E-invoicing and
structured formats

Electronic invoice processing is becoming the standard in B2B environments. Regulatory and technical requirements are driving the adoption of structured invoice formats, which are increasingly becoming mandatory or expected.

In Germany and Austria, clear requirements are emerging for companies to be able to receive and process electronic invoices. At the same time, the foundation is being laid for further developments such as EU-wide reporting and standardized data exchange.

This development not only changes invoice formats but also the requirements for how they are processed.

An e-invoice is an invoice in a structured, machine-readable format. Unlike a digital invoice in PDF form, it not only contains a visual representation but also clearly defined data fields.

The basis for this is the European standard EN 16931. It defines which information an electronic invoice must contain and how it is structured. Typical formats include:

• XRechnung: A purely structured XML format that contains all relevant invoice data in a standardized form and is primarily used in the public sector.
• ZUGFeRD: A hybrid format that combines a visual PDF with embedded structured XML data, enabling both human and machine processing.

Other structured formats are also based on XML structures and follow defined data models. What they all have in common is that they do not just display information, but provide it as data.

The introduction of e-invoicing is not an isolated change, but part of a gradual regulatory development. In Germany, e-invoicing is becoming a mandatory basis for invoice exchange in the B2B sector. Companies must be able to receive and process structured invoices.

In Austria, there are also requirements for electronic invoice formats, particularly in interaction with public-sector clients.

At the same time, European initiatives such as ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) are emerging, aiming at further standardization and unified reporting.

For companies, this means:

• Different deadlines and transition phases must be considered.
• Existing processes need to be adapted.
• Systems must be flexible enough to integrate new requirements.

E-invoicing is therefore part of an ongoing development.

Structured formats already provide invoice data in a machine-readable form. This often leads to the expectation that the data can be processed directly without additional effort.

In practice, however, the following applies:

• Data must be interpreted in a business context.
• Content must be aligned with existing data models.
• Deviations from master data must be considered.
• Different variations within a standard must be handled.

Even structured data therefore requires processing beyond simple ingestion.

In practice, e-invoices rarely occur in isolation. Organizations continue to process mixed document inputs consisting of both structured and unstructured formats.

The challenge lies in processing different formats within a unified process and providing consistent data.

bluDELTA operates at the point of document intake and processes both structured and unstructured documents within a unified system logic.

Structured e-invoices are directly ingested, while content from unstructured documents is extracted. Regardless of the format, all information is transformed into a consistent data foundation.

This creates a basis on which different document types and formats can be processed together.

Providing structured data is an important step, but not sufficient on its own.

For processes to run reliably and automatically, data must be validated, checked, and assigned in a business context. Only then does a reliable foundation for further processing in ERP and business systems emerge.

Processing structured formats is part of an end-to-end document processing workflow:

• Class & Split: Documents and formats are identified
• Extract: Structured data is ingested, and unstructured content is extracted
• Mapping: Data is assigned and prepared for systems

bluDELTA ensures that, regardless of the source format, a consistent and system-ready data foundation is created.