Germany (XRechnung and ZUGFeRD)

German entities can export finalized invoices and credit notes as structured e-invoices for German workflows.

Supported Formats

Format	Output	Use
XRechnung	UBL XML	German EN 16931 CIUS, including public-sector workflows
ZUGFeRD	PDF with embedded CII XML	Hybrid invoice for recipients that need both a visual PDF and structured data

Prerequisites

Requirement	Description
German entity	Entity country must be Germany
E-invoicing feature	Germany must include the `e_invoicing` country feature
E-invoicing settings	Enable XRechnung and/or ZUGFeRD in entity settings
Finalized document	Draft invoices and credit notes cannot be exported
Complete parties	Seller and buyer names, addresses, cities, postal codes, and invoice lines are required
Seller tax identifier	The seller needs a VAT ID (`tax_number`) or a German tax number (`tax_number_2`, Steuernummer). Small businesses under § 19 UStG can use the tax number alone. Intra-community supplies (`K`) and exports (`G`) need the VAT ID
Seller email (XRechnung)	The seller `email` is required for XRechnung

Exporting

Use the document actions menu in the app, or call the document API endpoint for the required format:

XRechnung downloads XML.
ZUGFeRD downloads a PDF containing embedded Factur-X/ZUGFeRD XML.

Available API endpoints:

GET /invoices/{id}/xrechnung
GET /invoices/{id}/zugferd
GET /credit-notes/{id}/xrechnung
GET /credit-notes/{id}/zugferd

Entity settings enable each standard and run validation by default. API create/update requests can set xrechnung.validation_required: true or zugferd.validation_required: true to make invalid validation block a final document save. Exports use the saved validation result when it is still current. Otherwise the document is validated again at export time, so issued invoices and credit notes stay exportable after payments or entity changes. A document that fails validation returns 422 with the field errors.

Enable German exportstypescript

await sdk.entities.update(entity.id, {
  settings: {
    xrechnung: { enabled: true },
    zugferd: { enabled: true },
  },
});

Create validated invoicetypescript

const _invoice = await sdk.invoices.create({
  customer: {
    name: "Stadtwerke Beispiel",
    address: "Rathausplatz 1",
    post_code: "10115",
    city: "Berlin",
    country: "Germany",
    country_code: "DE",
    e_invoicing: {
      buyer_reference: "04011000-12345-03",
    },
  },
  items: [
    {
      name: "Platform subscription",
      quantity: 1,
      price: 1200,
      taxes: [{ rate: 19 }],
    },
  ],
  xrechnung: { validation_required: true },
});

Buyer Reference

For German public-sector recipients, provide the buyer reference or Leitweg-ID as customer.e_invoicing.buyer_reference before exporting. Space Invoices maps it into the structured invoice as the EN 16931 buyer reference.

VAT categories

XRechnung and ZUGFeRD exports set the EN 16931 VAT category of each line automatically:

Line	Category
Positive VAT rate	`S`
No VAT on an EU B2B sale (`transaction_type: "intra_eu_b2b"`), goods (`classification: "product"`) delivered to another EU country (goods sold to a Northern Ireland business with an `XI` VAT number count the same)	`K` intra-community supply, `VATEX-EU-IC`
No VAT on an EU B2B sale, anything else	`AE` reverse charge, `VATEX-EU-AE`
Goods (`classification: "product"`) delivered outside the EU on a `3w_b2b` or `3w_b2c` sale	`G` export, `VATEX-EU-G`
Other reverse-charge lines	`AE`
Seller not VAT-registered	`E`
Any other 0 % line	`Z`

Send classification: "product" on goods lines to get K or G. Lines without a classification keep AE or Z.

The exemption reason text is the document tax_clause when set, otherwise a standard English text for the category. New entities get two default clauses for EU B2B sales in settings.tax_clause_defaults: intra_eu_b2b_goods for goods and intra_eu_b2b for services; an invoice with both kinds of lines gets both.

The deliver-to country is delivery_address.country_code, or the customer’s country when there is no delivery address. K needs seller and buyer VAT IDs and a delivery date (date_service).

{
  "date_service": "2026-10-01",
  "items": [
    {
      "name": "Industrial sensor",
      "quantity": 10,
      "price": 120,
      "classification": "product"
    }
  ]
}

For edge cases, override the category per line with items[].e_invoicing.vat_category: code is one of Z, E, AE, K or G, and exemption_reason_code and exemption_reason are optional. The override applies to XRechnung and ZUGFeRD exports and only to lines without VAT charged.

The exemption_reason_code must be a VATEX code that is valid for the category, for example VATEX-EU-IC only with K. Reverse charge (AE) needs the buyer’s VAT ID (customer.tax_number); a legal registration ID counts instead only with an ISO 6523 scheme, which customer records cannot carry yet.

{
  "items": [
    {
      "name": "Training course",
      "quantity": 1,
      "price": 500,
      "taxes": [{ "rate": 0 }],
      "e_invoicing": {
        "vat_category": {
          "code": "E",
          "exemption_reason": "Exempt education service"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Download Examples

Download XRechnungtypescript

const _xml = await sdk.invoices.downloadInvoiceXRechnung(invoice.id);

Download ZUGFeRDtypescript

const _pdf = await sdk.invoices.downloadInvoiceZugferd(invoice.id);

See the Invoices API Reference, Credit Notes API Reference, and Entities API Reference for German settings and export endpoints.