Invoicing a German government agency: XRechnung, Leitweg-ID and OZG-RE

If you supply a German federal authority, you have to invoice electronically. A PDF is not accepted, whatever it contains. What is required is an XRechnung, a structured XML file. This applies regardless of where your company is registered.

Where the invoice goes

Since 19 September 2025 the direct federal administration receives invoices through a single platform, the OZG-RE. It replaced the earlier ZRE, whose operation ended on 31 December 2025. Registration is free and open to any company invoicing a German federal authority, including companies based outside Germany.

Once registered there are four ways to submit: a web form, a file upload, an email address tied to your account, and the Peppol network. You choose; none of them requires you to buy a network connection.

The Leitweg-ID

A Leitweg-ID is the routing code that says which body the invoice belongs to. You do not invent it. The contracting authority gives it to you, in the tender, the contract or the order, and you can ask them for it if you cannot find it.

An invoice with a missing or wrong Leitweg-ID is rejected, and a rejected invoice is not paid.

What the file has to be

• XRechnung 3.0, either as UBL or as CII. Both syntaxes are accepted.
• Valid against EN 16931 and the German profile built on top of it.
• Carrying the Leitweg-ID in the buyer reference field (BT-10).

If you are not a German company

The obligation applies to you exactly as it applies to a German supplier, and most German invoicing tools exist only in German. Ours does not: the form is available in English, French, Dutch and Spanish as well as German, while the file it produces carries the standard's own codes, and those are the same in every language.