E-invoices
Receive electronic supplier invoices (XRechnung, ZUGFeRD), have them validated and post them as expenses.
Under E-invoices the electronic invoices from your suppliers arrive. Kontelio reads each file, checks it with the official validators, looks for the matching supplier and suggests accounts. From a checked e-invoice you create the draft of an expense with one click.
Receive e-invoices
You have two ways:
- Upload: drag XML or PDF files into the area Import E-Rechnungen or click Choose files. Up to 9 MB per file are allowed; a large selection is sent in batches.
- By e-mail: the card E-mail inbox shows your business's inbox address. Forward invoices to this address or give it to your suppliers; attached XML and PDF files are imported automatically. Copy copies the address. You create a new address under E-invoicing.
New files are first Received — processing; after a few seconds they are read and checked.
The list of received e-invoices
Filter by Status, Channel (Upload, E-mail or API), period, or supplier and invoice number, and click Apply. The column Validation shows at a glance whether an invoice is Valid, Valid with warnings or Not valid. Details opens an invoice.
Check and post an e-invoice
- Open the invoice. You see it as View, as Original PDF (for ZUGFeRD) or as XML.
- Read the card Validation. The most common messages are translated; under Original message you find the validator's text.
- Under Supplier, check that the right supplier was found. If it was found only by its name, click Confirm supplier or choose another one. If it does not exist yet, Create supplier creates it from the seller data in the XML.
- In the Summary you see the amounts and the lines with the suggested Account. Look closely at lines marked review.
- Click Create posting. Kontelio creates an expense draft with all values from the XML and opens it. Check it and post it there (see Expenses).
Afterwards, Open expense draft or Open expense leads to the expense. The card History shows which steps are done.
Special cases
| Notice | What you can do |
|---|---|
| PDF without XML | The file is not an e-invoice. Record it like a normal document with Capture it as a normal document instead. |
| Profile without complete data | A ZUGFeRD PDF with only partial data (for example profile BASIC) is not an e-invoice in the legal sense. You can post it, but should ask for a compliant invoice. |
| Duplicate | The same invoice has already been imported; Open the first import leads to the first import. |
| Not readable | The file is damaged or not a supported format. Ask the supplier for a new file. |
Validate again checks an invoice again, for example after the validation rules were updated. Reject asks for a reason; the file stays archived and the rejection is logged.
Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ready | Read and checked; you can create the posting. |
| Draft created | The expense draft exists but is not posted yet. |
| Posted | The expense is posted. |
| Rejected | Rejected, with a reason. |
| Quarantine | Arrived by e-mail but not imported (see below). |
Quarantine
Quarantine shows e-mails that were sent to your inbox address but not imported, with the Reason, for example Sender not in the allowlist (or not authenticated) or No XML or PDF attachment. Which senders are allowed is set under E-invoicing.
Good to know
- An e-invoice you upload under Receipts and documents is recorded there like a normal document; the data from the XML is available to you there as well.
- Viewing requires the read permission for expenses; uploading, creating the posting and rejecting require the edit permission.