Working with ZUGFeRD
What is ZUGFeRD
E-invoicing creates, sends, receives, and processes an electronic invoice document. It is fully digital from start to finish and helps businesses save money and improve efficiency in a B2B context. Both buyers and sellers can benefit from e-invoicing.
Millions of companies are adopting e-invoicing as technology advances to enjoy its advantages. However, they need standards to ensure that e-invoices can be easily read and understood by any software, regardless of how they are generated.
Out of the many data formats for e-invoices, the ZUGFeRD standard has become increasingly established in German-speaking and EU countries.
ZUGFeRD is a standard for electronic invoicing in Germany. It stands for “Zentraler User Guide des Forums elektronische Rechnung Deutschland”, the Central User Guide of the Forum for Electronic Invoicing Germany.
The format combines a PDF document humans can read and an XML data file that machines can read. It allows the exchange of invoice information between businesses and public authorities uniformly and interoperably.
It also complies with the legal requirements for long-term archiving and tax compliance. ZUGFeRD has different versions and profiles that suit different needs and scenarios. The latest version is ZUGFeRD 2.0, compatible with the European standard EN 16931 for electronic invoicing. ZUGFeRD offers users many benefits and cost savings, such as faster processing, reduced errors, improved cash flow, and lower environmental impact.
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