Invoiless Help Center | How to enable E-invoicing (EN 16931)

How to enable E-invoicing (EN 16931)

Generate EN 16931–compliant e-invoices for your customers — XRechnung, Factur-X / ZUGFeRD, or Peppol BIS.

Ayoub Amine

Last Update il y a 20 jours

E-invoicing (EN 16931) lets you generate structured, compliant electronic invoices that meet the European standard. Instead of plain PDFs, these invoices carry machine-readable data that public bodies and businesses across the EU can process automatically.

All formats are based on the same EN 16931 standard. You choose which one to use for each customer:

XRechnung (Germany) — the German standard for invoicing public sector entities. Exported as a hybrid PDF/A-3 with embedded XML, using the German ZUGFeRD format.
Factur-X (France) — the French hybrid PDF/A-3 format with embedded XML, readable by both people and machines. It's the French equivalent of ZUGFeRD and uses the same format.
Peppol BIS (other EU) — the format used for sending invoices across the Peppol network.

💡 You decide which standard each customer gets, so every client receives invoices in the format that works for them.

Enable E-invoicing for your business

Go to your "Settings > Integrations > Compliance" page.
Find the E-invoicing (EN 16931) card and click "Enable e-invoicing".
A dialog will open with a Compliance status section. Review the Business profile area — if any required fields are missing (such as Tax ID or bank details), follow the guide there to complete them.
Once all required business information is complete, click "Enable e-invoicing" to finish the setup.

Choose the e-invoicing standard for a customer

After enabling e-invoicing for your business, you can pick the standard for each customer that needs compliant invoices.

Go to the "Customers" page, select a customer, and click Edit.
Scroll to the E-invoicing section.
Open the E-invoicing standard field and pick the format you want for that customer:
- XRechnung (Germany)
- Factur-X (France)
- Peppol BIS (other EU)
Fill in any additional required details, such as reference, Tax ID, and full address information (city, postal code, country, etc.).
Click "Save changes".

💡 You can change a customer's standard anytime — just edit the customer and pick a different one.

Issue an e-invoice

E-invoices get their final number only when they are issued. Until then, a draft shows a temporary DRAFT-… label. This way, deleted drafts never leave a gap in your numbering.

Open the draft invoice you want to issue.
Review the invoice details.
Click "Issue invoice".

✨ Your invoice now has its final number. From this point on, its number and content stay unchanged.

Cancel an issued e-invoice

Since issued invoices can't be changed, you cancel them with a credit note instead.

Open the issued invoice you want to cancel.
Click "Cancel invoice".

A credit note for the full amount is created automatically. The original invoice stays visible with its number, so your records remain complete.

Standard-specific guides

Each format has its own setup details and requirements. Once you've picked a customer's standard, follow the matching guide:

XRechnung & ZUGFeRD / Factur-X → How to enable XRechnung & ZUGFeRD / Factur-X compliance
Peppol BIS (other EU) → Peppol e-invoicing guide

FAQs

What happens for customers without e-invoicing enabled?

Invoices for those customers export as normal PDFs with no embedded or structured data. Only customers with an e-invoicing standard selected will receive compliant e-invoices.

Do I need to set this up for every customer?

No. You only need it for customers that require compliant e-invoices, such as EU public sector entities. All other customers will continue to receive standard PDF invoices.

Does e-invoicing apply to both invoices and credit notes?

Yes. Any invoice or credit note issued to a customer with e-invoicing enabled will be generated in the standard you selected for them.

Enjoy 🧡

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