What Is Factur-X? ZUGFeRD and the Hybrid e-Invoice
Factur-X, known as ZUGFeRD in Germany, is a hybrid e-invoice: a PDF/A-3 file with an embedded UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice XML that machines read while humans see the PDF.
Updated 2026-10-01 · 4 min read
What Factur-X is
Factur-X is a hybrid format: the invoice is a PDF that a person can read, with the structured invoice embedded inside it as XML. The German name for the same standard is ZUGFeRD.
The point is to satisfy both a human workflow and an automated one from a single file.
The XML layer
The embedded XML is a UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice. It carries the seller, the buyer, the lines, and the totals, with a guideline identifier that names the profile.
Because it is XML, it inherits XML risks — external entities and entity expansion among them — which a parser must refuse.
The profiles
Factur-X defines profiles from a minimal bookkeeping invoice to a full one with all the EN 16931 business terms. The profile identifier in the XML says which one applies.
Where validation fails
Common defects are a missing guideline identifier, totals that do not balance against the lines, and a negative line on an invoice. A validator checks the profile rules and the arithmetic before the file is accepted.
Try it on real data
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Factur-X is the French name and ZUGFeRD the German name for the same hybrid e-invoice standard.
A PDF/A-3 with an embedded UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice XML holding the structured invoice data.
Because one file serves both: a human reads the PDF, a machine reads the embedded XML.