Create an Invoice in German (Rechnung)

German invoice terms in English

Invoice in German is Rechnung, and Rechnung in English is invoice. These are the labels the PDF prints, with their English equivalents:

• Rechnung: Invoice, and Rechnungsnummer: Invoice number
• Verkäufer and Käufer: Seller and Buyer
• Ausstellungsdatum: Date of issue
• Leistungsdatum and Leistungszeitraum: Date and period of service
• Fälligkeitsdatum: Due date
• MwSt.: VAT, and USt-IdNr: VAT ID
• Nettobetrag and Bruttobetrag: Net amount and Gross amount
• Zu zahlen and Restbetrag: To pay and Balance due
• Betrag in Worten: Amount in words

Rechnung auf Englisch: the same invoice in English

Billing a client outside Germany? Keep the invoice language on English and nothing else changes.

Every label prints in English, the currency stays whatever you set, and the total is written out in English words. Switch the language back to German and download again for a German-speaking client. The line items, amounts and dates stay exactly as you entered them.

What a German invoice has to show

German VAT law lists what an invoice must contain. The form has a field for each, and the German labels name them the way a German accountant expects:

Check the result with your Steuerberater. German B2B invoicing is also moving to structured e-invoices, such as XRechnung and ZUGFeRD, in stages; a PDF from this tool is not one.

• Your full name and address, and your client's
• Your Steuernummer or USt-IdNr
• The date of issue and a unique, sequential invoice number
• What you supplied, and how much of it
• The date or period of the service
• The net amount, the tax rate and the tax amount, or a note on why no tax is charged

Kleinunternehmer: an invoice without MwSt.

Under the small business rule in § 19 UStG, no VAT is charged, and the invoice says so.

Hide the tax columns, or set the rate to 0, and add a note in the notes field that refers to § 19 UStG, for example: Gemäß § 19 UStG wird keine Umsatzsteuer berechnet. Check the exact wording with your Steuerberater.

Dates and amounts the German way

German writes the day with a full stop after it, and the decimal with a comma.

On the Stripe-style template the date reads 17. Dezember 2025. On the default template, pick DD.MM.YYYY from the date format dropdown for 17.12.2025. Amounts follow German punctuation, so 1.234,56.

Create a German invoice

Four steps, and nothing to download:

• Open the generator and set Invoice PDF Language to German
• Set the currency, EUR for most German clients
• Fill in your details and line items, watching the preview update
• Download the PDF, or send your client a link to it