Update to shared French and German e-invoicing standard
Update 11 August 2026: France and Germany have published on 4 August 2026 updated versions of their joint hybrid e-invoicing standard, introducing a series of technical improvements that businesses should review ahead of France’s mandatory B2B e-invoicing rollout.
The French National Forum for Electronic Invoicing and Electronic Public Procurement (FNFE-MPE) and Germany’s Forum elektronische Rechnung Deutschland (FeRD) released Factur-X 1.09.2 and ZUGFeRD 2.5.2 on 4 August 2026.
The two standards remain technically identical, combining a human-readable PDF/A-3 invoice with structured XML data based on EN 16931 using the UN/CEFACT Cross-Industry Invoice (CII) syntax.
Technical improvements
The August release builds on the June 2026 update and focuses on improving complex invoice scenarios rather than introducing new functionality.
The main enhancements include:
- Support for sub-lines, allowing structured representation of kits, bundles and composite products.
- Better handling of subtotal lines within invoices.
- Corrections to VAT breakdown calculations and validation rules.
- Improved rounding and invoice consistency checks.
- Updates to business rules within the EXTENDED profile.
- Refreshed XSD and Schematron validation artefacts for all five profiles.
These changes will particularly benefit organisations issuing invoices containing bundled products or where downstream accounting, procurement or tax systems require component-level detail.
January 2026 update: common German ZUGFerd and French Factur-X standard
On 15 January 2026, the respective national e-invoicing standards for Germany and France will be simultaneously updated – this was announced 4 December 2025. German e-invoicing is being mandated between 2025 and 2028. There is also a French e-invoicing mandate starting in September 2026.
Both regimes are converging to the EU’s e-invoicing standard, EN16931, being adopted for mandatory intra-community supplies e-invoicing from July 2030 for Digital Reporting Requirements. This is part of EU ViDA reforms.
The release incorporates the limited revisions introduced into the most recent EN16931 specification and broadens its enhanced profile to support operational rules for hierarchical line structures, including partial totals and multi-component products such as kits or bundled offerings. It also introduces supplementary information elements required to ensure consistency with the current iteration of the AFNOR XP Z12-012 framework, which underpins France’s upcoming electronic invoicing regime.
EU-compliant ZUGFeRD 2.3 and Factur-X 1.0.07
- ZUGFeRD is a standard for electronic invoices that combines a PDF invoice with an XML file. It’s an acronym for Zentraler User Guide des Forums elektronische Rechnung Deutschland, which translates to “Central User Guide for Electronic Invoicing in Germany”
- Factur X is the French version Its current, full version (Factur-X 1.1) is equivalent to ZUGFeRD 2.3, making them compatible. The two standards combine the most commonly used invoice formats: PDF and XML.
ZUGFeRD 2.1 and Factur-X are fully compatible and technically identical. The were aligned in 2015. Switzerland also recommends the standard.
Hybrid PDF XML e-invoice
ZUGFeRD/Factur-X is a hybrid electronic invoice format that consists of two components: a PDF file and an embedded XML file. The PDF file provides the readable, visual representation of the invoice, while the XML file contains the structured invoice data, which can be processed automatically.
Technically, the XML structure is based on the international UN/CEFACT cross-industry invoice (CII) standard and the ISO standard PDF/A-3. The format meets the requirements of the European standard EN 16931, which establishes the rules for electronic invoices to contracting authorities (B2G).
Changes to the ZUGFeRD/Factur-X :
- Supplements to the French B2B mandate for mandatory electronic invoicing.
- The basis is UN/CEFACT CII D22B in order to correspond more precisely to EN 16931 (BG-3 cardinality 0..n).
- Rounding tolerances: Introduction of permissible rounding inaccuracies in order to no longer regard small deviations in tax amounts as errors.
- Optimized documentation: Technical attachments for individual profiles and an XSLT file for visualizing the XML data.
- Updated sample files: bug fixes and an HTML view of the XML data.
- Compatibility: Fully compatible with Factur-X 1.0.07.
- Small bug fixes in all profiles.
Integration of ZUGFeRD and Factur-X
Electronic invoices in the ZUGFeRD and Factur-X formats are already fully integrated into EDI systems, accounting systems, ERP software solutions and the central platform Chorus Pro for French B2G invoices. The French agency for state financial information technology AIFE has integrated Factur-X as a hybrid format in Chorus Pro since May 2018. For more information, see our blog post Sending invoices to the public administration in France via the Chorus Pro platform.
