How to Create Professional Invoices in Germany: Legal Requirements

An invoice is more than a request for payment. For your client, it’s the basis for reclaiming input tax; for you, it’s an accounting record. If a mandatory detail is missing, your client can lose the input tax and ask you to correct it. This guide shows what belongs on an invoice and what doesn’t.

Key points

• The mandatory details are in § 14(4) UStG. Bank details and payment terms are not among them.
• Your tax number (Steuernummer) or your VAT ID (USt-IdNr) is enough.
• The invoice number must be unique. Gaps are allowed, and so is restarting each year.
• Invoices up to 250 euros need fewer details (small-amount invoice, Kleinbetragsrechnung).
• Since 2025, every business must be able to receive e-invoices. Businesses with prior-year turnover over 800,000 euros must issue them from 2027, everyone else from 2028.
• Keep invoices for eight years.

Mandatory details

An invoice over 250 euros must contain (§ 14(4) UStG):

1. the name and address of you and of your client
2. your Steuernummer or your VAT ID. One of the two is enough.
3. the invoice date
4. a sequential invoice number, used only once
5. the quantity and type of goods, or the scope and type of service
6. the date of supply (a date or a period), even if it’s the same as the invoice date (a note like “date of supply = invoice date” is then enough)
7. the net amount, split by VAT rate, plus any agreed reductions such as early-payment discounts
8. the VAT rate and the VAT amount, or a note that the supply is exempt

You only need your client’s VAT ID in special cases, mainly for the reverse charge and for deliveries to other EU countries.

Not mandatory are bank details, payment terms, the due date and a logo. They’re still worth adding, because otherwise your client doesn’t know where to pay and by when.

Small-amount invoices up to 250 euros

For invoices with a total of up to 250 euros, this is enough (§ 33 UStDV):

• your name and address
• the invoice date
• the quantity and type of goods, or the scope and type of service
• the total including VAT and the VAT rate, or a note that the supply is exempt

No tax number, invoice number or client address is required here.

Invoice numbers

What the law requires

The number must be sequential and unique (§ 14(4) sentence 1 no. 4 UStG). Unique is the key part: no number may appear twice.

• Gaps are not a breach. VAT law doesn’t require an unbroken sequence. Unexplained gaps can raise questions in an audit, though, so note the reason.
• Restarting each year is allowed if the year is part of the number, for example RE-2026-001.
• The format is up to you: letters, numbers, separators.

Proven formats

• with year: RE-2026-001, RE-2026-002
• with year and month: RE-2026-10-001
• simple sequence: 1001, 1002, 1003

Avoid client names in the number.

Correcting mistakes

Don’t delete or overwrite an invoice you’ve issued. Instead:

• Cancellation invoice (Stornorechnung): you reverse the old invoice with a new one for the negative amount, then issue a new, correct invoice. All three get their own numbers.
• Correction (Rechnungskorrektur): if only a detail is missing, you can issue a correcting document that clearly refers to the original invoice.

Don’t call a cancellation invoice a “Gutschrift”. In German VAT law, a Gutschrift is a self-billed invoice that your client issues for you (§ 14(2) UStG).

VAT on invoices

As a Kleinunternehmer

You show no VAT and add a note about the exemption (§ 34a UStDV).

Example:

Total: 1,000.00 EUR
No VAT charged under § 19 UStG (Kleinunternehmer).

Under standard taxation

Example:

Net amount: 1,000.00 EUR
VAT (19%): 190.00 EUR
Total: 1,190.00 EUR

VAT rates, the Kleinunternehmer scheme and cross-border cases are covered in our guide to VAT for freelancers.

E-invoicing: what applies when

Since 1 January 2025, an “e-invoice” (E-Rechnung) under German VAT law means an invoice in a structured format following the European standard EN 16931, for example XRechnung or ZUGFeRD. A PDF is not an e-invoice but an “other invoice” (sonstige Rechnung).

For invoices between businesses in Germany:

The legal basis is the transitional rule in § 27(38) UStG.

Exempt are:

• invoices to private customers
• small-amount invoices up to 250 euros (§ 33 UStDV)
• invoices from Kleinunternehmer (§ 34a UStDV)

These can continue to go out as paper or PDF invoices.

Retention

Keep the invoices you write and the ones you receive for eight years (§ 14b(1) UStG, § 147(3) AO). The period starts at the end of the year in which the invoice was issued.

Keep e-invoices in their original format, meaning the XML file, not just a printout.

International invoices

Business clients in other EU countries

• your VAT ID and your client’s
• no German VAT
• the note “Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers” (reverse charge, § 14a(1) UStG)

Clients outside the EU

Services to businesses outside the EU are not taxable in Germany. Don’t put VAT on the invoice; add a note such as “nicht im Inland steuerbar” (not taxable in Germany) instead. Keep evidence that your client is a business.

Different rules apply to private clients outside the EU and to deliveries of goods. Get advice for your specific case.

Payment terms and late payment

Common wording

• “Payable within 14 days without deduction”
• “Payable by 15.11.2026”

When a client doesn’t pay

Default interest is yours by law. You don’t need to announce it on the invoice (§ 288 BGB):

A client is in default after a reminder, or without a reminder if the payment date is fixed by the calendar. At the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice, default starts even without a reminder. For consumers, this 30-day rule only applies if your invoice pointed it out (§ 286(3) BGB).

Common mistakes

• Neither Steuernummer nor VAT ID on the invoice.
• Missing date of supply.
• Invoice numbers used twice.
• A gross amount without a breakdown into net, rate and VAT.
• Deleting invoices instead of cancelling them.
• Showing German VAT under the reverse charge. You then owe it anyway.

How Solobooks helps

In Solobooks you create invoices with all mandatory details taken from your profile. Solobooks numbers them sequentially, calculates the VAT for the rate you choose, emails the invoice as a PDF and tracks whether it’s been paid. You send payment reminders with one click.

Solobooks doesn’t currently create XRechnung or ZUGFeRD files. That doesn’t matter for private clients, small amounts or Kleinunternehmer. For other business clients you’ll need an e-invoicing solution from 2027 or 2028, depending on your turnover.

FAQ

Do bank details have to be on the invoice? Not by law. In practice yes, otherwise your client doesn’t know where to pay.

Do I need both a Steuernummer and a VAT ID? No, one of the two is enough. For services to businesses in other EU countries, you need the VAT ID.

Can my invoice numbers restart every year? Yes, if the year is part of the number and every number stays unique.

Is a PDF an e-invoice? No. An e-invoice is a structured file such as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD. A PDF is an “other invoice”.

When do I have to issue e-invoices? From 2027 if your prior-year turnover was over 800,000 euros, otherwise from 2028. Kleinunternehmer and invoices up to 250 euros are exempt.

How long do I need to keep invoices? Eight years.

Need help?

If you have questions about invoicing:

• Email us at support@solobooks.de
• Chat with us in the app

Sources

• § 14 UStG – Ausstellung von Rechnungen
• § 14a UStG – Zusätzliche Pflichten bei der Ausstellung von Rechnungen
• § 14b UStG – Aufbewahrung von Rechnungen
• § 27(38) UStG – transitional rules for e-invoicing
• § 33 UStDV – Rechnungen über Kleinbeträge
• § 34a UStDV – Rechnungen von Kleinunternehmern
• § 147 AO – Aufbewahrungsfristen
• § 286 BGB – Verzug and § 288 BGB – Verzugszinsen
• BMF – FAQ on e-invoicing

Last checked: 30 October 2026. This article is general information, not tax advice for your individual case. Legislation and official guidance change — the current version of each source prevails.

Last updated: October 30, 2026