The ZUGFeRD 1.0 specification has been published in June 2014. Aloaha was once of the first software vendors implementing this specification.
ZUGFeRD 2.0 has been published in March 2019. It is based on European Norm EN 16931 from June 2017, conforms to the XRechnung standard and is mostly compatible with the corresponding French standard Factur-X.
ZUGFeRD 2.1 has been published in March 2020. It makes the standard fully compatible with Factur-X 1.0.05.
ZUGFeRD 1 und 2 apply the same principles regarding embedding in PDF/A. Minor differences between the versions are mentioned in the description below.
ZUGFeRD 2.0 and Factur-X are based on UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice Stand D16B version 100, uncoupled set of schemas (CII). Since ZUGFeRD 1.0 uses a custom XML flavor, the invoice XML slightly differs between both versions. For example, the root element in ZUGFeRD 1.0 is CrossIndustryDocument, but CrossIndustryInvoice in ZUGFeRD 2.0/Factur-X.
ZUGFeRD 1.0 and 2.x/Factur-X support multiple application profiles:
- ZUGFeRD 2.x only: the »Minimum« and »Basic WL« profiles have been included in ZUGFeRD 2.x for compatibility with the French standard Factur-X. They don’t contain all invoicing information required in Germany and should therefore not be used in Germany.
- The »Basic« profile carries structured data for simple invoices. Additional information can be included as free text. It covers only a subset of EN 16931-1 and is suitable for simple invoices.
- The »Comfort« profile adds structured data for fully automated invoice processing. It completely covers EN 16931-1.
- The »Extended« profile adds still more structured data for exchanging invoice across different industry segments.
- At a minimum, applications must support the »Basic« profile, but they may add more CII elements provided these don’t interfere with the »Extended« profile. Since additional elements are outside the scope of ZUGFeRD they require prior arrangements between the exchanging parties.
Fatura PA (IT) , Facture X (FR), XRechnung and ZUGFeRD 2.0 (DE) – are the four names of national invoice formats that differ in details but are based on the European standard EN16931. The latter in turn provides for the XML standards UBL and UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice (CII) for the creation of structured invoices.