E-invoice – challenge and opportunity

The era of paper invoices has passed. The EU's draft ViDA Directive specifies a "near-real-time" reporting system for VAT and requires mandatory electronic invoices for many transactions. It provides the economy with enhanced efficiency while simultaneously giving authorities better control. With a special authorisation from the EU, Germany plans to introduce electronic invoices for domestic B2B transactions as early as 2025.

The e-invoice will therefore soon be a reality and processes must evolve to comply. Within the specified transition periods, invoice issuers can choose which method they will use to submit their invoices. However, invoice recipients must be technically able to receive e-invoices if they deal with business partners who prefer to switch to e-invoicing immediately rather than making use of the transition period.

Our tailored approach to implementing e-invoicing

Businesses’ response to the new requirements has been quite diverse: for some, e-invoicing is a threat to be conquered with the least amount of effort needed to achieve basic legal compliance. Others see e-invoices as the first step toward achieving the next level of digitisation and automation within their company. All companies share a common need for a solution that meets their requirements and fulfils the various demands of their stakeholders using the available resources. Our advisory services are specifically tailored to our clients’ current situation.

Our solutions for the tailored implementation of e-invoicing

With our diverse team of tax experts, auditors, and IT experts as well as specialists for digital transformation and tax compliance management systems, we advise companies of all sizes interested in digitisation, helping them introduce e-invoicing and achieve maximum synergy by simultaneously digitising their upstream and downstream processes. If a company’s business processes are still somewhat inconsistent, we help it achieve the necessary degree of precision. In doing so, we always take a resource-efficient approach and offer our clients a set of consulting and support solution modules from which to choose.

We also support companies and all their affected business units such as tax, IT, accounting, controlling, procurement, and the supervisory board to ensure that the issue of e-invoicing is considered from the perspective of all the major stakeholders.

How you benefit

Take advantage of our multidisciplinary approach to advance to the next level of digitisation and automation in a way precisely tailored to your individual needs and goals. We help you strike the right balance between the initial effort required to adapt your technical infrastructure and the medium-term and long-term gain provided by a high degree of automation and develop individually tailored solutions for your company. Our expertise gained from managing numerous similar projects gives you the confidence of knowing that you are dealing with experts.

Want to know more?

BMF klärt Detailfragen zur E-Rechnung

Die Verbändeanhörung zum Wachstumschancengesetz, das auch die verpflichtende E-Rechnung ab 2025 vorsieht, hat viele Bedenken und Fragen hervorgerufen. Mit einigen setzt sich das BMF in einem Schreiben vom 2. Oktober 2023 auseinander. Dies betrifft vor allem die XRechnung, die hybride ZUGFeRD-Rechnung und die EDI-Rechnung.

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BMF changeover to mandatory e-invoicing as of 2025

After the EU Commission presented a draft for an amended VAT Directive on 8 December 2022 within the framework of the project "VAT in the Digital Age" (ViDA), which is intended to digitalise the invoicing and reporting obligations, the BMF is following suit. A draft for discussion on the new e-invoicing has been presented to the various stakeholders.

EU Commission publishes draft Directive

The VAT Directive must be adapted to the digital transformation of economic activities – the EU Commission has been working on this for a long time. On 8 December 2022, it presented a draft for an amended Directive that is intended to completely digitalise the VAT invoicing and reporting obligations, expand the previous regulations for the platform economy and avoid VAT registrations in other EU countries....