Germany

What it is

In Germany Cord issues an invoice with a sequential number, in German or in your client’s language, with each line item’s USt. and the mentions required by § 14 UStG. Each issued invoice can also be downloaded as an e-invoice under the European standard EN 16931: XRechnung (UBL and CII), ZUGFeRD/Factur-X (the PDF with the XML inside), and Peppol BIS 3.0. By default, the invoice email carries the PDF and the XRechnung XML.

Cord generates these files and can attach them to the email; it does not transmit them over the Peppol network or to a public administration platform.

Requirements

• Plan: any (Free: 10 invoices per month). E-invoices are generated on every plan.
• Your Steuernummer or your USt-IdNr.: the invoice carries one of the two.
• For XRechnung: a billing contact with name, phone, and email, your IBAN in Settings › Payments › Payment methods (Manual bank transfer), and, on each client, their city, postal code, and buyer reference.
• Permissions: Settings for the tax profile; Quotes to issue.

Set up your account

Taxes

• USt. 19% (default) and USt. 7% (reduced), per line item.
• Steuerfrei for exempt transactions. On the exempt profile you can choose its e-invoice classification (for example, reverse charge or export); empty, Cord derives it from the client.
• Small business (§ 19 UStG): with the option on, your tax-free invoices carry the legal notice that explains it. If an invoice charges tax, the notice is not printed.

Leistungsdatum

§ 14 Abs. 4 Nr. 6 UStG requires the date of supply. In the invoice editor, Date of supply accepts a date or a period (start and end); the PDF prints it as Leistungsdatum or Leistungszeitraum. If you leave it empty because it matches the issue date, the invoice says “entspricht dem Rechnungsdatum”, which is the accepted form.

E-invoice

The detail of each issued invoice lists the formats it can already generate, ready to download, and for the rest it says which data is missing and where to fix it. Your client also downloads them from the invoice link.

What each format requires: XRechnung, the buyer reference, a contact with name, phone, and email, the client’s city and postal code, and the IBAN; Peppol, the buyer reference or purchase order and both electronic addresses, and between German businesses also the IBAN. An issued invoice keeps the data it was issued with: what you correct later applies to the next ones.

Leitweg-ID

The Leitweg-ID identifies the public body receiving the invoice. Cord checks its check digit (ISO/IEC 7064 MOD 97-10, according to the KoSIT specification) wherever it knows it is a Leitweg-ID: in an electronic address with scheme 0204 and in the buyer reference of a client with that address. An invalid Leitweg-ID is rejected when saving, with the reason, and the e-invoice is not generated. If a value saved earlier no longer passes, the client profile flags it and asks you to correct it.

Client and product data

• Client: their USt-IdNr. (validated), city and postal code, electronic address, and buyer reference (Leitweg-ID for the public administration).
• Invoice: the buyer reference and purchase order are entered in the editor’s summary; if left empty, the reference comes from the client profile.
• Product: its unit travels in the e-invoice.

Void or correct

An invoice is voided from its detail if it has no payments applied; with payments, it is corrected with a credit note, which is also generated as an e-invoice.

Get paid online

• Card with Cord Payments.
• SEPA transfer with a reference in EUR, which you turn on with Automatic SEPA transfer in Settings › Payments › Payment methods: your client transfers to an IBAN of their own (the account holder is typed exactly as shown), with a reference per payment, and Cord reconciles it on its own. It’s offered on the invoice link and the quote’s payment page if the document has a linked client. This feature is new: see Bank transfer with a reference.
• SEPA Direct Debit in EUR, which you turn on in Settings › Payments › Payment methods: up to six business days to confirm and the account holder can return it for eight weeks. This feature is new.
• Your payouts arrive at your IBAN. See Payouts.

cordhq.app/i/Tz5kN3wQb7Rv

Bank transfer instructionsTransfer from your online banking to this account. Put the reference in the transfer and send the exact amount: the payment is recorded automatically when it arrives.

ReferenceD8XK2MW4QT6PCopy

Put this reference in your transfer's reference field: it is how your payment is identified.

Amount6.345,08 € EUR

Account holderBaustoffe Rheinland GmbHCopy

IBANDE89370400440532013000Copy

BICCOBADEFFXXXCopy

Enter the account holder exactly as shown: if the name does not match, the bank may hold the transfer.If you transfer less, the payment completes when the rest arrives. If you transfer more, the difference stays in your favor and is not charged.Print or save PDF

Plan limits

What Cord does not cover yet

• Transmission over the Peppol network or to the public administration’s receiving platforms: Cord generates and attaches, you send.
• Withholdings in the e-invoice: the European standard has no place to declare them, and an invoice with a withholding is not generated in these formats.
• Currencies with three decimals in the e-invoice.

Common problems

The detail says the buyer reference is missing. XRechnung requires it: enter it in the editor or on the client profile.

Cord rejects the Leitweg-ID. The check digit does not match. Ask your client for the full Leitweg-ID, with its hyphens.

My invoice does not show the date of supply. If it matches the issue date, the invoice says “entspricht dem Rechnungsdatum”. If not, enter it in the editor before issuing.

Related

• Invoicing by country
• Bank transfer with a reference
• Bank debit
• European e-invoicing
• France
• Create, issue, and collect invoices
• Payment methods