E-invoicing in Germany: the mandate explained for founders

When does the mandate apply?

Germany introduced mandatory e-invoicing with the Growth Opportunities Act (Wachstumschancengesetz) of March 27, 2024, and it has applied since January 1, 2025. It covers sales between businesses in Germany, so the B2B side (German).

This guide is for businesses in Germany, written with founders in mind: online shops on Shopify, creators and publishers who get paid through Stripe or Ghost, and SaaS startups that bill other companies.

Receiving and sending are two separate obligations. You have had to be able to receive e-invoices since 2025. You only have to send them later, on a schedule that depends on your prior-year revenue.

What that means for typical setups:

• You sell only to consumers (a typical D2C shop): those invoices are B2C and outside the mandate. You still have to be able to receive e-invoices, for example from your suppliers.
• You sell to other businesses in Germany (B2B SaaS, agencies, wholesale): you must send e-invoices from January 1, 2027 if your prior-year revenue was more than €800,000, and from January 1, 2028 otherwise.

Timeline 2025 to 2028

• Since January 1, 2025: the e-invoice is the standard form for domestic B2B invoices. Every business must be able to receive e-invoices.
• January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026: transition period. When you send an invoice, you may still issue an "other invoice" (sonstige Rechnung) during this period. Paper invoices remain allowed during the transition, while a PDF or another electronic format requires the recipient's consent.
• From January 1, 2027: businesses with more than €800,000 in prior-year revenue must send e-invoices for B2B sales.
• Until December 31, 2027: businesses with prior-year revenue of up to €800,000 may still issue other invoices.
• From January 1, 2028: all businesses must send e-invoices for B2B sales.

Receiving e-invoices since 2025

The obligation to receive has applied since January 1, 2025, with no transition period and no revenue threshold. Every business must be able to accept and process an e-invoice, even if it still sends paper or PDF invoices itself (German). In practice you need an email address for incoming invoices and software that can read a format under EN 16931.

Exceptions and special cases

Not every invoice falls under the mandate. Exempt are, among others, invoices to consumers (B2C), small-amount invoices (German) up to €250 and passenger tickets. The German e-invoicing mandate does not apply to sales to other countries; there, the law of the recipient's country decides the format.

How to prepare

Two steps make sense right away: make sure you can receive and read e-invoices, and plan the switch for sending well before your deadline. Rechnungskit automatically creates an e-invoice in ZUGFeRD 2.5 format from your payment and order data, validates it against EN 16931 and archives it in a tamper-proof way that meets GoBD, the German rules for electronic bookkeeping and records. That covers both sides, receiving and sending. The e-invoicing software (German) page lists all features, and the articles on Shopify (German) and Stripe (German) explain what those providers do on their own.