What government authorities need to know about e‑invoicing
A quick overview
- Since 27 November 2020, invoice issuers have been required to use invoices in electronic form (e-invoices) when billing federal authorities (contracting authorities) for goods and services delivered (see section 3 of the E-Invoicing Ordinance (E-Rechnungsverordnung, ERechV)).
- There are two federal portals for submitting e-invoices. Organisations of the direct federal administration receive e-invoices via the Federal Central Invoice Submission Portal (ZRE). Many organisations of the indirect federal administration receive e-invoices via the federal Online Access Act-compliant Invoice Submission Portal (OZG-RE).
- It is very important for federal authorities to inform their suppliers, as this is the only way for both parties to benefit from the advantages offered by electronic invoicing (e-invoicing).
- Through the so-called “supplier information”, authorities ensure that their service providers and suppliers receive all the necessary information for electronic invoicing from 27 November 2020.
Supplier information ›
How government authorities and grant recipients can access the OZG-RE
In general, to accept e-invoices, all indirect Federal Administration institutions and beneficiaries have the ability to access the OZG-RE invoice submission platform.
Firstly, submit an informal request to connect to the OZG-RE via erechnung.bund@nortal.com. You will then receive all the resources and instructions you require to complete the connection process via this mailbox.
To enable us to process your request quickly and smoothly, please follow the steps described below to complete the process. You will be given audit guidelines and checklists to help you complete the activities necessary to connect to the OZG-RE.
You are welcome to contact the central e-invoicing mailbox throughout the entire process if you have any queries or doubts.
1. Request to the central e-invoicing mailbox
In the first instance, send an informal request to erechnung.bund@nortal.com.
2. Receive the audit guidelines
- Audit guidelines for the Regulation on Electronic Invoicing (E-RechV) area of application
- Audit guidelines for shared use of the OZG-RE
3. Self-audit
- Check if your institution is required to comply with the E-RechV obligation.
- Check if the requirements for shared use of the OZG-RE have been fulfilled within your institution.
4. Report the audit results to the central e‑invoicing mailbox
Send the audit result to erechnung.bund@nortal.com.
5. Receive the starter kit
If the outcome is positive, you will be sent the starter kit. This contains all the contract documents necessary to connect to the OZG-RE.
6. Work through the starter kit using the checklist supplied
- Fill in and sign the administrative agreement, including Appendix 6, both in duplicate, and return to the Procurement Office of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Procurement Office).
- Work through all of the other steps to be completed independently in accordance with the checklist.
7. The documents will be checked and countersigned by the Procurement Office.
As soon as the Procurement Office confirms signature of the administrative agreement to the Federal Printing Office, the latter will add you as a user on the OZG-RE platform and provide you with the necessary technical information.
8. Connect successfully to the OZG-RE.
How is e-invoicing organised at the federal level and in Germany’s federal states?
The federal E-Invoicing Ordinance governs the sending of e-invoices by suppliers to the federal administration. Germany’s federal states implement EU Directive 2014/55/EU under their own responsibility.
In order to help you send e-invoices to the federal states, we have put together some useful information:
How can we, as a contracting authority, help our suppliers?
You can find a wide variety of information materials here to help your suppliers make the transition to e-invoicing:
Request sample letter to be sent to new suppliers
This document contains a sample letter with information about e-invoicing for new suppliers.
Request text modules for communicating with suppliers
This document contains text modules which may be used on your authority’s website to provide suppliers with information on e-invoicing.
Request information package for suppliers
This information package consists of nine documents that build on each other and is intended to provide your suppliers with the most important information on e-invoicing.
You can also direct your suppliers to the web page with information for invoice issuers.
Further information for authorities
In the media centre, you can download extensive information about e-invoicing in the federal administration which you can provide to your suppliers. The media centre also offers videos explaining how to use the Peppol network and video tutorials on using the federal invoice submission portals ZRE and OZG-RE. If you have any questions, please let us know. Write to us using our contact form.