Receiving e-invoices: a checklist for your business

What being ready to receive means in practice.

Since 2025, a domestic business in Germany must be able to accept an e-invoice. The German Federal Ministry of Finance states that an email mailbox is a sufficient delivery route. In day-to-day operations, however, this results in several work steps:

• The file must reach the business reliably.
• The structured content must be made readable.
• The sender, supply, amount and mandatory information must be verifiable.
• The invoice needs a traceable approval and assignment.
• The original format must be preserved.

A business is therefore ready to receive e-invoices only when the email not only arrives, but the invoice remains traceable throughout the process through to the tax advisory firm.

Define the mailbox and responsibilities.

Use a permanent functional address rather than an individual employee's mailbox. This keeps invoices accessible during holidays, staff changes or changes in responsibilities.

How to recognise a genuine e-invoice.

An e-invoice contains structured data. For an XRechnung, this is generally an XML file. ZUGFeRD or Factur-X combines a visible PDF with embedded structured data. Not every ZUGFeRD profile automatically meets every tax requirement.

A simple PDF, scan or photo may qualify as another valid form of invoice, but it has not qualified as an e-invoice since 2025. The file extension alone is therefore not sufficient for classification.

Check the content and sender.

Structured data makes an invoice machine-readable, but not automatically correct. Continue to check:

• Is the supplier known and is the sender address plausible?
• Were the goods or services actually ordered and delivered?
• Are the invoice number, supply period and payment details correct?
• Are the net amount, tax rate and tax amount comprehensible?
• Are there discrepancies between the visible representation and the data portion?

Unexpected invoices and changes to bank details should not be confirmed directly from the email. Use a previously known contact route to the supplier.

Retain the original format.

Under section 14b UStG, incoming and outgoing invoices must be retained for eight years. For an e-invoice, at least the structured part must be preserved intact in its original form.

A printout does not replace the structured file. For hybrid invoices, the PDF portion may also have to be retained if it contains additional or divergent tax-relevant information. The retention process should therefore preserve the original file, the approval and the operational assignment together.

The complete receiving checklist.

1. Set up a dedicated invoice mailbox and inform your suppliers.
2. Clearly define team access and deputy responsibilities.
3. Test receiving XRechnung and ZUGFeRD files and making them readable.
4. Check the sender, supply, mandatory information and payment details.
5. Assign the invoice to a purchase, contract or unresolved transaction.
6. Document approval and any corrections in a traceable manner.
7. Retain the structured data portion in its original format.
8. Agree the handover route and monthly cut-off date with the tax advisory firm.

BuchhaltIQ brings receipts, invoices and unresolved transactions into a shared working status. The guide to mandatory e-invoicing explains the full timeline; the supported formats are listed on the features page.