E-invoicing to companies and organisations

E-invoicing to large companies: requirements and guides

Groups, retail chains and large organisations add requirements of their own on top of the law: format, mandatory details and delivery route. Here is the guide for the recipient you are invoicing.

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7 guides on formats, mandatory details and delivery routes

Invoicing requirements by company

Each guide sets out the accepted formats, the mandatory details and the delivery route the recipient expects.

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7 guides

Volkswagen Group Invoice entry, order references and the rules of the individual group companies. Anforderungen ansehen Siemens AG Accepted invoice formats, profile requirements and the mandatory details expected. Anforderungen ansehen Deutsche Telekom A separate invoice intake per group company, plus additional references. Anforderungen ansehen BMW Group Submission routes including Peppol, and the details tied to the supplier. Anforderungen ansehen REWE Group Formats, location identifiers and references in food retail. Anforderungen ansehen EDEKA An application handbook built on EN 16931 that makes GS1 identifiers mandatory. Anforderungen ansehen Deutsche Bahn XRechnung by e-mail or over the Peppol network, with a fixed Leitweg-ID and Peppol ID. Anforderungen ansehen

The guides follow the publicly available requirements of the organisations named and are meant for orientation. What binds you are the documents you receive from your customer. Invoice-Portal has no business relationship with the organisations named here.

What requirements apply to e-invoices sent to companies?

On top of the statutory rules, many companies add requirements of their own on invoice format, references and delivery route. They are usually written down in the supplier guide of the recipient.

Statutory requirements

The statutory rules are the basis for a structured, machine-readable e-invoice.

They apply to every recipient alike.

Requirements of the recipient

They come on top of the statutory basis and differ from one organisation to the next.

Invoice format

The accepted format and version.

Mandatory details and references

Order number, identifiers, recipient data.

Delivery route

Peppol, a portal or a fixed intake address.

Further process rules

Particular rules about how to invoice.

Where invoices usually go wrong

The order reference is missing

The invoice cannot be assigned.

The format is not accepted

The invoice cannot be processed.

The wrong delivery route

The invoice never reaches the intended intake.

What an e-invoice is made of

This is how the main invoice details are laid out in Invoice Portal. Beyond the general ones, companies may ask for additional references for their processing.

Blue: general invoice details Orange: additional recipient references

Invoice Portal / e-invoice Sample view

Customer

Name (BT-44)Volkswagen AG

Address38436 Wolfsburg, DE

Document

Number (BT-1)INV-2026-002217

Issue date (BT-2)2026-11-10

Buyer reference (BT-10)400007654

Order reference (BT-13)45123456

Supplier

Name (BT-27)Musterland Industrieservice GmbH

AddressMusterstrasse 12, 34117 Kassel, DE

Totals

Net amount1,104.00 €

VAT 19 %209.76 €

Total (BT-112)1,313.76 €

Invoice Items

Description

Quantity

Price

Total

DescriptionTest bench maintenance, October 2026

Quantity12 hrs

Price92.00 €

Total1,104.00 €

Simplified sample view of Invoice Portal. The colouring shows typical categories of data, not the legal status of each individual field.

The right e-invoice in three steps

The sequence is the same for every recipient. Only the requirements in step one differ.

Step 1

Check the requirements

Establish the format, the mandatory details and the delivery route of the recipient, and check them against the supplier guide.

Go to the guides

Step 2

Create the e-invoice

Enter the invoice in Invoice-Portal, or convert data you already have in your system into the required format.

Go to the format converter

Step 3

Validate and send

Check the file against EN 16931 and deliver it over the agreed channel: the Peppol network, e-mail, SFTP or the API.

Check an invoice

Where a recipient insists on entry in a portal of its own, delivery goes that way. Creating and checking the invoice data can still be done in Invoice-Portal.

Frequent questions

The questions that come up most often when invoicing large recipients.

Can I send an XRechnung to any recipient?

No. It is mandatory towards public authorities; between businesses it applies where the recipient has approved it. Check the format in the supplier guide before you send the first invoice.

Why is a formally correct invoice rejected?

Validation checks the structure of the file, not the details the recipient needs in order to assign it. If the order reference is missing, or the invoice goes to the wrong address, it sits there even though the file is correct.

Can I deliver over the Peppol network?

Only if the recipient is registered there and has set that route out. Whether a Peppol ID exists is shown by the Peppol ID checker. Registration on its own is not yet an agreement.

Where do I find the requirements of my customer?

In the supplier guide of the recipient. Many organisations publish it, others hand it out during onboarding only. Where there is none, ask purchasing or accounts payable at the entity you are invoicing.

Do these rules apply on top of the statutory ones?

Yes. What a recipient asks for comes alongside the statutory requirements and does not replace them. The page e-invoicing in Germany gives an overview of the deadlines and obligations.

Create and send e-invoices without the friction

Produce invoices in the required formats, check them against EN 16931 and deliver them over the Peppol network, by e-mail, SFTP or the API.

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