FeRD — the arbiter of private German e-invoicing
The Forum elektronische Rechnung Deutschland (FeRD) is the public-private body that governs German e-invoicing beyond the public sphere. Founded in 2010 and hosted by AWV, FeRD is the co-publisher of ZUGFeRD/Factur-X with FNFE-MPE and the private-B2B counterpart to KoSIT.
Origin and BMF mandate
FeRD was born in 2010 when Germany identified a competitive lag against several European neighbours (Belgium, Netherlands, Nordic countries) that had already deployed EDI in the economic sphere. BMWi mandated AWV to lead a standardisation initiative aimed at harmonising German EDI practices.
- Founding act: "Kick-off Workshop des Forums elektronische Rechnung Deutschland" on 22 March 2010 in Berlin, with representatives from BMWi, BMF, DIHK (chambers of commerce), BITKOM (IT industry), AWV and 60 pilot enterprises.
- Initial bylaws: Geschäftsordnung adopted in September 2010, open structure to any interested German organisation (symbolic fee for micro-businesses, tiered for large corporations).
- Mandate expanded in 2013: co-pilot with KoSIT on the B2G stream (which would become XRechnung), FeRD focus maintained on the B2B stream and the hybrid PDF+XML format that would become ZUGFeRD.
Public-private governance
FeRD operates on an original governance model combining public representation (BMF, BMWi, Länder via KoSIT), professional associations (DIHK, BITKOM, BDI), and economic actors (ERP vendors, EDI operators, banks, large corporations).
- Lenkungskreis (steering committee). ~25 members representing main stakeholders, validates major ZUGFeRD versions, arbitrates inter-WG conflicts. Rotating annual chair.
- Geschäftsstelle FeRD. Permanent secretariat hosted by AWV in Eschborn (Hesse), 5-7 FTE, coordinates WGs and publishes documentation.
- Technical committee. Sub-committee of the Lenkungskreis, dedicated to architecture decisions (e.g., transition UN/CEFACT 2009 → D16B in 2019, removal of COMFORT in 2.2, alignment with Factur-X 1.07 in 2.3).
- Working groups (WG1-WG6). Permanent thematic groups (see next section).
Working groups WG1-WG6
FeRD working groups are the operational engine. Each is led by an industrial co-chair + an administration co-chair. WGs produce deliverables fed to the Lenkungskreis for final validation.
| WG | Theme | Co-chair |
|---|---|---|
| WG1 | Anforderungen — business requirements gathering, industrial use cases (retail, automotive, construction, services) | Industry + DIHK |
| WG2 | Technische Standards — ZUGFeRD specification, CII XML structure, Schematron, profiles | BITKOM + KoSIT |
| WG3 | Internationale Standards — alignment with EN 16931, PEPPOL BIS, ViDA, ISO 20022 | BMF + GS1 Germany |
| WG4 | Verbreitung und Akzeptanz — communication, training, certification, "ZUGFeRD-ready" label | AWV + Bundesverband E-Rechnung (VeR) |
| WG5 | Recht und Compliance — legal analysis UStG, AO, GoBD, RGS, Vorsteuerabzug | BMF + Bundesnotarkammer |
| WG6 | Branchenspezifika — sector-specific adaptations: construction (XBau-Rechnung), healthcare (DRG) | Hauptverband der Deutschen Bauindustrie + Bundesärztekammer |
FNFE-MPE and OASIS partnerships
The major FeRD evolution since 2017 is its coordination with European counterparts, foremost the French FNFE-MPE for co-publication of Factur-X / ZUGFeRD.
- FeRD-FNFE-MPE memorandum (June 2017). Signed at the FNFE-MPE e-Invoicing conference in Paris: mutual commitment to publish strictly aligned releases, monthly joint technical committee, shared Schematron maintenance.
- First co-publication (March 2019). ZUGFeRD 2.0 and Factur-X 1.0 released simultaneously with identical XML content, only the PDF/A-3 wrappers and national Schematron complements differ.
- OASIS UBL. FeRD has been an observer member of the OASIS Universal Business Language Technical Committee since 2018, contributing to UBL Bindings to ensure interoperability with XRechnung.
- OpenPEPPOL membership. FeRD does not directly participate in OpenPEPPOL (carried by KoSIT on the German side) but coordinates via WG3 on PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 evolution.
Roadmap 2025-2028
The FeRD roadmap published in November 2024 at the autumn FeRD-Tagung identifies 5 priority projects for the 2025-2028 period:
- ZUGFeRD 3.0 planned Q4 2026. Major refactoring to integrate ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age EU) and align with EN 16931:2027 (5-year revision). Likely new ViDA profile for intra-EU transactions.
- XBau-Rechnung 2.0 branch (construction). WG6 is preparing a construction sector extension to integrate public construction-market specifics: DA-Codes 22 line clauses, measurements, progress statements.
- FeRD-Ready certification. Launch of a paid label for ERP vendors: independent audit, Schematron tests with 130+ scenarios, visible badge. First session scheduled June 2026.
- Mitteilungspflicht WG (cross-cutting). Tracking the BMF consultation on the future ELSTER B2B reporting mechanism, joint position with FNFE-MPE against a central platform like SdI/PPF.
- Internationalisation outside the EU. Discussions with Swiss authorities (eCH-0186 Swiss invoice), Austrian (FinanzOnline), and post-Brexit UK to position ZUGFeRD as a cross-border Germanic pivot format.