Validate your e-invoice — ZUGFeRD, Factur-X & XRechnung for free.
Upload your invoice as PDF or XML and check it against the EN 16931 business rules — the same rules the official validator uses. Including the PDF/A font check, the most common trigger of DATEV's "does not meet the format requirements" complaint. Your file never leaves your browser.
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Drop your invoice here
PDF (ZUGFeRD/Factur-X) or XML (XRechnung) — max. 20 MB
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What the validator checks
Full validation against the European standard — right in your browser.
EN 16931 business rules
Over 200 official business rules (BR-*, BR-CO-*, BR-S/E/AE/IC) from the CEN Schematron — exactly the rules public authorities and accounting software apply.
ZUGFeRD & Factur-X
Detects the embedded XML inside the PDF/A-3, determines the profile (MINIMUM, BASIC, EN 16931, EXTENDED) and version — and validates the structured content. It also checks that all fonts are embedded in the PDF (a PDF/A format rule and the most common DATEV complaint).
XRechnung (CIUS)
On top of EN 16931, the German XRechnung-specific rules (BR-DE-*) are checked as soon as the profile is an XRechnung — for both CII and UBL.
100% in the browser
No upload, no server, no storage. Validation runs fully locally on your device, including for sensitive invoice data.
Plain-language findings
Every error is shown with its rule code and a clear explanation — you see exactly which mandatory field is missing or which total does not add up.
Readable invoice summary
Seller, buyer, amounts, tax and line items are extracted from the XML and shown clearly — so you see what the file actually contains.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is my invoice data uploaded?
No. The entire validation runs exclusively in your browser (client-side). Your invoice is never transmitted to or stored on any server. This is particularly important for confidential business data: nothing is uploaded to n3tz.
Which formats can I check?
You can validate ZUGFeRD and Factur-X PDFs (hybrid PDF/A-3 with embedded XML) as well as pure XML files in XRechnung (CII or UBL) and EN 16931 CII/UBL. The validator detects format and profile automatically.
Which rules are applied?
Validation runs against the official EN 16931 Schematron rules of the European Commission (CEN/TC 434) and — for XRechnung files — the XRechnung rules maintained by KoSIT. These are the same business rules used by public authorities and common accounting systems.
What does a failed assertion mean?
An error means a mandatory business rule was violated — e.g. a missing required field or a total that does not reconcile. Such an invoice may be technically rejected by the recipient. Warnings are advisory and do not necessarily break conformance.
Why does DATEV say "this e-invoice does not meet the format requirements"?
That notice means the XML invoice data is valid per EN 16931 (and recognized for tax purposes), but the PDF container violates the stricter ZUGFeRD/Factur-X format rules — in practice almost always because a font (e.g. Helvetica/Arial) was not embedded, so the file is not a valid PDF/A-3. Our validator now detects exactly this and shows you the affected fonts. The fix: the issuer must regenerate the invoice with embedded fonts.
Does it also check PDF/A-3 conformance?
The validator extracts the embedded XML from the PDF, validates its content fully against EN 16931 — and additionally checks the most important PDF/A format rule in practice: whether all fonts are embedded. Full technical PDF/A-3b structure validation remains the domain of dedicated tools like veraPDF; for the invoice content and the typical DATEV format complaint, these two checks cover what matters.
We create e-invoices ourselves — does this fit?
Yes. With Empfang you create ZUGFeRD/Factur-X e-invoices straight from the dashboard as PDF/A-3 with embedded fonts and EN 16931 XML. Required fields are checked before issuance, and you can technically validate every file here. The business remains responsible for the tax review of the specific case.
Don't just check invoices — create them in seconds.
Empfang creates ZUGFeRD/Factur-X e-invoices in your dashboard, with required-field checks before issuance — from 299€/month.