If you are just starting out as self-employed or a freelancer in Germany - whether as a developer, designer, consultant, translator, or in any other field - sooner or later one question comes up: how do you write your first invoice correctly, so it is legally valid and actually gets paid? Unlike in many countries, this isn't a mere formality in Germany: a defective invoice can cost your customer their input tax deduction, and in rare cases can cause trouble with the tax office for you too.
In short (TL;DR):
- Before you write invoices, you must register for tax purposes with the tax office and receive a tax number.
- Every invoice must contain the mandatory details required by § 14 UStG - without them it is formally invalid.
- You must choose a VAT status: Kleinunternehmer (no VAT, thresholds €25,000 / €100,000) or standard taxation.
- Since 2025, businesses in Germany must be able to receive electronic invoices (e-invoices) in the B2B sector; sending them to private individuals is not yet required.
- Invoices must be kept for 8 years.
Who is this guide for?
This guide is for anyone who is just registering as a freelancer or running a small trade business and writing invoices for the first time: freelancers, consultants, tradespeople, digital nomads with legal status in Germany. If you've already been self-employed for a while and are looking for a detailed checklist of the mandatory fields, our article "Writing a correct invoice" with all 9 points under § 14 UStG is probably more useful. This article is about the process itself: where to start and which steps follow in which order.
Step 1: Determine your status - freelancer or trade business
Before you write even a single invoice, you need to know which category your activity falls into.
- Freelancer (liberal profession, § 18 EStG): This includes, for example, IT consultants, developers, designers, translators, doctors, lawyers, journalists - activities based on personal qualification. Freelancers do not pay trade tax and do not need to register in the commercial register.
- Trade business (Gewerbe): Most other commercial activities (trade, many trades-based and agency-like services). Requires registering with the local trade office (Gewerbeamt) and generally trade tax above a certain profit allowance.
Only the tax office makes the binding classification - if there is even the slightest doubt (for example, in borderline cases like IT consulting vs. software development as a product), clarify this with a tax advisor before registering, not afterward.
Step 2: Register with the tax office
To be allowed to write invoices at all, you must register with the tax office - as a freelancer directly via the questionnaire for tax registration (usually through the ELSTER portal), as a trade business first via the trade office, which then automatically informs the tax office.
After the questionnaire is processed, you receive your tax number - which must appear on every invoice under § 14 UStG. If you want to work with customers in other EU countries, you can apply for a VAT ID (Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer) directly in the same questionnaire.
Step 3: Choose your VAT status - Kleinunternehmer or standard taxation
In the same questionnaire, you indicate whether you want to use the Kleinunternehmer scheme (§ 19 UStG):
| Kleinunternehmer | Standard taxation | |
|---|---|---|
| VAT on invoices | None | 19% (or 7% in certain cases) |
| Requirement | Prior-year revenue ≤ €25,000 and current year ≤ €100,000 | No revenue limit |
| Input tax deduction | Not possible | Possible |
| VAT advance return | None | Regularly due |
If you work mostly with private customers and have few expenses at the start, the Kleinunternehmer scheme is often the simpler entry point. If you have larger initial investments (equipment, software) or business customers for whom input tax deduction matters, it's worth considering standard taxation. You can find the exact thresholds and the correct wording for your invoice in our article "Invoicing as a Kleinunternehmer".
Step 4: Gather the mandatory details for your invoice
Before creating your first invoice, you should have on hand:
- Your full name and a deliverable address (plus a company/brand name, if applicable).
- Your tax number or VAT ID.
- The customer's complete and correct details, including legal form (GmbH, AG, etc.).
- A clear, detailed description of the service - not "consulting," but "set up CI/CD pipeline, 12 hours."
We've compiled the complete list of the 9 mandatory details under § 14 UStG (including invoice number, service period, breakdown by tax rate, etc.) in a dedicated article - use it as a checklist before sending every invoice.
Step 5: Choose a tool and write your first invoice
A Word template works for a single invoice here and there, but quickly becomes risky: it's easy to forget to increment the invoice number, mix up the tax rate, or leave out a mandatory field - and starting in 2027/2028, such manual PDF invoices won't meet the requirements in the B2B sector anyway, once e-invoicing becomes mandatory there too.
So you don't have to keep track of everything manually, you can create an e-invoice directly in your browser: the system fills in the mandatory fields automatically, applies the correct tax status (including the required wording for Kleinunternehmer), and generates a correct XML or ZUGFeRD file.
Step 6: Find out whether you already need e-invoicing
Since 1 January 2025, every business in Germany must be technically able to receive structured electronic invoices (XRechnung or ZUGFeRD) from other businesses. For sending such invoices, transitional periods apply until 2027 (for businesses with prior-year revenue above €800,000) or until 2028 (for all other VAT-liable businesses) - more on formats and deadlines in our article "What is XRechnung?".
If your customer is a private individual or a business abroad, the structured format is not yet mandatory - but a regular PDF must still contain all mandatory details under § 14 UStG.
Step 7: Archive your invoices correctly
An issued invoice is also an accounting record. Since 1 January 2025, the retention period for invoices and accounting records dropped from 10 to 8 years (the period starts at the end of the calendar year the invoice was issued). Invoices must be kept in their original format: if an invoice was sent or received as XML/ZUGFeRD, a printed PDF without the original file will not protect you in a tax audit.
Common beginner mistakes
- Sending an invoice before receiving the tax number. Without a tax number, the invoice does not formally comply with § 14 UStG - it's better to wait for the tax office's response.
- Confusing Kleinunternehmer with "just don't show VAT." If you haven't applied for the Kleinunternehmer scheme, an invoice without VAT is a mistake, not a benefit.
- Forgetting the reference to § 19 UStG. As a Kleinunternehmer, your invoice must include a sentence like "No VAT is charged pursuant to § 19 UStG" - otherwise it counts as incorrectly issued.
- Not assigning invoice numbers sequentially, or reissuing "the same" invoice retroactively with new data - a direct red flag for a tax auditor.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Do I need to register with the tax office before writing my first invoice? Yes. You submit the questionnaire for tax registration (usually via ELSTER), after which the tax office assigns you a tax number - without it, an invoice is not formally valid under § 14 UStG.
What is the difference between a freelancer (Freiberufler) and a trade business (Gewerbe)? Freelancers pursue a liberal profession under § 18 EStG (e.g. IT consultants, designers, translators, doctors); they do not pay trade tax and do not need to register in the commercial register. Other activities generally count as a trade business. The tax office makes the binding classification.
Kleinunternehmer or standard taxation - which is better? The Kleinunternehmer scheme (§ 19 UStG) is available if your prior-year revenue was at most €25,000 and your current-year revenue is not expected to exceed €100,000; in that case, no VAT is charged, but input tax deduction is also unavailable. Consult a tax advisor to decide which is more favorable for you.
Does my first invoice already have to be an XRechnung or ZUGFeRD? If your customer is a business in Germany (B2B), it must be able to receive a structured e-invoice since 1 January 2025 - but transitional periods for sending them run until 2027/2028 depending on revenue. For private customers (B2C) or customers abroad, the structured format is not mandatory.
How long do I have to keep copies of my invoices? Invoices and other accounting records must be kept for 8 years (since 1 January 2025, previously 10 years) - the period starts at the end of the calendar year the invoice was issued.
Conclusion
Writing your first invoice in Germany isn't about a nice-looking template - it's about the right order: status → tax number → VAT status → correct mandatory details → the right format for your customer → archiving. Once you've consciously gone through these steps, the process repeats itself naturally - especially once part of it is automated.
Once all the steps are done and the data is gathered, you can create your first invoice in a few minutes - no software installation and no credit card required.
