Meet the e-invoicing mandate without learning XML

Who this is for

• Trade businesses (electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters, cleaning services, landscapers …)
• Small offices: lawyers, tax firms, architects, engineers, physiotherapists
• Self-employed and micro-companies working with Word or Excel invoices
• Associations and organisations occasionally invoicing companies

Common denominator: low to moderate invoice volumes, existing templates in Word or a small billing tool, little patience for XML, Peppol or Schematron.

What changes from 2025

• From 1 January 2025: You must be able to receive e-invoices (XRechnung or ZUGFeRD). A PDF is no longer enough once your customer sends electronically.
• From 1 January 2027: Sending obligation for companies with more than €800,000 prior-year revenue.
• From 1 January 2028: Sending obligation for all B2B transactions regardless of revenue.

Details in the compliance overview: Germany 2025 and Germany 2027.

Typical worries

1. “I don’t understand XML, Peppol or ZUGFeRD” — you don’t have to. The portal translates.
2. “I don’t want to replace my invoicing software” — you don’t have to. The existing PDF is the input.
3. “How do I tell whether an invoice I receive is an e-invoice?” — the portal checks automatically.
4. “Am I too small for the mandate?” — the receiving obligation applies to everyone from 2025, regardless of revenue or headcount.

How the E-Invoicing Portal works

The Dokmatiq E-Invoicing Portal isn’t an API product, it’s a web application — as usable as any accounting tool, without setup or software install.

Typical flow for an outgoing invoice:

1. Upload your existing invoice — as a PDF from Word, Excel or your billing tool
2. Automatic extraction of the invoice data (customer, line items, amounts, VAT rate) via AI
3. Review and fill in gaps — the portal shows what’s missing (e.g. Leitweg-ID for public-sector invoices)
4. Produce a valid XRechnung or ZUGFeRD PDF — ready to dispatch
5. Send as an email attachment, directly into the Peppol network, or download for your customer portal

For incoming invoices:

1. Forward your e-invoice emails to a personal intake address
2. Automatic detection and validation of incoming XRechnung/ZUGFeRD
3. Readable preview with all line items — even for XML-only formats
4. Archive in a GoBD-compliant way as PDF/A-3 with timestamp
5. DATEV export or handover to your tax advisor

Where receipt recognition helps

In addition to invoice dispatch: receipts you collect yourself (petrol, till slips, trade-supplier receipts) are uploaded as photos and structured by AI — for expense reports or direct handover to your tax advisor. Details: Receipt recognition.

What the portal does not do

• No full accounting — you stay with DATEV, lexoffice, sevDesk or your tax advisor
• No dunning/reminders — handled by your main system
• No VAT pre-return — that’s tax-advisor territory

The portal is the specialist for e-invoice conversion and receipt handling, not end-to-end bookkeeping.

When the portal is the right fit

✅ You have low to moderate volumes (up to ~500 invoices/month) ✅ You want no API and no coding involved ✅ You have existing templates in Word/Excel/PDF you want to keep using ✅ Your tax advisor or accounting tool receives the data via DATEV export

When something else fits better

❌ You have hundreds of invoices per day — you need the DocGen API, not a web UI ❌ You want full accounting in one tool — try DATEV, lexoffice or sevDesk ❌ You’re a developer building e-invoicing into your own software — see Dokmatiq for SaaS Teams and for ERP Developers

Pricing model

• Free start: your first invoices are always free, so you can try the portal
• Volume tier: a few euros a month for regular use, scaling with actual volume
• No setup fee, no long-term contract

Concrete prices on the pricing page.

Pragmatic recommendation

If an e-invoicing email arrives today and you’re not sure what to do with it: start with the E-Invoicing Portal. A month costs less than an hour of tax-advisor time — and you won’t miss the regulatory wave.

Further resources:

• What is an XRechnung? — the short explanation
• What is ZUGFeRD? — understanding the hybrid format
• The 2025 mandate in detail — what applies when