for an associated electronic invoice.

An invoice recipient in the federal administration has at least one buyer reference. Each authority or office may use several buyer references. Applying for multiple buyer references is possible if they are needed to assign e-invoices to separate departments within an authority or institution, so that they can be forwarded via the respective processing systems to the responsible units.

Please contact the invoice recipient directly if you have any questions about the buyer reference applicable to your contract. More information on the buyer reference is available on the KoSIT website. Federal authorities and offices are assigned their buyer reference (Leitweg-ID) by the Federal Government’s Central Finance Office (Zentrales Finanzwesen des Bundes, ZFB). Please contact erechnung@zrb.bund.de if you have any questions.

E-invoices must be created using a data format that meets the requirements of

• the European standard (EN 16931),
• the terms of use for the relevant invoice submission portal,
• and the requirements of the federal E-Invoicing Ordinance ( E-Rechnungsverordnung, E-RechV).

In general, invoices for the federal administration must be issued using the currently valid XRechnung standard. Other invoice formats may be used (such as ZUGFeRD version 2.2.0 in the XRECHNUNG profile, as a simple structured XML file) as long as they meet the above-mentioned requirements.Rechnungsformat (z. B. ZUGFeRD Version 2.2.0 im Profil XRECHNUNG als rein strukturierte XML-Datei) verwendet werden, wenn dieser den oben genannten Anforderungen entspricht.

The current version of the XRechnung standard must always be used when issuing electronic invoices to the federal administration. Any other standard can also be used, if it meets the requirements of the European standard for electronic invoicing (EN 16931), the Federal Government’s Regulation on Electronic Invoicing (E-RechV) and the Federal Government’s terms of use for the invoice submission platform.

The ZUGFeRD 2.2.0 profile ‘XRechnung’ generally meets the requirements and enables submission of invoices via the federal government’s platform.

XRechnung is the standard for electronic invoicing for public contracting authorities and definitively implements Directive 2014/55/EU in Germany. The Coordination Office for IT Standards (Koordinierungsstelle für IT-Standards, in short: KoSIT) maintains and develops the XRechnung standard on behalf of the IT Planning Council. Furthermore, KoSIT coordinates the continuous development of XRechnung with assistance by experts from the federal government, the states and the municipalities.

Further information can be found on the KoSIT website.

The current version of the XRechnung standard must always be used when issuing electronic invoices to the federal administration. Any other standard (e.g. ZUGFeRD 2.2.0 with the ‘XRechnung’ profile as a purely structured XML file) can also be used, if it meets the requirements of the European standard for electronic invoicing (EN 16931), the Federal Government’s Regulation on Electronic Invoicing (E-RechV) and the federal government’s terms of use for the invoice submission platform.

EU Directive EN 16931 mandates the use of the structured data format XML for electronic invoice exchange, which enables automated invoice processing. A standardised semantic data model describes the information elements of an invoice and their mutual relationship and data types (e.g. the buyer’s name). The specification of the syntax (UBL and UN/CEFACT) ensures uniform technical implementation of e-invoicing within the EU.

As a national implementation of the data model, the XRechnung invoice standard in Germany supplements the EU standard with 21 specific national business rules to be applied to individual information elements and relationships between information elements. Thus, the standard takes into account the national requirements for invoicing – such as the E-RechV. It is illustrated by the example of the information element ‘buyer reference’ in the field ‘BT-10’:

• The ‘buyer reference’ (BT-10) is an optional content element according to the EU standard
• The ‘buyer reference’ (BT-10) is a mandatory information element according to German law. The XRechnung standard thus defines the ‘buyer reference’ as a mandatory content element in which the so-called buyer reference must be indicated.

The XRechnung standard is frequently reviewed and updated. Changes will be announced six months before enforcement. The currently valid version of the complete documentation of the standard is available on the KoSIT website.

An electronic invoice (e-invoice) is an invoice issued in a structured format in compliance with the EU standard, which is submitted and received electronically and enables seamless automatic and electronic processing.

• Designed as a purely semantic data format, e-invoicing enables invoice data to be imported into the processing systems directly and seamlessly.
• It is based on a structured XML format, which primarily only facilitates machine readability.
• By using display programs (so-called visualisation programs), the XML data set can be displayed in a way that is readable for humans.

There are various standards or specifications that enable electronic invoicing, e.g. XRechnung standard.

• The XRechnung standard represents a national version of European standard EN 16931, a so-called Core Invoice Usage Specification (CIUS).
• To ensure that every Member State can implement the European standard EN 16931 with its own country-specific requirements, each country defines its own specific CIUS.
• In Germany, the national version of the standard is called XRechnung. It is used for the standardised implementation of the requirements of public contracting authorities within the federal government in the majority of states and local authorities.

Depending on how outgoing invoices have been implemented so far, there are different implementation possibilities:

Do you use a service provider or commercially available software for invoicing? Contact the manufacturer and find out whether electronic invoicing is supported.

Do you use your own system? Clarify with your IT department which steps are necessary to create e-invoices in compliance with EU standard 16931 and the German legal situation. The currently valid version of the complete documentation of the standard is available on the KoSIT website.

If you are not using an outgoing invoice system or if you need an interim solution, familiarise yourself with the OZG-RE web-based entry system.

The XRechnung XML data set must be viewed by the invoice recipient for further processing. Usually, the data set is viewed within the (ERP) system. KoSIT also offers a corresponding viewing component. The components to support viewing within a system are publicly available in the XRechnung GitHub.

If the invoice cannot be processed in a system-supported and automated way, the use of a viewing solution is recommended in order to better ‘detect’ potential errors.

Invoice issuers/senders also need to be able to view the original invoice – the XML data set – to complete accounting processes. The functionality can be integrated in the electronic outgoing invoice system or ensured via a dedicated viewing solution.

The XRechnung standard represents a national version of European standard EN 16931, a so-called Core Invoice Usage Specification (CIUS). The national design of the directive in the other EU Member States specifies it with local regulations within the framework stipulated by the standard.

KoSIT is short for “Koordinierungsstelle für IT-Standards”, the Coordination Office for IT Standards. KoSIT is responsible for maintaining the XRechnung standard and the XRechnung extension on behalf of the IT Planning Council. XRechnung is an XML-based standard consisting of various components to facilitate technical implementation. The standard has been developed by federal, state and local government experts in a joint e-invoicing project. By decision of the IT Planning Council of 22 June 2017, XRechnung is the standard format to implement Directive 2014/55/EU in Germany, making it a reliable basis for exchanging electronic invoices with Germany’s administrations. Click here to visit the official website of KoSIT (German only).

The XML-based XRechnung standard and XRechnung extension are maintained by KoSIT, the Coordination Office for IT Standards*, on behalf of the IT Planning Council. XRechnung consists of various components to facilitate technical implementation. The standard has been developed by federal, state and local government experts in a joint e-invoicing project. By decision of the IT Planning Council of 22 June 2017, XRechnung is the standard format to implement Directive 2014/55/EU in Germany, making it a reliable basis for exchanging electronic invoices with Germany’s administrations.

*The IT Planning Council is the central body for IT cooperation across all administrative levels

The OZG-RE assumes the following three tasks for the transmission of e-invoices:

• The receipt of e-invoices via various transmission channels.
• The technical verification of e-invoices (including invoice size, number and type of attachments, virus check, entry of all mandatory information)
• The transmission of e-invoices to the respective invoice recipient via buyer reference.

Indirect federal administration institutions (and cooperating states) are connected to the OZG-RE. See the overview of the public contracting authorities connected to the OZG-RE (page in German only).

You can download all e-invoices, no matter how you submitted them, in XML format from the „Invoice status” page. The invoice in XML format is considered a valid original invoice.

The user account known as “Mein Unternehmenskonto” (which is based on the ELSTER tax software) provides companies in Germany with a central, standardised interface through which they can use the online administrative services of various authorities and communicate with those authorities. Further information on registering with and using “Mein Unternehmenskonto” can be found on the FAQ page of the “Mein Unternehmenskonto” website (German only).

“Mein Unternehmenskonto” provides companies in Germany with a standardised, single sign-on account through which to use not just the OZG-RE (for sending and receiving invoices) but other online federal administrative services as well. By using the OZG-RE via “Mein Unternehmenskonto”, invoice issuers and recipients can sign in more conveniently and benefit from a higher degree of security.

An e-invoice is invoice information that is transmitted electronically and automatically received and processed. An e-invoice facilitates consistent, automated transmission and processing of invoice information from the invoice submission to payment.

An e-invoice provides invoice content in a structured, machine-readable data set instead of on paper or in an image file such as a PDF. This ensures that information provided in this form by the invoice issuer can be:

• transmitted electronically
• received electronically
• as well as processed and approved for payment automatically and seamlessly.

In principle, the obligation for contractors to invoice the federal government electronically applies from 27/11/2020. The exceptions are regulated in the ordinance and are described as follows:

• Invoices issued after the fulfilment of a direct order up to an amount of 1,000 euros (order value).
• Invoices subject to the exceptions under Section 8 or Section 9 (confidential invoice data as well as matters of the European External Action Service and other procurements abroad).
• Invoices to be issued in procedures for the borrowed administration arrangement under Section 159(1)(5) of the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB).
• Irrespective of the legal obligation, an obligation to submit e-invoices may also arise from the respective underlying order or contractual relationship.

Download Regulation on Electronic Invoicing (E-RechV)

The federal E-Invoicing Ordinance governs the sending of e-invoices by suppliers to the federal administration. The basis for e-invoicing in Germany’s federal states, on the other hand, is EU Directive 2014/55/EU, which the federal states are responsible for implementing themselves.

In order to help you send e-invoices to the federal states, we have put together some useful information: E-invoicing in Germany’s federal states.

The federal invoice receipt platform must be used for submitting e-invoices.

• Direct federal Administration institutions and federal constitutional bodies are connected to the OZG-RE platform.
• Invoices to bodies of the indirect federal administration (and to cooperating federal states) can also be submitted via the OZG-RE platform.

Note: Indirect federal administration public contracting authorities are not obliged to use the OZG-RE, which is why in-house solutions are also possible in individual cases in addition to OZG-RE. The contracting authority will inform its invoice issuers about the invoice submission method to be used.

You can obtain more detailed information (for example, on how to submit your invoice) via the underlying order or, of course, directly from the invoice recipient.

In addition, we offer an overview of the contracting authorities connected to the platform on the website. It does not replace bilateral communication with your ordering party to provide further information such as buyer references.

The central platform OZG-RE requires prior registration and activation of the desired transmission channels for the transmission of the invoice. For high invoice volumes, the mass transmission channels via Peppol_ and email are suitable. Alternatively, the upload and web entry functions are also available. Make sure you identify the transmission channel that suits you best.

Download decision assistance for selecting a transmission channel

Depending on the ERP you use, it may be possible to create an e-invoice in the outgoing invoice system. If you are not sure, contact the manufacturer and ask whether the ERP supports electronic invoicing in XRechnung standard.

No! A special program is not required. There are several options for creating an electronic invoice to authorities of the federal administration, in particular:

• Use of an (ERP) system or service provider 
  Do you use a service provider or commercially available software for invoicing? Contact the manufacturer and find out whether electronic invoicing is supported.
  Do you use your own system? Clarify with your IT department which steps are necessary to create e-invoices that are compliant with the EU standard.
  
• Use of the OZG-RE web-based entry system
  If you are not using an outgoing invoice system or if you need an interim solution, familiarise yourself with the OZG-RE web-based entry system. The federal government provides functions for manual entry of invoices on the platform. Templates can also be created and downloaded for later use or reuse.rfassung der OZG-RE vertraut. Auf der Plattform stellt der Bund Funktionen zur manuellen Erfassung von Rechnungen zur Verfügung.

No. Tax-free invoices are not generally exempt from this requirement. They should be submitted in electronic form.

Electronic invoices are subject to the same retention requirements as paper invoices. According to section 14b of the VAT Act (Umsatzsteuergesetz, UstG), invoices must be stored for ten years. In order to comply with data protection law, invoices are fully deleted from the portal 28 days after they have been created or have changed their status. The different periods are due to different system requirements.

Invoices can be downloaded before the retention period expires.

In the OZG-RE portal, all submitted invoices can be downloaded via the menu “Invoice status”.

Learn more about this in the OZG-RE privacy policy.