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With e-invoice data on, every invoice and credit note Foliant issues is a PDF with its data embedded as XML, in the ZUGFeRD / Factur-X format (profile EN 16931). Your customers see the same PDF as before. Their accounting software reads the numbers, VAT and addresses from the data inside it, so nobody has to type them in.

Why it matters

Across the EU, invoices between businesses are moving to e-invoices:
  • Germany: from 2027, businesses must send e-invoices to other businesses (from 2028 for every business). A ZUGFeRD PDF in the EN 16931 profile counts as an e-invoice there.
  • France: e-invoices between businesses are being introduced in stages, and they have to be sent through an approved platform. A Factur-X PDF sent by email alone isn’t enough there, but it’s the format those platforms accept.
Check with your accountant what applies to your business.

Before you start

  • Your plan: e-invoice data is included in the Starter, Growth and Scale plans.
  • Locked invoices: the data is added when a document is issued, so turn on locked invoices first.
  • Your legal details: in Settings › Tax & legal, your store needs:
Without a VAT number, invoices to businesses in other EU countries and exports are issued without e-invoice data, because they need one. The setting says so. If something is missing, the setting lists it under Before you turn on e-invoice data, add these in Tax & legal:, with an Open Tax & legal button.

Turn on e-invoice data

  1. In Foliant, open Settings › Documents & printing.
  2. In Locked invoices, turn on Add e-invoice data (ZUGFeRD / Factur-X).
  3. Click Save.
From then on, each invoice and credit note gets its data when it’s issued. Documents issued before stay as they are.

What the data contains

The same numbers the PDF shows:
  • the document number and date, and for a credit note, the invoice it corrects;
  • your store’s legal name, address, VAT number or tax number and company registration;
  • the customer’s name, address and VAT number, and the delivery address;
  • each line at its invoiced quantity, after discounts, with shipping as a line of its own;
  • the VAT per rate, with the reason for any line without VAT (export, intra-EU supply, reverse charge or exemption);
  • the totals, what was paid and what’s still due.

See and download the data

On the Issued invoices page:
  • Documents with e-invoice data show an E-invoice badge.
  • Click the code icon on a row (Download e-invoice XML) to download the data on its own, for example for your accountant.
  • Download archive includes the XML files in an xml folder, and manifest.csv has an einvoice column. See Download the archive and how long documents are kept.

When a document is issued without it

Foliant never holds up an invoice because of its e-invoice data. If the data can’t be added, the document is issued as a plain PDF, and the Issued invoices page shows a No e-invoice data badge on it. Hover over the badge to see why: When documents are issued without e-invoice data because your store’s legal details are incomplete, Foliant also tells you once a day in your notifications how many there were the day before. A document issued without the data stays that way: it’s locked. Once the cause is fixed, new documents get e-invoice data again.

Turn it off

Turn off Add e-invoice data (ZUGFeRD / Factur-X) and click Save. Documents issued from then on are plain PDFs. Documents already issued keep their data. If your plan no longer includes it, documents issued from then on are plain PDFs, even with the setting on.

Good to know

  • Quotes and packing slips never carry e-invoice data: only issued invoices and credit notes do.
  • The data is part of the PDF, so the PDF’s SHA-256 hash covers it. Verify a PDF works the same.
  • Removing personal data at the end of the retention period removes the XML too.