30.16 E-invoice filter
30.16.1 Overview ¶
The e-invoice filter detects electronic invoices in the attachments of a message. The two formats commonly used in Germany and Europe are supported: ZUGFeRD (PDF with embedded XML data) and XRechnung (plain XML file).
Background: Since 2025, companies in Germany must be able to receive structured e-invoices. The filter automatically recognizes whether an attachment conforms to the standards - regardless of file name or sender.
30.16.2 Values and operators ¶
| Value |
Matches |
| ZUGFeRD invoice |
PDF attachment with embedded ZUGFeRD XML |
| XRechnung |
XML attachment in XRechnung format |
| ZUGFeRD or XRechnung |
Both formats |
| Operator |
Description |
| contains |
At least one attachment is an e-invoice of the selected type |
| does not contain |
None of the attachments is an e-invoice of the selected type |
30.16.3 Detection ¶
Detection runs in two stages:
| Stage |
Check |
| 1. File extension |
ZUGFeRD: .pdf, XRechnung: .xml, both for “ZUGFeRD or XRechnung” |
| 2. Content |
The program attempts to read the attachment as an e-invoice. If the read operation succeeds, the attachment is considered valid |
Note: The check is not strict - it relies on the embedded e-invoice library. Severely damaged or deliberately tampered files may in individual cases be rejected even though they are formally valid, or conversely accepted without all mandatory fields being present. A downstream accounting system is responsible for the complete professional verification of the invoice.
30.16.4 Use case ¶
Import e-invoices automatically into DMS
E-invoice type contains ZUGFeRD or XRechnung
Combined with the task Save to database, structured invoice data can be read directly from the XML.
30.16.5 Interaction with attachment handling ¶
In the tasks Save attachments and Print attachments, the e-invoice type can also be used as a filter per attachment (see chapter 9.3.4). This allows a profile to process all mails with attachments in general but only save or print the e-invoices.
The task Replace attachments (see chapter 24) extracts the ZUGFeRD XML from the PDF into a separate file.
30.16.6 Tip ¶
- The filter inspects the content of the attachments - not only their existence or file name