If you sell to shops in Germany, France or Belgium, the way you send invoices is changing. For many B2B sales, a PDF attached to an email is no longer enough. More and more EU countries now require structured e-invoices: files that your retailer’s accounting software reads automatically, without anyone typing them in.

The next big date is 1 January 2027. From then on, German businesses with more than €800,000 in turnover must send e-invoices to other German businesses. France started on 1 September 2026 and Belgium on 1 January 2026. For a wholesale brand that sells across borders, it’s easy to lose track of which rule applies to which order, especially next to other new EU rules like the Digital Product Passport and the new packaging rules.

This guide gives you the deadlines by country, explains when the rules apply to your wholesale business, and walks you through what to change in your order and invoice flows. If you only need the Belgian rules and how to switch on Peppol in Orderchamp, read our article on Peppol invoicing in Orderchamp.

What is e-invoicing?

An e-invoice is an invoice sent as structured data, usually an XML file, in a format that follows the European standard EN 16931. The buyer’s software reads every field automatically: your VAT number, the order reference, each product line, the VAT rate and the total.

That’s the big difference with the invoices most brands send today. A PDF, a scan or a Word file is electronic in the everyday sense, but it isn’t an e-invoice under the new rules. Someone still has to read it and type it in.

E-invoicing is also not the same as EDI. EDI is a direct connection that large retail chains set up with their biggest suppliers, in a format the two companies agree on. E-invoicing is a legal standard that applies to every business in a country, down to a small shop with one till. Read more in what is EDI in wholesale.

E-invoicing deadlines by country

The table below shows where B2B e-invoicing is mandatory, or about to be, in the countries that matter most for European wholesale brands. Keep in mind that each country’s rules only cover businesses established in that country. The next section explains what that means for you.

Spain has passed a law that will make B2B e-invoicing mandatory, but the start date isn’t final yet. For any other country you invoice in, check the local tax authority’s website.

Dates can still shift, so check the official source before you change your process: the German Federal Ministry of Finance, the Belgian government’s e-invoicing site, the French tax administration and the European Commission’s page on VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA).

Do the rules apply to your wholesale business?

This is where most brands get confused. In Germany, Belgium and France, the obligation covers sales between two businesses that are both established in that country. So it’s not only about where your retailer is. Where your own business is established matters just as much.

Three examples:

• A German brand selling to German shops has to send e-invoices from 1 January 2027 if its 2026 turnover was above €800,000, and from 1 January 2028 either way.

• A Dutch brand selling to German shops without a German establishment isn’t covered by the German rule. It can keep sending regular invoices to its German retailers for now.

• A French brand selling to French shops must be able to receive e-invoices now, and send them from 1 September 2027 at the latest.

Being outside the rule doesn’t mean your retailers won’t ask for an e-invoice. Every German business has had to be able to receive one since 2025, and more shops now book invoices in software that reads them automatically. A structured invoice gets processed faster, which can also mean you get paid faster.

The same goes for Belgium. Foreign brands without a Belgian establishment fall outside the obligation, even if they have a Belgian VAT number. But every Belgian business is now set up to receive invoices through Peppol, so that’s usually the easiest option for your Belgian retailers. See how Peppol invoicing works in Orderchamp.

Not sure whether you’re established in a country? A warehouse, a local office or local staff can count. Ask your tax adviser before you decide you’re out of scope.

What changes in your wholesale invoicing

For a brand that sells through a single channel, switching is mostly a software setting. But most wholesale brands create invoices in several places, and every one of them has to produce a valid e-invoice. If you’re still managing wholesale orders across different tools, these are the flows to check:

• Your B2B portal or wholesale webshop. Orders that retailers place themselves, usually invoiced from your order system or accounting tool.

• Marketplace orders. Ask each marketplace whether it creates the invoice in your name, and in which format.

• Orders from sales agents and trade shows. These often end up in a spreadsheet or get typed into the accounting tool by hand. Check how orders from your sales agents and your trade show ordering reach your invoicing.

• Manual invoices for samples, displays, shipping costs or one-off orders.

• Credit notes and corrections. When a return or a damaged delivery leads to a credit note or a corrected invoice, send it in the same format as the original, so the retailer’s software can match the two. More on this in wholesale returns and credit notes.

• Deposit invoices. If you ask for a deposit on seasonal pre-orders, the deposit invoice falls under the same rules.

The data on each invoice matters more than before. E-invoices are checked automatically, and a missing or wrong field can get one rejected by the retailer’s system. Make sure you have each retailer’s correct legal name, address and VAT number, plus their e-invoicing address where needed (in Belgium, that’s their Peppol ID). Add their purchase order number if they use one. The best moment to collect all of this is when you approve and onboard a new retailer.

How to get ready: a 6-step plan

1. Map where you and your customers are established

List the countries you invoice in, and check for each one whether your business is established there. This tells you which deadlines are a legal requirement for you, and which are only a customer preference.

2. List every place an invoice is created

Go through the flows above: portal, marketplace, sales agents, trade shows, manual invoices, credit notes and deposits. Write down which tool creates each invoice today. If the answer is a spreadsheet, start there, because a spreadsheet can’t send an e-invoice. Here’s how to replace Excel for wholesale orders.

3. Check what your invoicing tools can send

Ask your accounting software, ERP or order system which formats they support (XRechnung, ZUGFeRD, Factur-X or Peppol), and whether they connect to Peppol or to a French approved platform. If your orders come in through Orderchamp Cloud, see how they reach your accounting tool in our integrations, for example DATEV, Exact Online or Moneybird.

4. Clean up your customer data

Check VAT numbers, legal names and addresses, and add e-invoicing addresses where you need them. Ask existing retailers for missing details now, not when your first e-invoice gets rejected.

5. Make sure you can receive e-invoices too

If your business is established in Germany, Belgium or France, you also need to be able to receive e-invoices from your own suppliers, like your packaging, production and logistics partners. Keep the structured file itself in your records, not just a PDF print of it.

6. Test with a few retailers first

Send your first e-invoices to two or three retailers you know well, and ask whether they arrived and were read correctly. Fix what goes wrong, then switch over the rest. If you’re a German brand above the €800,000 threshold, you have until the end of December to do this.

What about your retailers?

Many of your retailers are small shops, and some will find this change harder than you do. Every business established in Germany has had to be able to receive e-invoices since 1 January 2025. An email inbox is enough for that, but the shop still needs software that can read the file.

You can make it easier for them. In Germany, a ZUGFeRD invoice is a helpful middle ground: it’s a readable PDF with the structured data built in, so a shop without accounting software can still open it and see what it owes.

It also helps to keep your payment terms and order references consistent, so each invoice matches exactly what the retailer agreed to when they ordered.

How Orderchamp Cloud helps

Orderchamp Cloud brings your wholesale orders from your B2B Portal, the Sales App and the Orderchamp Marketplace into one place, so every order has the right retailer details before it gets invoiced.

For Belgian orders, Orderchamp Cloud can send Peppol invoices for you. Here’s how to set up Peppol invoicing in Orderchamp. For other countries, your orders flow through our integrations into the accounting or ERP tool where you create your e-invoices.

Key takeaways

• An e-invoice is a structured file that follows EN 16931. A PDF doesn’t count.

• In Germany, businesses with more than €800,000 turnover must send domestic B2B e-invoices from 1 January 2027, and everyone else from 1 January 2028.

• The rules cover businesses established in the country. A brand from abroad usually isn’t covered, but its retailers may still ask for e-invoices.

• Check every place you create invoices, including agent orders, credit notes and deposits, not only your main webshop.

Frequently asked questions

Is e-invoicing mandatory in Germany for wholesale brands?

Do I have to send e-invoices to German retailers if my brand is based outside Germany?

Is a PDF invoice an e-invoice?

Do I need Peppol to send e-invoices?

Do credit notes and deposit invoices need to be e-invoices too?

When will e-invoicing be mandatory in the Netherlands?