Frequently asked questions about XMS Rechnung

XMS Rechnung is simple online invoicing software for tradespeople, self-employed professionals, freelancers and small businesses in Germany. You use it to create quotes, invoices, cancellation invoices and payment reminders, manage customers and items, generate e-invoices (E-Rechnung, in the ZUGFeRD and XRechnung formats) and hand your tax advisor (Steuerberater) a ready-made DATEV package every month.

For business owners who want to write legally compliant invoices quickly without having to learn complicated accounting software – for example trade businesses, service providers, caretaker services, cleaning companies, agencies, consultants and Kleinunternehmer (small businesses under § 19 UStG, no VAT charged). XMS Rechnung is aimed exclusively at businesses (Unternehmer within the meaning of § 14 BGB), not at private individuals.

No. XMS Rechnung runs entirely in your browser – on Windows, Mac, Linux, tablets and smartphones. All you need is an internet connection and an up-to-date browser such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Edge.

You don’t need a separate app from the App Store: the interface adapts automatically to small screens. You can also place XMS Rechnung on your smartphone like an app using “Add to Home Screen”.

The app interface is available in English (as well as German and other languages). The documents you send to your customers – invoices, quotes, reminders and emails – are generated in German, as is customary and expected for business in Germany. Invoices are issued in euros.

XMS Rechnung deliberately focuses on the essentials: quotes, invoices, dunning, e-invoicing and DATEV export. There is no complicated bookkeeping, no add-on modules and no pricing tiers – all features are included for €9.90 per month. The actual bookkeeping is done, as usual, by your tax advisor using the DATEV package.

€9.90 per month including statutory VAT. This covers all features – unlimited invoices, quotes, customers and items, e-invoicing, sending by email and DATEV export. There are no hidden costs and no set-up fee.

The first 30 days are free. After registering, you choose the subscription in the subscription section of the app and add a payment method. Nothing is charged during the 30 days. If you cancel before the trial ends, you pay nothing at all.

So that your subscription continues without interruption after the trial and you don’t have to enter your details again. You will not be charged before the trial ends and you can cancel at any time with one click.

Payment is processed securely by our payment service provider Stripe. Common credit and debit cards are accepted, as well as other payment methods shown to you during checkout. Your card details are stored only with Stripe, not with us.

Not at all. The subscription runs monthly and can be cancelled at any time with effect from the end of the current month.

In XMS Rechnung, go to the subscription section and choose to manage your subscription. This opens Stripe’s customer portal, where you can cancel, change your payment method or download your invoices in just a few clicks. Alternatively, an email to support@xmsrechnung.de is sufficient.

Your data is not deleted immediately. Even after your contract ends, you can still open the export and download your invoices together with the DATEV package. On request we will delete your data completely – an email to support@xmsrechnung.de is all it takes. Please bear in mind your own statutory obligation to retain invoices.

Yes. You receive an invoice by email for every payment. You can also find all previous invoices at any time in the customer portal, which you reach via the subscription section of the app.

First enter your company details, tax number (Steuernummer) or VAT ID (USt-IdNr.) and bank details in the settings, and upload your logo. Then create a customer under “Customers”. Under “Invoices”, start a new invoice, select the customer, add line items and click “Issue”. The invoice automatically receives a sequential number and is immediately available as a PDF.

The invoice template is designed around the mandatory details: the full name and address of both you and your customer, tax number or VAT ID, invoice date, sequential invoice number, date or period of supply, quantity and type of goods or services, net amount, tax rate and tax amount per tax rate, and the gross amount. You remain responsible for the accuracy of the content yourself.

Automatically, sequentially and without gaps per year, e.g. RE-2026-0001, RE-2026-0002 and so on. Quotes (AN-…) and cancellation invoices (ST-…) have their own number ranges. You can adjust the prefixes in the settings. A number is only assigned when a document is issued – drafts do not use up a number.

No – and that is intended by law. Under the GoBD (German principles for proper digital bookkeeping), issued invoices must not be altered afterwards. As long as an invoice is a draft, you can edit everything freely. If an issued invoice is wrong, you create a cancellation invoice with one click and then a corrected new invoice (the function for creating a new invoice as a copy takes over all line items).

Open the issued invoice and click “Cancel”. XMS Rechnung automatically generates a cancellation invoice (Stornorechnung) with its own number that refers to the original invoice. Both documents remain archived, and the cancellation is correctly reversed in the DATEV export.

Yes. Open the issued quote and use the function to convert it into an invoice. All line items, the customer and the texts are carried over, and the introductory text automatically refers to the quote number.

19%, 7% and 0%. You can mix different tax rates within one invoice – VAT is shown correctly for each tax rate.

Yes. Enable the Kleinunternehmer option (small business under § 19 UStG, no VAT charged) in the settings. No VAT will then be calculated and the required notice appears automatically on every invoice. The e-invoice and the DATEV export also take the small business rules into account.

Yes. For construction services to other construction businesses, enable “Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers (§ 13b UStG)” on the invoice: it is created without VAT and automatically includes the required note – in the e-invoice and DATEV export too. From a quote you can create progress invoices as a percentage of the order value; the final invoice automatically deducts all progress invoices (net, VAT and gross). Invoices to customers abroad do not currently have a dedicated note.

Yes. As well as a single date of supply, you can specify a period from–to, for example for monthly maintenance or cleaning services.

Pieces, hours, metres, square metres, cubic metres, kilograms, litres, flat rate, day and kilometres.

Yes. Upload your logo (PNG or JPG) in the settings. It appears on all invoices, quotes and reminders. Your contact, tax and bank details are automatically shown in the footer of every document.

Yes. Every document has an introductory text and a closing text that you can word freely – for example for a thank-you, payment instructions or terms.

Yes. Under “Items” you create recurring services or products with price, unit and tax rate. When creating an invoice, you simply select them.

Not automatically yet. However, you can copy any invoice into a new draft in seconds using the function for creating a new invoice as a copy. Automatic recurring invoices are on our list of upcoming features.

Since 1 January 2025, all businesses in Germany must be able to receive e-invoices (E-Rechnungen) from other businesses. Transitional periods apply to issuing them: from 2027, businesses with more than €800,000 in turnover in the previous year must issue e-invoices in the B2B sector, and from 2028 generally all businesses. Kleinunternehmer under § 19 UStG are exempt from issuing them. A simple PDF file will then no longer count as an e-invoice.

Yes. Every issued invoice is automatically generated as a ZUGFeRD invoice: a PDF/A-3 with the machine-readable invoice data embedded in accordance with the European standard EN 16931. Your customer can open the file as a PDF as usual, and their accounting software reads the data automatically. In addition, you can download any invoice as a pure XRechnung (XML).

ZUGFeRD is a PDF with embedded XML data – readable by people and processable by software. It is ideal for invoices to businesses. XRechnung is a pure XML file without a visible PDF and is required mainly by government authorities and public-sector clients. XMS Rechnung creates both formats.

Public-sector clients generally require an XRechnung with a Leitweg-ID (the routing ID used by German public authorities to direct e-invoices). Enter the Leitweg-ID provided by the authority in the respective customer’s details. Then download the invoice using the XRechnung download function and submit it via the authority’s portal.

An e-invoice requires complete master data: your company name and address, tax number or VAT ID, your bank details (IBAN), and the customer’s name and full address. If any details are missing, XMS Rechnung shows you exactly what still needs to be added while the invoice is still a draft.

XMS Rechnung is designed for writing your outgoing invoices. You continue to receive incoming invoices by email as before; incoming invoices are usually processed by your tax advisor using suitable software (e.g. DATEV).

Yes. In the issued invoice, use the function to send it by email. Recipient, subject and a friendly standard text are already pre-filled and can be adjusted. The invoice is attached as a PDF (with embedded e-invoice) and additionally as an XML file. You can send quotes the same way. Please note that the email text sent to your customer is in German.

The emails are sent from rechnung@xmsrechnung.de with your company name as the sender. If your customer replies, the reply goes directly to your own inbox (your email address from the settings). This keeps deliverability high without you having to set anything up.

Yes. When sending, you can specify additional recipients in copy (CC).

In the dunning section you can see all open and overdue invoices at a glance, including the number of days overdue. With one click you send a payment reminder, followed by the 1st and 2nd dunning notice (Mahnung). The respective level is automatically incremented and saved with the date.

No, no fees are calculated automatically. If you want to charge dunning fees, you can state the amount in the text of the dunning notice.

Open the invoice, use the function to record a payment, choose the date and payment method (e.g. bank transfer, cash, PayPal, card, direct debit) and confirm. The payment also appears in the DATEV export.

No, there is currently no bank connection. You mark paid invoices yourself with two clicks.

Under “Export” you select the month and download a ZIP package. It contains the DATEV posting batch, an outgoing invoice register for Excel and all invoices of the month as PDF and XML. You simply send this package to your tax advisor (Steuerberater) – the postings can be imported directly into DATEV.

The official DATEV “Buchungsstapel” (posting batch) format (EXTF, version 700) in the character set that DATEV expects. Each invoice is posted with debtor, revenue account, document date, document number and date of supply; cancellations and payments are also included.

SKR03 and SKR04. The appropriate revenue accounts for 19%, 7%, 0% and Kleinunternehmer, as well as bank and cash accounts, are selected automatically. You set the chart of accounts in the settings.

In the DATEV area of the settings. You receive these numbers (Beraternummer and Mandantennummer) from your tax advisor. They are included in the header of the posting batch so that the import is assigned directly to the correct client.

Each customer automatically receives a customer number starting at 10001. This number is used as the debtor account in DATEV, so your tax advisor can see open items per customer.

No. XMS Rechnung is invoicing software, not accounting software. Your tax advisor will continue to prepare your cash-basis income statement (Einnahmen-Überschuss-Rechnung), advance VAT returns (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung) and annual financial statements – but with the DATEV package this is considerably quicker.

XMS Rechnung is built according to the principles of the GoBD (German principles for proper digital bookkeeping): gap-free, sequential number ranges, immutability of issued documents, corrections only via cancellation invoices, audit-proof archiving as PDF/A-3 with embedded e-invoice, and a log of issuing, cancellation and sending. For full GoBD compliance of your business, you additionally need a procedural documentation (Verfahrensdokumentation), which your tax advisor can prepare with you.

Your data is stored in data centres in the European Union in Frankfurt am Main. All connections are encrypted (HTTPS/TLS).

Only you. Each customer’s data is strictly separated at database level. We do not use any advertising or tracking services and we do not sell any data.

Yes. We process your customers’ data exclusively on your behalf. The data processing agreement (AVV) under Art. 28 GDPR (DSGVO) forms part of our Terms and Conditions (AGB) and is concluded automatically upon registration. You can find details in our privacy policy and in the data processing agreement.

Invoices are accounting records and generally have to be retained for eight years in Germany; books, inventories and annual financial statements for ten years. If in doubt, ask your tax advisor. XMS Rechnung archives your issued documents permanently for as long as your account exists. We also recommend saving the monthly export package yourself.

Click “Forgot password?” on the login page. You will receive an email with a link that lets you set a new password.

Currently, each account comes with one login (one email address) for one business. Multiple users per company are planned.

One company is managed per account. For another company, simply create a second account with a different email address.

An automatic import is not currently available; you create customers under “Customers” by adding a new customer. Do you have a lot of customers? Get in touch – we’re happy to help.

By email to support@xmsrechnung.de. We usually reply within one working day – in German, English or Polish.

Write to us at support@xmsrechnung.de. XMS Rechnung is continuously being developed, and our customers’ requests take priority.