XRechnung for German public-sector clients

German public-sector buyers (B2G) require invoices as XRechnung (a standalone XML file, not a PDF), which you upload to the authority's invoicing portal. TimeBill generates XRechnung 3.0 for sellers based in Germany. Note that generating XRechnung XML is a Premium feature; on the free plan, clicking the export button opens the paywall (see Free vs. TimeBill Premium).

Set up your side

1. In Your Details → Electronic Invoicing, set Format to Germany — XRechnung 3.0.
2. Complete everything the "Still required for XRechnung: …" warning lists. On top of the usual e-invoice data (overview here), XRechnung additionally requires your City, Post Code, Email, Phone, and IBAN on a SEPA (EU) account. Public-sector rules demand a reachable seller contact and SEPA credit transfer (card and direct debit are refused).
3. Click Save.

Set up the customer

Edit the authority in Customer Management and fill the Electronic Invoicing section:

1. Enter the Leitweg-ID / Buyer Reference (optional). The form treats it as optional, but the XRechnung export requires a buyer reference. German authorities provide their Leitweg-ID with the order. Without it, the export is blocked.
2. Fill their address (City, Post Code, Country Code (e.g. DE)) and Email, all required for XRechnung.
3. The editor shows "Ready for XRechnung" when everything is in place (see Customer fields for electronic invoicing).

Generate and upload

1. Open the project and click Generate Invoice.
2. Fix anything listed under "XRechnung still needs:" in the footer; the button stays disabled until the list is empty.
3. Click Generate XRechnung XML.
4. The XML lands in the Invoice Vault; the detail pane shows the XML directly. Select it and click Re-export to save the .xml file, then upload it to the authority's portal.

Offering Skonto (early-payment discount)

XRechnung has a strict machine-readable syntax for cash discounts. In the Payment Terms field, any line starting with # must follow this exact format:

#SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00#

optionally with a base amount: #SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00#BASISBETRAG=1000.00#. Any other #-line fails the export with a validation error. Regular human-readable payment terms (lines without #) are fine alongside.

Good to know

• Corrections: a formal XRechnung correction should reference the preceding invoice, which TimeBill cannot include yet, so you'll see an advisory warning. Re-issuing works by regenerating with the same invoice number; see Correcting and re-issuing an invoice.
• The Leitweg-ID / Buyer Reference (optional) field only appears in the customer editor while XRechnung is the selected format.
• 0% tax requires the small-business VAT exemption toggle in Your Details (German sellers see it as Kleinunternehmer (§ 19 UStG)); with the toggle on, a non-zero rate is blocked instead. The Exemption Note is included in the XRechnung XML automatically.