The BSI is able to accept and process electronic invoices (e-invoices). This section covers everything you need to know about electronic invoicing with us. The information you require is provided for all new orders.

Electronic invoicing has been mandatory for all invoice issuers since 27 November 2020. Exceptions to this rule (such as invoices for goods and services provided under a direct contract with a value of up to EUR 1,000 without VAT) are regulated in Section 3 (3) of the German E-Invoicing Regulation (E-Rechnungsverordnung, ERechV).

We would ask that you use the opportunity to submit electronic invoices even where no legal obligation exists. As the invoice issuer, you have the following advantages:

• more efficient work processes, shorter processing times, faster invoice payment
• quick and easy access to invoice data
• the option of digital, audit-proof archiving
• cost savings in paper, printing and postage

If you have any questions about electronic invoicing for your existing contract with BSI, please contact: Rechnungen@bsi.bund.de

Submitting an electronic invoice

Invoices can be sent to the BSI via the federal Central Invoice Submission Portal (ZRE). You can access the ZRE at xrechnung.bund.de. More information on the ZRE is available below under Requirements to meet the invoice standard.

E-invoice contents

According to Section 5 E-RechV, an electronic invoice must contain at least the following information in addition to the invoice components required by the Turnover Tax Act (UStG) (cf. Section 14 UStG):

• Buyer reference number – you will be informed of the buyer reference (<em>Leitweg-ID</em>) when the contract is awarded.
• Terms of payment or the date by which payment is due
• Bank account details of the payment recipient
• De-Mail or e-mail address of the invoice issuer

Details of invoice contents

Please note the following information when exchanging invoices electronically with BSI:

Invoice component	XRechnung standard data field	Details of the [public authority name] for suppliers
Buyer reference number (Leitweg-ID)	‘Buyer reference’ (BT-10)	This is a requirement on every invoice. Please include this Buyer reference number on all electronic invoices: 991-07335-68
Purchase order number	‘Purchase order reference’ (BT-13)	Please always use the purchase order reference (‘Auftragsnummer’) given in your contract document. The BSI may reject an electronic invoice without an order reference.
Supplier number	‘Supplier number’ (BT-29)	A supplier number is not required for processing electronic invoices.

Requirements to meet the invoice standard

• In principle, the currently valid version of the XRechnung standard should be used to issue electronic invoices to the federal administration. In addition, any other standard (e.g. ZUGFeRD from version 2.1.1 in the XRECHNUNG profile) may be used if it meets the requirements of the European standard for electronic invoicing (EN-16931), the E-Invoicing Regulation and the terms of use of the federal invoice receipt platforms.
• Invoices that do not meeting the format requirements specified in the European standard for electronic invoicing cannot be accepted.
• Invoice supporting documents or attachments must be embedded in the invoice data record and may not be sent as an attachment to an e-mail or De-Mail.
• The maximum permissible size of an invoice depends on the selected transmission channel (e.g. 10 MB for e-mail attachments or 11 MB for attachments in the web entry). Please refer to the terms of use of the platform. The maximum number of embedded documents supporting the invoice is limited to 200.
  Permitted file types for embedded documents are: "png", "pdf", "jpg", "jpeg", "xlsx", "ods" and "csv".
  Attachments may not contain active content (e.g. macros).
  Changes to these restrictions will be published on the invoice receipt platform.

Invoice documents with attachments that require a paper-based method of dispatch according to other legal regulations (export certificates, customs documents, etc.) remain unaffected by the above regulations.

The IT Standards Coordination Office (KoSIT) publishes additional information on the XRechnung standard:
https://www.xoev.de/xrechnung-16828

Requirements for submitting invoices

• Electronic invoices can only be submitted through the federal Central Invoice Submission Portal (ZRE), which you can access at https://xrechnung.bund.de. This requires prior registration and activation of the desired transmission channels in the user account.
• Further details can be found in the ZRE terms of use.

For questions on submitting electronic invoices via the ZRE, you can contact the appropriate user support:

• Support Hotline: Available from Monday to Friday, 8 am – 4 pm: +49 228 99681 - 10101
• Mailbox support: For e-mail queries, ZRE users can contact sendersupport-xrechnung@bdr.de

Invoice issuers can contact the support hotline set up for this purpose if they have questions about the ZRE.
The hotline is open from Monday to Friday, 8 am – 4 pm: +49 228 99681-10101.
More information about the ZRE is published in the brochure for invoice issuers and in the FAQ section on e-invoicing on the BMI website (en.e-rechnung-bund.de).

Legal basis

The E-Invoicing Regulation of the Federal Government requires the public administration to receive electronic invoices and the suppliers and service providers of the Federal Government to send electronic invoices within the scope of public contracts. The E-Invoicing Regulation regulates the deadlines, submission methods, data standards and exceptions to the electronic exchange of invoices.

Link to the E-Invoicing Regulation (E-RechV)

In principle, the obligation to invoice the Federal Government electronically applies from 27/11/2020. Exceptions are regulated in the regulation, described as follows:

• Invoices issued after fulfilment of a direct order up to an amount of EUR 1,000
• Invoices that are subject to the exceptions according to Section 8 or Section 9 ERechV (invoice data requiring secrecy as well as matters of the foreign service and other procurements abroad)
• Invoices to be issued in interlocking proceedings pursuant to Section 159 (1) No. 5 of the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB)
• Irrespective of the legal obligation, there may be an obligation to submit e-invoices from the respective underlying order or contractual relationship.