How do you turn subscription invoices into an e-invoice (XRechnung or ZUGFeRD)?

Since 01.01.2025, the BMF (German Federal Ministry of Finance) distinguishes two types. An e-invoice is issued, transmitted and received in a structured electronic format. Everything else, including a simple PDF by email, is an “other invoice” (BMF FAQ, as of March 2026, question 2). A PDF is not an e-invoice within the meaning of § 14 UStG. Check the documentation of your billing or payment tool to see which format it produces.

weclapp creates outgoing invoices in the ZUGFeRD profile EN 16931 (Comfort); in the global settings you enable ZUGFeRD data for all PDF invoice documents. You generate XRechnung via an optional workflow action. If there are discrepancies with ZUGFeRD, the structured part prevails.

This does not replace tax advice.

The obligation applies to transactions between domestic businesses (BMF FAQ, as of March 2026, question 3). For subscription providers, that means:

• Receiving: since 01.01.2025 for everyone, an email inbox is enough.
• Issuing from 01.01.2027: for prior-year revenue above €800,000. Up to €800,000, the transition period runs until the end of 2027, after which the obligation applies to everyone.
• Decisive is the total revenue of the prior year (§ 27 para. 38 UStG in conjunction with § 19 para. 2 UStG), so for the 2027 deadline that is the year 2026. How you calculate it is something your tax advisor will clarify.

For subscriptions, the small-amount rule matters most: invoices up to €250 gross do not need an e-invoice; this relief does not apply to services to companies in other EU countries where the recipient is liable for the tax, which you clarify with your tax advisor. Also exempt are B2C invoices, services by small businesses, services to legal entities that are not businesses, and many tax-exempt transactions.

This does not replace tax advice.

E-invoicing and API. Writing and capturing e-invoices is included in all weclapp packages, the REST API from ERP Dienstleistung (ERP Services) upwards. According to the weclapp list price, as of October 2026, ERP Dienstleistung costs €86 (annual payment) or €95 (monthly payment) per user per month, net. weclapp has no document or transaction fees.

Individual invoices via API. With the REST API, you create invoices from your billing system in weclapp. Your customers should receive only one invoice per service: if weclapp issues it, you switch off invoice dispatch in the billing or payment tool. How format generation behaves in a large API run, we clarify with you in advance.

Recurring invoices from weclapp itself require the Contract Management add-on. If weclapp is to generate subscription invoices itself on a fixed schedule, this requires the add-on. List price weclapp, as of October 2026: €55 per person per month. For each contract, you choose whether weclapp creates a sales order or an invoice, and whether the invoice is created before or after the billing period (in the first case at the time of billing, in the second one day afterwards).

weclapp reads transactions from payment service providers such as PayPal, finAPI and Tink, Stripe and Klarna only on request, and matches payments to open items. For collective payouts from a payment provider, there is no native weclapp standard. wals.pro uses Zahlungsabgleich 4 weclapp for this: it breaks down collective remittance advices, for example from Stripe, Mollie, PayPal or American Express, into individual payments and fees, matches them to the invoices and can be extended with further advice sources; a five-stage scoring match rates every hit. Clear matches are booked, uncertain cases go to review.

Connection. We support the setup as a project. wals.pro AI 4 weclapp helps with the Setup Center for connection, skills and the first read access; the AI does not take over the accounting setup itself.

A fictional example. A SaaS company based in Germany issues 1,200 subscription invoices per month: 840 to private customers, 300 to business customers in Germany as a monthly subscription at €29 net, 60 to business customers in Germany as an annual subscription at €480 net.

• Private customers: 840 invoices. B2C is exempt from the obligation.
• Monthly subscriptions to businesses: 300 invoices at €34.51 gross. These are small amounts up to €250 gross, so the obligation does not apply.
• Annual subscriptions to businesses: 60 invoices per month at €571.20 gross. Only these are above €250 gross and fall under the obligation once it applies.
• Deadline: For 2027, the 2026 revenue counts. Simplified assumption (invoiced net amounts): (840 × €29 + 300 × €29 + 60 × €480) × 12 = €742,320. That is below €800,000; whether your total revenue is actually below it is something your tax advisor will clarify. Plug in your own values.
• Ongoing costs: ERP Dienstleistung (ERP Services) plus add-on. Example with one user and an annually booked license: €86 + €55 = €141 net per month, list price weclapp, as of October 2026.

This does not replace tax advice.

A subscription invoice above €250 gross needs the mandatory information under § 14 para. 4 UStG. This includes, among other things, full names and addresses, tax number or VAT ID, a consecutive invoice number, type and scope of the service, time of the service, the consideration broken down by tax rates including agreed reductions, as well as tax rate and tax amount. For an e-invoice, all mandatory information must be in the structured part; a reference to a PDF in the attachment is not enough (BMF FAQ, as of March 2026, question 7a).

For invoices up to €250 total, simplified information is sufficient (§ 33 UStDV): name and address of the supplier, issue date, type and scope of the service, and consideration and tax amount in one sum with the tax rate or an exemption notice. This applies to the monthly subscriptions in the example.

For subscriptions, the service period is the crux. The law requires the time of the service (§ 14 para. 4 no. 6 UStG). For a monthly subscription, you state the calendar month; according to the BMF, this is also sufficient in an e-invoice (question 7b, there for the collective invoice). For advance payments, the invoice states the time the consideration was received, provided it is fixed and differs from the issue date (§ 14 para. 4 no. 6 in conjunction with para. 5 UStG). For quarterly and annual subscriptions, you clarify the period and when the VAT arises with your tax advisor.

This does not replace tax advice.

Correction: Anyone who corrects an invoice must also do so as an e-invoice where the obligation applies, using the invoice type for a correction (BMF FAQ, as of March 2026, question 7b). During the transition periods, this is still possible without an e-invoice. You may correct individual items in a follow-up e-invoice if it clearly refers to the original.

Refund and credit note: In VAT law, a “Gutschrift” (self-billing credit note) is an invoice issued by the recipient of the service that carries this designation (§ 14 para. 4 no. 10 UStG). A refund or price reduction to your customers is something different. How you document it, you agree with your tax advisor; for details, the BMF FAQ refers to the BMF letters of 15.10.2024 and 15.10.2025.

Retention: eight years, at least the structured part intact in its original form (question 13).

This does not replace tax advice.

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