Guide · E-Invoicing
22 October 2026 · checked against BMF guidance and Oracle documentation
Since 1 January 2025, Germany's e-invoicing mandate (introduced by the Wachstumschancengesetz) has been in force: every domestic company must be able to receive structured electronic invoices in B2B transactions. The obligation to issue them follows in stages from 2027. For NetSuite users that means: the standard product covers part of it — but not everything. This guide shows what applies, what NetSuite can do out of the box, and how to close the gap.
The German e-invoicing mandate per the Wachstumschancengesetz (sec. 14 of the German VAT Act, as amended); transition rules in sec. 27 (38).
Only what conforms to the European norm EN 16931 counts — a structured data set that software can process. In Germany that mainly means two formats:
For Germany, Oracle ships the European Union Electronic Invoicing SuiteApp. With it, NetSuite can receive and process inbound invoices in XRechnung format: vendor invoices and credits are created as vendor bills and vendor credits (item lines; expense lines are not supported). That covers the receiving obligation in force since 2025 well.
Issuing is a different story: per Oracle's documentation, the bundled outbound templates are samples that do not generate a guaranteed valid e-document without further customisation. For legally compliant outbound XRechnung or ZUGFeRD invoices — and for transport via Peppol or other channels — practice calls for a partner solution or a project of your own.
Those four steps are exactly what our E-Invoicing Suite for NetSuite covers as a managed service: generation, validation, sending and receiving run inside NetSuite, with transport handled by the network of our partner ecosio (Vertex) — a certified Peppol access point connected in more than 40 countries. One contract, one contact, live in around eight weeks.
Receiving: since 1 January 2025 for all domestic B2B companies. Issuing: from 1 January 2027 for companies with more than €800,000 prior-year turnover, and from 1 January 2028 for everyone. The legal basis is the Wachstumschancengesetz.
No. Since 2025 only formats conforming to EN 16931 count as e-invoices — structured data such as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD (from 2.0.1). A plain PDF is an “other invoice” and may only be used transitionally and with the recipient's consent.
Both satisfy the mandate. XRechnung is pure XML and the public sector's standard; ZUGFeRD combines a human-readable PDF with embedded XML and is often the pragmatic choice in B2B. What matters is what your recipients can process — a good solution generates both formats from the same NetSuite invoice.
Yes. Oracle's European Union Electronic Invoicing SuiteApp processes inbound XRechnung documents into vendor bills and vendor credits in NetSuite (item lines; expense lines are not supported).
Not without extra work. Per Oracle's documentation the standard SuiteApp's outbound templates are samples and do not generate a guaranteed valid e-document without customisation. For compliant outbound — including Peppol transport and validation — most companies use a partner solution such as our E-Invoicing Suite.
Small businesses (Kleinunternehmer, sec. 19 German VAT Act) do not have to issue e-invoices but must be able to receive them. Small-amount invoices up to €250, transport tickets and certain tax-exempt supplies are exempt from the issuing obligation.
We'll look at your receiving countries, your invoice volumes and your NetSuite — and tell you what needs doing by when, and what doesn't.