ZUGFeRD – the electronic invoicing standard sweeping across Europe

ZUGFeRD, the acronym for the “Central User Guide for Electronic Invoicing in Germany”, aims to bring the benefits of EDI – lower processing costs, reduced human error, ability to automate processes – within the reach of companies that may only need to process invoices sporadically, or don’t have the resources to implement EDI systems. It does this by aiming for the best of both worlds.

An XML file containing the structured invoice data is embedded within the PDF. The XML data can easily be pulled out by machine, and as it follows a standard format, no bilateral agreement is needed. For those who want to manually check an invoice, the PDF shows all the information in clear, human-readable form.

Another important benefit is that the ZUGFeRD standard makes use of PDF/A format for long-term digital archiving. PDF/A is already widely used to store digital invoices, and with the PDF/A ISO standard part 3 (PDF/A-3), embedding of any file type was introduced as a PDF/A feature.

ZUGFeRD uses that file embedding by attaching the invoice data XML file, meaning both the human and machine-readable parts are stored together for records in just one file. Similar to the PDF/A and PDF/A-3 format itself, the embedded ZUGFeRD XML is a non-proprietary standard either.

ZUGFeRD’s final version was released in Germany in June 2014, and work is already underway to make it a national standard – but its international ambitions have been clear from the start. ZUGFeRD is based on existing EU and international standards, so get ready to see it adopted at least continent-wide before long.

The German e-invoicing forum has worked hard to ensure that the ZUGFeRD standard will not rely on any third-party software.