Receiving E-Invoices: What’s Required from 2025
Since 1 January 2025 every business in Germany must be able to receive e-invoices in domestic B2B transactions. This guide explains what “able to receive” really means in practice, which formats may arrive, and what has to happen after a file lands in the inbox.
June 5, 2026
In short
Since 1 January 2025, every business in Germany – including small businesses – must be able to receive structured e-invoices in domestic B2B. An e-invoice follows the EN 16931 standard; a plain PDF does not count. An inbox can receive the file, but the structured data still has to be read, validated and posted.
The receiving obligation applies to everyone since 2025
The German e-invoicing mandate is being introduced in stages, and the first stage is already in force. Since 1 January 2025, every business in Germany must be able to receive e-invoices in domestic B2B transactions. This part of the rule applies to all companies – large enterprises and small businesses alike – regardless of prior-year turnover.
The obligation to issue e-invoices comes later: from 1 January 2027 for businesses with more than €800,000 in prior-year turnover, and from 1 January 2028 for all domestic B2B transactions. The receiving side, though, is already in effect – if a supplier sends you an e-invoice today, you need to be able to accept it.
What counts as an e-invoice – and what doesn’t
This is a common point of confusion. An e-invoice is not simply an invoice sent electronically. It is an invoice issued, transmitted and received in a structured electronic format that follows the European norm EN 16931, so that its content can be read and processed automatically.
Important: A plain PDF attached to an email is not an e-invoice. It is a digital image of an invoice. Without the underlying structured data, it does not meet the EN 16931 requirement, even though it is “electronic.”
The formats that may arrive
In Germany, two formats dominate, and a supplier may send either. Being able to receive means being able to read both.
XRechnung
A purely structured XML file. There is no human-readable page by default – the data lives entirely in the XML and follows EN 16931.
ZUGFeRD
A hybrid format: a PDF a person can read directly, plus embedded XML that carries the same data in structured, machine-readable form per EN 16931.
For a deeper comparison of the two formats and the wider timeline, see the overview of Germany’s e-invoicing mandate.
What “able to receive” really means
The receiving obligation can look like a low bar – any email inbox can already accept a file. Technically that is true: an inbox can receive the message. But that is only the first step, and it is not where the work ends.
An e-invoice is data rather than just a document, and to use it, that data has to be:
Read
The structured XML has to be parsed so that supplier, amounts, tax and line items become usable fields – not just an attachment sitting in a mailbox.
Validated
The file should be checked against EN 16931 – is it well-formed, are the mandatory fields present, do the totals add up? An invalid e-invoice still needs to be caught.
Posted and archived
The data has to flow into accounts payable and be archived in line with GoBD – in its original structured form, not as a printout.
So an inbox can receive the file, but it cannot process it. The work sits in the gap between the file arriving and the invoice being posted – pulling the data out of the file and turning it into a clean, validated record, which is the job of document capture.
What happens after receipt
Once an e-invoice lands, a typical accounts-payable path looks like this: the format is detected (XRechnung or ZUGFeRD), the structured data is extracted, the invoice is validated, it is matched against the corresponding purchase order or contract, it runs through approval, and finally it is posted and archived under GoBD. Each of those steps still has to happen – the structured format makes them faster and more reliable, but it does not make them disappear.
Structured data does bring a real upside. Because the content is machine-readable from the start, manual typing falls away, validation can be automated, and matching against orders becomes far more dependable than reading numbers off a PDF. Seen that way, the receiving obligation can be an early step toward a cleaner accounts-payable process rather than just an extra requirement.
A short checklist for 2025
Have a defined inbox for e-invoices
A clear channel where suppliers can send XRechnung and ZUGFeRD files, so nothing is lost in personal mailboxes.
Be able to read both formats
Make sure the structured XML can actually be opened and interpreted – not just viewed as an attachment.
Validate against EN 16931
Check incoming files for completeness and correctness before they enter the books.
Archive in line with GoBD
Keep the original structured file in audit-proof storage, not just a printout or a screenshot.
In short
The receiving obligation has applied to every German business since 1 January 2025, small businesses included. An e-invoice is a structured file that follows EN 16931 – a plain PDF does not qualify. XRechnung and ZUGFeRD are the formats that may arrive, and you need to be able to read both. And while an inbox can technically receive the file, the structured data still has to be read, validated, posted and archived. That step, from received file to posted invoice, is where most of the work and most of the benefit of structured data sit.
FAQ
Since when must businesses be able to receive e-invoices?
Since 1 January 2025 every business in Germany must be able to receive structured e-invoices in domestic B2B transactions. The obligation applies to all companies, including small businesses, regardless of turnover.
Is a PDF invoice an e-invoice?
No. A plain PDF is an image of an invoice, not a structured e-invoice. An e-invoice is an invoice in a structured electronic format that follows the EN 16931 standard, so its data can be read and processed automatically. XRechnung and ZUGFeRD are the common formats that meet this requirement.
Is an email inbox enough to fulfil the receiving obligation?
A standard email inbox is technically enough to accept an e-invoice file. But receiving the file is only the first step: the structured data still has to be read, validated against EN 16931 and posted. An inbox alone does not turn the XML into a booking.
Which e-invoice formats can arrive?
The two formats most common in Germany are XRechnung, a structured XML file, and ZUGFeRD, a hybrid that combines a PDF with embedded XML. Both follow EN 16931. Either may arrive from a supplier, so a business needs to be able to read both.
With Orcha: The accounts payable agent reads incoming XRechnung and ZUGFeRD files, validates them against EN 16931 and prepares them for posting – so a received e-invoice actually turns into a booked invoice.
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