Working with ZUGFeRD
What is ZUGFeRD
Electronic invoicing, or e-invoicing, is a digital way of creating, sending, receiving, and processing an invoice document. It eliminates paper and improves efficiency and savings for businesses in a B2B context. E-invoicing benefits both buyers and sellers.
As more and more companies adopt e-invoicing to gain advantages, they need standards to ensure that e-invoices can be easily understood by any software, no matter how they are created.
Among the various data formats for e-invoices, the ZUGFeRD standard is becoming more popular in German-speaking and EU countries.
ZUGFeRD is a German standard for electronic invoicing. It is the “Central User Guide of the Forum for Electronic Invoicing Germany”.
The format is a hybrid that mixes a PDF document that can be read by humans and an XML data file that can be read by machines. It enables the exchange of invoice information between businesses and public authorities in a consistent and compatible way.
It also meets the legal requirements for long-term archiving and tax compliance. ZUGFeRD has different versions and profiles that match different needs and scenarios. The latest version is ZUGFeRD 2.0, which aligns with the European standard EN 16931 for electronic invoicing. ZUGFeRD provides users with many benefits and cost savings, such as quicker processing, fewer errors, better cash flow, and less environmental impact.
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