Issuance starts January 2027. Are you ready?
If your prior-year turnover was above €800,000, you must issue structured e-invoices in domestic B2B trade from 1 January 2027. Cortena covers payables and receivables: it receives XRechnung and ZUGFeRD on the way in, and issues ZUGFeRD EN 16931 hybrid e-invoices on the way out, with a GoBD-aligned trail.
AP + AR · DATEV, Exact Online, Twinfield · Finance teams of 2–5In scope for January 2027.
The issuance obligation hits mid-market first. If you sit in this band and still send paper or PDF by hand, while also taking e-invoices in, the clock is already running on both sides.
Turnover above €800k
Prior-year domestic turnover above €800,000 puts you in the 2027 issuance cohort.
You send and receive B2B invoices
Structured formats replace PDF as the default for both incoming supplier invoices and outgoing customer invoices.
Finance team of 2–5
You own payables and receivables. You need one path that codes, issues, and archives without another hire.
Five things that must work by go-live.
- 1
Receive and read structured invoices
XRechnung and ZUGFeRD land in a dedicated inbox and are read as data on accounts payable, not scanned as images.
- 2
Issue compliant outgoing e-invoices
Accounts receivable invoices leave as ZUGFeRD 2.x / EN 16931 hybrid PDFs, human-readable and machine-readable in one file.
- 3
Code to your chart of accounts
Incoming lines map to the right SKR account, cost centre and VAT key before anyone keys them.
- 4
Approve and hand off to DATEV
A clean booking batch reaches Rechnungswesen for payables. Nothing posts without your sign-off.
- 5
Archive in a GoBD-aligned way
The original structured document stays linked to the entry on both sides. The audit trail is complete.
Payables and receivables, one e-invoice stack.
Cortena ingests structured e-invoices on AP alongside PDF and paper, and issues ZUGFeRD EN 16931 e-invoices from AR when an invoice moves to issued. Your team reviews exceptions. Booking-ready batches go to DATEV, Exact Online or Twinfield.
What finance leads ask before they book.
No. An e-invoice is a structured EN 16931 record such as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD. A plain PDF or scan does not satisfy the issuance obligation.
No. Cortena covers both sides. On payables it receives and codes XRechnung and ZUGFeRD. On receivables it issues ZUGFeRD 2.x / EN 16931 hybrid e-invoices when you issue an invoice. Peppol send and XRechnung B2G delivery are on the near-term roadmap and available soon.
Issuance for smaller businesses follows in 2028. Receipt has been required since 1 January 2025 for every domestic business. Getting receive, issue and archive right now still pays off.
No. Cortena sits in front of your bookkeeping. Incoming e-invoices are received, coded and approved; outgoing e-invoices are issued from receivables; booking-ready batches go to DATEV, Exact Online or Twinfield.
See AP and AR on your real invoices.
Book a demo. We walk through receiving a structured e-invoice and issuing a ZUGFeRD customer invoice, then show the DATEV handoff.