France and Germany Publish Updated Factur-X and ZUGFeRD Specifications

Summary

FNFE-MPE and FeRD published Factur-X 1.09.2 and ZUGFeRD 2.5.2 on 4 August 2026. The technically aligned Franco-German formats combine a human-readable PDF/A-3 invoice with structured XML data based on EN 16931 and UN/CEFACT Cross-Industry Invoice syntax.
The update introduces or refines support for sub-lines, subtotal lines and invoice lines representing kits, bundles or composite items. It also corrects consistency, rounding, VAT-breakdown and validation-rule issues, particularly within the EXTENDED profile, and refreshes the associated XSD and Schematron validation artefacts.
The release is a technical specification update rather than a new tax obligation. Businesses, accredited platforms, ERP vendors and e-invoicing service providers should nevertheless assess compatibility, update validation tools and conduct regression testing, particularly where they use complex invoice lines or plan for the French or German B2B mandates.

Article

The French National Forum for Electronic Invoicing and Electronic Public Procurement, FNFE-MPE, and Germany’s Forum elektronische Rechnung Deutschland, FeRD, published updated versions of their joint hybrid e-invoicing standard on 4 August 2026.

The new releases are Factur-X 1.09.2 and ZUGFeRD 2.5.2. The two formats are technically identical and combine a human-readable PDF/A-3 invoice with a structured XML file capable of automated processing. They are based on European Standard EN 16931 and use the UN/CEFACT Cross-Industry Invoice syntax. [fnfe-mpe.org], [ferd-net.de]

The August release contains additions and corrections to the versions published in June 2026. A notable enhancement concerns sub-line management, allowing structured treatment of subtotal lines and invoice lines relating to kits, bundles or composite items. These functions are relevant where a commercial invoice presents aggregated products while downstream tax, accounting or procurement systems require additional component-level information. [fnfe-mpe.org]

The corrigendum also addresses consistency issues in functionality added to the EXTENDED profile. Changes include revised business rules for VAT breakdowns, corrections concerning item attributes and rounding, and adjustments to the cardinality of specified line-level VAT fields. Each of the five profiles has its own updated XSD and Schematron validation artefacts. [ferd-net.de]

The version is based on UN/CEFACT CII D22B and remains backward compatible with D16B. FeRD states that ZUGFeRD 2.5.2 is effective from 1 September 2026. The publication does not itself impose a new statutory invoicing obligation, but it affects the technical tools used to generate and validate compliant hybrid invoices. [ferd-net.de]

Factur-X is one of the three formats within the minimum format base for France’s electronic invoicing reform. It is particularly relevant to smaller businesses because the format supports both visual invoice processing and structured automation. ZUGFeRD is also widely used for German invoicing, including B2B and B2G exchanges. [fnfe-mpe.org], [ferd-net.de]

Businesses should ask ERP vendors, service providers and accredited platforms which release they currently support and when the updated validation artefacts will enter production. Testing should cover invoice generation, PDF/XML consistency, VAT breakdowns, rounding, bundles and customer-side validation.

Organizations should also avoid assuming that technical validity guarantees legal or tax compliance. Invoice-content rules, archiving requirements, authenticity controls and local mandate requirements must still be assessed under the relevant national legislation.

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Germany and France Update ZUGFeRD 2.5 for 2026 E-Invoicing Compliance

Germany and France released ZUGFeRD 2.5, a hybrid e-invoicing format effective July 1, 2026.
It adds native support for gross-amount invoices and updates code lists to match EN 16931 rules.
The update is especially relevant for industries like book trade, publishing, and petroleum.
It supports Germany’s phased B2B e-invoicing mandate, with mandatory receiving already in place and issuance required from January 2027 for larger businesses.
The goal is to improve tax compliance and reduce VAT fraud.

Source: docnova.ai

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.