French agency for financial informatics (AIFE-Agence d’État pour l’informatique financière), responsible for Chorus Pro, integrated Chorus Pro Factur-X as a hybrid format. On March 24, 2020, FNFE-MPE and FERD released a joint version that is the same as Factur-X 1.0 and ZUGFeRD 2.1. After the alignment of Factur-X and ZUGFeRD with FERD, the .05 version of the Factur-X 1.0 documentation was published together with ZUGFeRD 2.1.

Factur-X is the name commonly used in France for the German-French standard for electronic hybrid invoices, currently version 1.0. It is fully compatible and technically identical to the ZUGFeRD 2.1 version. For this reason, a single version of ZUGFeRD 2.1 / Factur-X 1.0 is mentioned. The mixed form contains a PDF file for users and XML data for further automatic processing of the invoice. The standard corresponds to the European standard EN 16931, which defines the standards and technical rules for electronic invoicing in Europe to ensure interoperability and legal compliance.

Factur-X aims to add value to suppliers and invoicing by providing maximum information in a structured format. The standard is continuously developed and maintained under the auspices of the French National Forum for Electronic Invoicing and Public Electronic Procurement (FNFE-MPE).

Factur-X contains several standard data profiles that guide companies of all sizes and offer the broadest acceptance:

  • MINIMUM

    Corresponds to the minimum billing information required in Chorus Pro and corresponds to classic OCR header and manual validation data collection

  • BASIC WL
    Compared to document level billing information, which is often required or useful for process automation for buyers
  • BASIC

    Corresponds to the BASIC WL profile with basic line information that is required or useful for process automation buyers

  • EN16931 Corresponds to all billing information in the European standard EN16931
  • ADVANCED Corresponds to the EN16931 profile with some additional billing data. This profile is under construction and will be published later.

Mit Melasoft SAP Factur-X-Solution

  • Melasoft completely records the Factur-X invoices.
  • Melasoft first creates a PDF / A-3 to send invoices in Factur-X format.
  • The supplier sends invoice data from the ERP system, usually via an IDoc interface. Melasoft assigns the XML invoice document EN16931 to the file factur-x.xml. It then creates an invoice form in PDF / A format that is converted to PDF / A-3.
  • After the electronic invoice has been sent to the Chorus Pro portal via Melasoft, it is forwarded to the responsible public administration as the final recipient of the invoice. Public administrations connected to Choru Pro regularly send status/status messages, which show whether the invoice was accepted without errors and what the transaction status is.
  • Waybill, incoming orders, etc. Documents can be integrated into PDF / A-3 invoices.