If your company provides services to contracting authorities, you must submit your invoices electronically via the e-invoice submission platforms. This applies to invoices to the following contracting authorities:

• All institutions of the direct federal administration
• Institutions of the indirect federal administration
• Grant recipients (bodies outside the federal administration that receive services from the federal government, for example some museums) and
• cooperating federal states: Berlin, Brandenburg, Thuringia, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony (as of June 2021)

You can use the following transmission channels to submit electronic invoices

• Web entry,
• Upload,
• e-mail and
• Peppol

Your invoices are automatically checked for formal accuracy and completeness. They are then provided to the public invoice recipient using the routing ID (authority-specific addressing). You will receive the routing ID from your client; it must be specified in the electronic invoice.
You can view the status of your electronic invoice at any time via your access account. To be able to submit your invoices electronically, they must meet certain requirements:

• be machine-readable and
• be in a structured electronic format (PDF or image file is not sufficient).

Since 27.11.2020, you have been obliged to submit your invoices electronically if you provide services for the public administration at federal level.
The only exceptions to this are invoices that

• are issued after fulfillment of a direct order up to an amount of EUR 1,000 net,
• invoice data requiring confidentiality, foreign service matters, other procurements abroad or
• are to be issued in the context of proceedings against restraints of competition.

Please note that as an invoice issuer, you must archive electronic invoices digitally and in an audit-proof manner for 10 years.
The obligation to accept and process e-invoices came into force for the federal states on 18.04.2020 (if necessary beforehand in accordance with the respective e-invoicing ordinance at state level).