Germany's B2B mandate made ZUGFeRD a workhorse: reception has been mandatory since January 2025, issuance follows in 2027 and 2028. But not every ZUGFeRD file is an e-invoice in the legal sense. MINIMUM and BASIC WL are booking aids, and most validators pass them without a word. InvoiceXML validates every profile against the official 1.0.8 artifacts and attaches a PROFILE-SCOPE warning when a document does not qualify. Your AP team learns it from the API, not from an auditor.
curl -X POST https://api.invoicexml.com/v1/validate/zugferd \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ -F "[email protected]"
{
"valid": true,
"data": {
"profile": "minimum",
"customizationId": "urn:factur-x.eu:1p0:minimum"
},
"warnings": [
{
"rule": "PROFILE-SCOPE",
"layer": "cius",
"message": "Factur-X/ZUGFeRD MINIMUM is a
header-only profile and not a full
EN 16931 e-invoice. Under the German
B2B e-invoicing rules it does not
qualify as an e-invoice."
}
]
}
Every profile validates against its own schema and rule set from the official 1.0.8 package. But technical validity and legal standing are different questions, and a validator that answers only one of them is setting you up. We answer both.
| Profile | Technically valid? | An e-invoice in German B2B? | What you get from us |
|---|---|---|---|
| MINIMUM | Yes, against its own 1.0.8 rule set | No. A booking aid, per the BMF | A pass plus a PROFILE-SCOPE warning, never silence |
| BASIC WL | Yes, against its own rule set | No. Header-only, same BMF carve-out | The same honest advisory |
| BASIC | Yes, schema and rules | Yes, from here on up | The BASIC-restricted XSD plus the BASIC rules |
| EN 16931 | Yes, schema and rules | Yes | CEN artifacts 1.3.16; the profile our created hybrids declare |
| EXTENDED | Yes, schema and rules | Yes | The EXTENDED XSD and rules; extra fields are never failed |
| ZUGFeRD 1.0 | No. Retired | No | Reported clearly as schema-invalid, with the advice to re-issue as 2.x |
zugferd.de (2p0) identifiers are accepted exactly as the official rules specify, and the XRechnung reference profile (an xrechnung.xml attachment) routes to the KoSIT rules. Technically, ZUGFeRD 2.x and Factur-X are one standard: the French half of the family lives on the Factur-X hub.
One engine behind six endpoints, each with a free in-browser companion for quick checks without code.
JSON in, a hybrid PDF out: our template (EN/DE/FR, brand color) or your own via pdfUrl.
Open toolEvery profile checked honestly, PROFILE-SCOPE advisories included.
Open toolMarry your CII XML and your PDF into a ZUGFeRD hybrid.
Open toolThe embedded CII out of any supplier hybrid, byte for byte.
Open toolSupplier hybrids as BT-mapped JSON, ready for your ERP.
Open toolTurn XRechnung, UBL, or CII files into hybrid PDFs.
Open toolReception has been law since January 2025; the issuance phases land in 2027 and 2028. The format itself is stewarded by FeRD, and we vendor its official 1.0.8 validation package unmodified, per-profile XSD plus Schematron, regression-tested against FeRD's own sample sets. When artifacts or legal interpretations move, the engine here moves with them, server-side, on the effective date. You keep posting the same JSON.
See which artifact versions are live right nowFrom 2027, businesses above EUR 800k turnover must issue e-invoices; from 2028, everyone. Hybrids created here already qualify: they declare the EN 16931 profile.
Validations return more than a verdict: a compliance report walks the document business term by business term, with the extracted value and a per-field result. AP triage, archive evidence, and import debugging all read from the same array.
DATEV and SAP still run their own container-level import checks. What we certify is the XML business layer they consume.
{
"valid": true,
"data": {
"profile": "en16931",
"customizationId": "urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017"
},
"report": [
{ "code": "BT-1", "name": "Invoice number",
"value": "RE-2026-0107", "isValid": true },
{ "code": "BT-31", "name": "Seller VAT identifier",
"value": "DE811234567", "isValid": true },
{ "code": "BT-115", "name": "Amount due for payment",
"value": "11900.00", "isValid": true }
]
// one row per business term, the whole document
}
ZUGFeRD's home turf is the German B2B mandate: the PDF keeps working for people while the law starts speaking XML.
The qualifying formats are defined in the BMF FAQ, on the European floor of Directive 2014/55/EU. German B2G is XRechnung territory, and the wider rollout is mapped on the Mandate Map.
PROFILE-SCOPE warning rides along with valid: true, so nothing breaks and nobody is misled.CrossIndustryDocument root) is retired and reported as schema-invalid with a clear finding recommending a re-issue as 2.x. ZUGFeRD 2.x documents carrying legacy zugferd.de identifiers are a different matter: the official rules accept those, and so do we.options.pdfUrl (an absolute URL, up to 20 MB) and we embed the validated XML into it. Otherwise we render our template in German, English, or French, with options.brandColor applied to headings and accents.Validate, convert and embed compliant e-invoices through one API. Start your 30-day free trial. No credit card required.