What a Small Business Actually Needs to Check Before Germany's E-Invoicing Deadline in 2027

Since January 1, 2025, every business in Germany has been required to be able to receive electronic invoices — regardless of size or revenue, as the German Federal Ministry of Finance states in its e-invoicing FAQ. For most small businesses that changed little day to day, since hardly anyone actually sent an XRechnung. That shifts over the next two years, in two separate stages. Checking now beats scrambling in the autumn of 2027.

Last year's revenue for 2026 decides your own deadline

From January 1, 2027, businesses with prior-year revenue above 800,000 euros must issue e-invoices in B2B transactions. Businesses below that threshold get an extension through the end of 2027 to keep using paper or PDF, according to IHK Ostthüringen; from 2028 the obligation applies to everyone. The relevant figure is not current revenue but last year's — for the 2027 deadline, that means 2026. Skip this calculation and you plan against the wrong date: either you invest a year early in software you don't yet need, or you discover in December 2026 that you're over the threshold with barely any runway left.

Being able to receive e-invoices is already mandatory, not a 2027 problem

The obligation to issue e-invoices is staggered. The obligation to receive them is not — it has applied since early 2025. Technically, the Finance Ministry's FAQ notes that "an email inbox is already sufficient" for receiving one. The real difficulty sits in what happens after receipt. An XRechnung is an XML file, not a PDF you print out. That's not enough. If it lands in a normal inbox and nobody can open it or move it into the accounting system, it has been formally received — practically, no. It takes about two minutes to test this in your own business: open a sample XRechnung and see whether your current accounting software turns it into anything readable at all.

Whether the accounting software actually processes the format

Not every program that advertises "e-invoicing" on its product page automatically handles every permitted variant. According to the Finance Ministry, the accepted formats are mainly XRechnung and ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1 onward, excluding the MINIMUM and BASIC-WL profiles. Anyone running an older ZUGFeRD version or a niche format should ask the software vendor directly, rather than trusting the marketing copy. Without format support, no amount of bookkeeping discipline helps — the file simply stays unreadable to the system.

The exceptions small businesses tend to misjudge

Not every invoice has to go electronic. According to the Finance Ministry's FAQ, exceptions exist for:

• Small-value invoices up to 250 euros gross (Section 33 UStDV)
• Transport tickets that count as invoices (Section 34 UStDV)
• Services from small businesses under the VAT exemption, Section 19 UStG (Section 34a UStDV)

A sole trader who never issues larger B2B invoices doesn't automatically need a dedicated e-invoicing tool. Switching early rarely pays off in these cases — the effort outweighs the benefit as long as the exception applies. Misapplying the exception to your own situation, though, risks formally defective invoices the moment a larger order above 250 euros comes in.

Who in the business actually generates the file

An e-invoice is not produced by clicking "save as PDF." Someone has to decide which program generates the XML structure — invoicing software, a module inside the accounting system, or an external service that builds the file from existing data. Assume a joinery business with seven employees and 950,000 euros in prior-year revenue currently relies on a simple invoice template in Word. From 2027, that no longer works. The switch needs more than a new template; it needs someone to test the output before the first real e-invoice goes out to a customer. This is exactly where a new piece of software differs from a changed process, a distinction covered from another angle in Digitalisierung ist mehr als eine neue Software.

Telling customers and suppliers in advance

The switch affects two sides of every invoice. Anyone who must issue e-invoices from 2027 should ask regular clients beforehand which inbox or platform they expect them on — some clients also require a specific routing ID or portal upload. Skip that conversation, and a technically flawless invoice still ends up in the wrong system, unpaid.

The transition period is not a reason to wait

Waiting until the end of 2027 sounds like plenty of time. For a business still running on paper or PDF with no software or internal process changed yet, that often works out to just two or three months of real preparation time in practice, once software selection, testing, and getting staff up to speed are added together. Push the deadline right to the edge, and there's no buffer left for mistakes during the first real changeover.

Anyone already sorting out accounting software and client interfaces might as well use the moment to check their own website too — the contact page or quote form often sits on the same process chain. The free website check from Log-System Development gives a technical read on loading speed and findability within minutes. Those who prefer doing it manually can find that version in Die eigene Website Schritt für Schritt selbst prüfen. For businesses that actually want to change something afterward — a new website, an AI-assisted form, a small app for order handling — Log-System Development builds it directly with developers, without routing everything through an agency with several extra layers.

Whether your accounting software can actually read an XRechnung is something you can find out in fifteen minutes. The rest of the switch takes considerably longer.