Discover the Ultimate German Invoice Template for Operations

German invoice template for Operations

Hello everyone welcome to our webinar. My name is Bradley Birch.  I'm the sales manager at Melasoft and I'm also joined by Yavuz   who's our SAP department head. The topic of this webinar we're going to  to discuss e-invoicing in Germany, upcoming changes and how to basically  leverage them for your business. So on the agenda we're going to do a Melasoft company introduction we provide information about our company where  we're located we're then going to do abroad discussion on e-invoicing what the definitions of e-invoicing is certain e-invoicing models and then we're going to  move on to e-invoicing in Germany and we're going highlight the implementation  timeline and possible impacts on businesses in Germany in January 2025.  The next step we're going to discuss Melasoft's e-invoice solutions we're going to have. I would say e-invoice solutions not necessarily relevant for Germany  but we offer a wide range of e-invoice solutions and then the final points  we're going to discuss our Germany e-invoice solution and then finally we're  going to have questions and discussions obviously it's a live  webinar so feel free to ask questions throughout the webinar and we'll do our  best at the end to answer them. So who is Melasoft? Who are we?  We were established in 2013 and we're headquartered in Frankfurt Germany and  we have offices in different locations and countries our vision statements  is empowering businesses through seamless ERP solutions and cutting  edge e-compliance in innovations, redefining excellence in digital transformation. At Melasoft our mission is to revolutionize the business  landscape by delivering unparalleled SAP ERP Consulting and e-compliance  solution we strive to enhance operational efficiency, promote  sustainable growth and ensure regulatory compliance for our  customers. So at Melasoft we're actually an SAP Silver Partner. We have operations  in 30 plus countries. We are also ISO certified from a security perspective.  We're also a Peppol Access Point. We're a service provider   certified by Peppol in KoSIT in Germany. We have five offices and we  also have local partners and consultants and over a 100 multinational customers.  There are three aspects to our business. We have SAP project management.  We have SAP support services and w e also have e-compliance products.  Obviously today we're discussing e-invoice but we also offer e-transport,  VAT reporting, SAF-T, E-ledger. So a lot of e-compliant products  we offer at Melasoft and here's also a nice map that can  show you the locations of our products and services so as you can see we're  operating in Europe also Central Asia. Melasoft as a company we have four departments. We have a research and Business Development Department which is  the department that I'm in. We have software development department and  SAP department and most recently we've got a Peppol Services Department  because we're a service provider we need a dedicated team that's associated  with Peppol and specifically the German regulations. Also here's our website.  If anything is unclear feel free to view our website at Melasoft.com and you can  find everything that we're talking about on our website.  So e-invoicing. Yavuz, what is the definition of e-invoicing? What is the  sort of e-invoice formats that we offer and what sort of models are there across the Europe? Thank you Bradley. Hello everyone. Welcome you all. In this part we will  talk about as Bradley asked the definition of e-invoicing and e-invoicing formats and  models that are currently used in different countries in the world. As you know an electronic invoice is an invoice that is issued transmitted  and received in electronic format the content and information is similar to  traditional invoice but the main difference is the transmission, submission are all done  in electronic format. Also the format enables the invoice to be processed  automatically and electronically so the e-invoices have a machine readable  format so the invoice can be processed by the SAP, by the ERP applications or other third  party applications so that it becomes much more efficient compared to  traditional invoicing models. Because of these most of the countries in the world  started to implement e-invoicing systems and modify their traditional systems to  the e-invoicing systems for  these e-invoicing system  different applications, different formats are available. In general different types  of data are used for e-invoicing. First of all the main format is structured data  formats such as EDI or XML formats these are the main formats that are used for  e-invoicing process. In addition to this structured data format some unstructured  data formats can also be employed such as PDF, JPEG, Word documents or email text Etc. and also we have hybrid formats which is a combination of the  unstructured format and structured data format so that the hybrid data format  includes both machine readable format and also human readable part. For instance ZUGFeRD or Factur-X that are used in Europe are some examples of hybrid  data format which which has two main components a PDF file which can be human readable and also an XML file which can be machine readable. So these formats are also very used are currently in especially in Germany. For transmission  and reception channels different transmission and reception channels are  used for e-invoicing depending on the implementation depending on the country  different channels are used web services Peppol networks, emails, computer, fax servers  and also web download options or some other options can also be used for  submission of electronic invoice so depending on the implementation  depending on the country different transmission and reception channels are  employed. If you come to do formats different e-invoicing formats can be used  so that the this is a choice and some the most commonly used format is the  XML format which corresponds to the Excel extensible markup language this a  flexible text format for creating structured documents and for data  interchange so XML format is the most used format in the world because of it  can be customizable based on the needs of the text authorities so that it is  used globally for various data exchange models because of the high level of  customization that is provided by the XML data structure in addition to XML  the EDIFACT format is also used especially for EDI settings this EDIFACT  format is widely used in Europe especially for business to business  transactions. EDIFACT format is especially suitable for large scale data exchange  because of its robust structure. We also have ZUGFeRD format  is the hybrid format actually that combines a PDF file with an embedded XML data. It is compliant with the European Union legislation standardizations.  It is especially popular in Germany and France currently the ZUGFeRD format is in use for  business to government implementation in Germany. It is efficient because it has a  PDF file together with an embedded XML data so that it is both machine readable  and human readable because of this fact it is very prevalent in Germany.  We also have EN 16931. This is the European standard for  electronic invoicing it ensures interoperability between different  systems. So the most of the European countries manage their systems, shape  their system ing to this standard. So it is especially mandatory for B2G  invoicing in most European countries. We also have XRechnung format. This is a German  specification for electronic invoices. It is based on the European Union standards  and also it is mandatory for federal B2G invoicing in Germany currently and this  ZUGFeRD and XRechnung formats will also be used in business to business invoicing in  Germany in the future implementation. We also have finally we have Peppol BIS structure.  This a standard for electronic invoicing within Peppol Network based on the Universal  Business Language (UBL) model so the Peppol BIS standard is also based on the European  Union EN16931standard. So it is used across  Europe, Austria and also Singapore for business to business and business to  government invoicing implementations. This formats are critical because in  Germany during the transition phase different formats can be implemented.  So in order to this formats we give an brief explanation regarding each  format. If we come to the e-invoicing models of course there are very  different models that are currently in use in the world however in general  we can categorize the e-invoicing models in three main categories. The first  category is the Post-Audit Models. In Post-Audit Models invoices to be issued  it allows invoices to be issued and received without prior validation by the  text authority. So a prior validation is not required from the text authorities.  However with audits conducted after the fact to ensure compliance and accuracy.  So the audits are done reporting is done after the transactions are completed  with between the supplier and the buyer. On the other hand we have the Continuous  Transaction Control Models. These models are become more prevalent in the world.  In these models the transaction data is reported to the tax authority in real  time or near-real-time so that the compliance verification is done at the  same time issuing the invoice. The CTC Models are also very prevalent in  European applications and also in the world. Finally we have the Hybrid Models.  The Hybrid models actually combines post audit and CTC models. They allows  flexible invoicing processes where some transactions are subject to realtime  controls while some others undergo-post- transaction audits. So it's a combination  of post audit and CTC models. In this slide you can see the  common e-invoicing models used in the world. These are namely Clearance Model,  Centralized Model, Interoperability Model, or 4-Corner Model or Peppol Model. There  are different names for these. Also we have Peppol CTC model and finally we have  Real-Time Reporting model. Now let's go over these models briefly.  First of all, we have the Clearance Model as you see in this slide.  The invoices must be validated by the text authorities before being sent to  the recipient. So the invoices are created by the supplier and submitted to  the text authorities after verification of the text authorities then the  invoices can be sent to the invoice to the buyer invoice recipient.  In this system the real time validation process takes in place. In general, unique  identifiers, the unique codes or QR codes can be embedded to the created and  validated invoices. This model reduces need for retroactive audits.  So the verification is done in real time. Mexico, Chile, Saudi Arabia and Israel are some  examples for countries that implement this Clearance  Model. Similar to Clearance Model we have a Centralized Model in this case we  still have a tax authority for verification. In this model invoices are  sent in real time to the national platform which validates and also forwards the  invoices to the buyer after verification. So the supplier creates the invoice and  submits to the tax authority. Tax authority checks the invoice. Once it  is validated then it is forwarded to the buyer. So in this model centralized  national platforms are used and real time processing and validation are  taking place. For instance Italy, Romania and Poland are among the countries that  are implementing centralized e-invoicing models. If you come to the  Interoperability Model which is named as 4-corner model or Peppol model. In this  model all information is sent in real time through the electronic invoice  exchange providers known as access points. So we have two access points one  for supplier, one for buyer. So once the invoice is created by the supplier it is  submitted to the access point supplier access point and supplier access point  forwards the invoice to the buyer access point and then buyer can reach the  invoice over the buyer's access point. So this is named as the 4-corner Model.  Peppol network is an example of this model for Coral model also the countries  such as Belgium, Austria and Singapore are some examples that uses  the Peppol network for their invoicing implementation. As Melasoft we are also a  certified Peppol Access Point. So we can service provider for our clients for  accessing the Peppol network or for getting the invoices from the Peppol  network. As an extension of the Peppol model we also have Peppol CTC model. In  this Peppol CTC model we also have the Tax Authority as a verification channel.  Invoices are exchanged through the access points and also sent to the Tax  Authority in real time. So once the invoice is created by the supplier and  submitted to the access point. The access point forwards the invoice to the  buyer's access point. On the other hand the service provider also forwards the  invoice to the Tax Authority. So once the invoice is validated by the Tax  Authority then the invoice becomes validated and the buyer can check the  Tax Authority for this validation. The government platform serves  as the fifth corner in this model. So this model is usually named as fifth  five Corner model. It's a hybrid model that combines the elements of  existing CTC models with Peppol infrastructure. For instance, France uses  plans to use this Peppol CTC models in their invoicing  implementation. Finally we have Real-Time Reporting model. In this realtime  reporting model we also have the Tax Authority in the model in the  architecture. In this case the invoices are reported to the Tax Authority in  Real-Time but not validated or forwarded. So the Tax Authority the invoice are  created by the supplier and they are sent to the buyer at the same time they  are sent to the Tax Authority. So the reporting is done in real time. However  Evalidation is not required in real time by the Tax Authority or it is not  necessary for sending the invoice to the buyer. It is just for reporting purposes.  So this is a real time reporting system. It is also used in some European  countries such as Hungary and Spain currently uses this real time reporting  model. Thank you Yavuz. Thank you. In this next part we're going to do e-invoicing in  Germany. So we're going highlight the implementation timeline, the impacts on  businesses in Germany and sort of some important decisions that you have to  make. The first slide we're going to just look at briefly the status in  Europe. As you can see on the table Italy, Turkey, Serbia and Albania are currently  active. Romania currently rolling out this year. Also Germany, Spain, Croatia  Denmark and Slovakia. So this is happening in the next two years. The  process has already started this year and it will moving on to next year and  yeah as you can see by the Melasoft solution status you can see certain  projects are completed from our side and obviously the countries that are moving  to e-invoicing in progress at Melasoft and completing or working with customers on  these projects. So to Germany, obviously B2G  e-invoicing is already mandatory. So Yavuz could you just explain to everyone what  B2G e-invoicing is in Germany? Yes, Germany has already  implemented B2G e-invoicing. It has become mandatory since 2020. In Germany, two  primary access points are available for B2G invoicing. These platforms are ZRE and  OZG-RE platforms. These are the government platforms for submitting the  invoices that should that are to be sent to the public government authorities.  Different channels are available for submission of the invoice to the  government platforms. Manual data entry is possible. So the companies can  manually enter the portal and create the invoice over the portal or email option  is also available so the part so the companies can send emails together with  the e-invoices to the government portal. Manual upload is also possible so the  created documents can be uploaded to the portal. Also Peppol Network can be used  for reaching to government platforms. In Germany these two platforms are also  certified access points for Peppol Network. So once the sender the supplier  is also a member of Peppol Network then over this network the invoices can be  sent to the government authorities. In this system actually the European Union  EN 16931 standard is used as the main standardization and two official formats  are a available in the system which are the ZUGFeRD format and XRechung format. These two  formats are compatible with this European Union standard as we told in  the previous slides ZUGFeRD is a hybrid format which has two components an XML  part and the PDF part on the other hand XRechnung is an XML e-invoicing system standard.  So both of these standards can be used for submission of the e-invoices to the  B2G platform. In Germany each state has autonomy to use the government platforms  so in each state a different application can be in use. However the general  structure is similar so the states has the autonomy for adopting alternative  systems or implementing any system at all. In this slide a general flow for the  B2G invoicing can be seen. First of all the issuance and validation process  takes place if you are a company that are using an ERP solution the invoice  data should be extracted from the ERP system and it should be transformed into  the allowable format XRechnung or ZUGFeRD format and once the e-invoice is created  then the e-invoices should be submitted to the government platform ZRE or  OZG-RE platforms via manual upload email or Peppol Network so after sending option  sending process the archiving the documents is required by the German  legislation. So the invoices should be kept for 10 years ing to this  legislation. And obviously that's B2G and obviously Germany in the next year  are going to go to B2B so Yavuz like what sort of companies are going to  be in Scope, what sort of model is going to be used, what are the sort of  mechanisms behind that and what e-invoice formats are there available in  Germany? Yes, Germany is the implementation in Germany is a bit  different from the other European companies actually it is a more  complicated model and we have a transition phase during this model. We  will talk about the details. First of all which companies are in Scope ing  to Economic Growth Act. that is approved in March  2024 e-invoicing will become mandatory for B2B companies that are German  established businesses or fixed establishment or foreign companies.  So this B2B mandate will cover the German established businesses and fixed  establishments of foreign companies and domestic transactions will be in Scope  of B2B invoicing mandate so the crossboarder transactions will not be in  scope at least in the current implementation. If you come to the model  as we discussed in the previous slides Post Audit models actually will be used in  this model as you might remember businesses handle the creation,  transmission, receipt, storage and reporting of invoices independently  without the direct participation of tax authorities. In Germany tax authorities  will not be directly involved in this process but they have they will check  they will validate the companies by making some audits so they are not  directly involved in the process in real time. If you come to the transmission  mechanism different methods can be used for sending invoices to the recipients  such as Peppol network, email or any other agreed method between the supplier and  the buyer. There will be a transition phase so during this transition phase  the companies will be able to align their systems ing to requirements  of the business to business e-invoicing requirements. If you come to the formats  various formats can be used in Germany especially the main formats the ZUGFeRD PDF  with XML data layer and XRechnung pure XML formats or traditional EDI formats will  be the main formats also Peppol. These formats will be the main formats that  will be used in Germany. However as we will see in the next slides during the  transition phase some other formats will be allowed but after 2028 these formats  will be the main formats that will be used for business to business transition.  In this slide you can see a basic workflow for B2B implementation in  Germany. First of all the first stage is the issuance and internal validation of  the invoice. The companies will extract the data from their ERP systems and then  after extraction of the relevant data then this data will be transformed into  one of the allowable formats. This allowable formats can be XRechnung, ZUGFeRD or any  other format that is compatible with the EN16931 format. So this is the main  requirement. Also EDI invoices will be valid for three years during the  transition phase however after the transition phase the EDI format should  also satisfy the European Union standardization. After this internal  validation then the invoices will be prepared and sent to the invoice  recipient. The sending will be can be done in different channels ing to  agreed communication mechanism between the supplier and the buyer.  The mail option email option can be used. Peppol Network can be used or  any other mechanism can be used during the transition phase.  However Peppol Network can be used as the main transmission channel because it  allows a secure means of transition for sending and receiving  site. It also satisfies the European Union standard format so however during  the transition phase different transmission channels can be available.  we will talk about this in the next slides. Also the archiving requirement is  also valid for business to business transaction so the e-invoices should be  kept for archive for 10 years. And you know what is the main  thing that businesses need to know regarding timeline regarding, what  are the Implement stages implementation stages Yavuz, what's important for them to  know? Thanks Brad. Implementation will be done in stages in Germany starting from  1 of January 2025 actually all companies that are in  scope must be able to receive e-invoices. So receiving e-invoices as long as the  supplier sends the invoice in the e-invoice format then all companies should  accept incoming invoices. So this is the main requirement that will start in the  next year January 1st 2025. In this initial phase which formats  are allowed. First of all paper formats will still be used together with  European Union formats XRechung, ZUGFerd or Peppol these formats will also be acceptable  and also some other formats such as XML, EDIFACT formats will also be  acceptable during this initial transition phase. However the critical  point is that if your supplier sends the invoice in European Union standards then  you have to receive this invoice so the incoming invoices the XML invoices  should be recognized by your system so should be adjust ing to European Union  standardizations at the very beginning phases of this transition phase.  In January 2027, this time B2B invoicing become mandatory for sending and  receiving however we have a turnover condition here the companies that have  annual turnover more than 800,000 Euro if your turnover rate is  greater than this much then starting from 1st of January 2027 sending and  receiving e-invoicing will become mandatory for the corresponding  companies which formats will be allowed during this phase paper invoices will  still be accepted under special conditions. We will talk about these  conditions. Also European Union standards and the compatible standards XRechnung,   ZugFeRD and Peppol standards will also be acceptable and  some other formats such as XML, EDIFACT under some special conditions.  We will also talk about the special conditions in the following slides.  Finally in the third phase in January 1st 2028, all companies will be in scope.  So the companies that have annual turnover less than 800k will be also in  scope. Starting from this state the European Union standard will be the main  format other formats will still be acceptable as long as they are  compatible with this European Union standard format. So starting from this  state actually the invoicing system will be completed and all invoices  transmitted between the supplier and the buyer should satisfy EN 16931 standard.  So they should be in XRechnung, ZugFeRD or PEPPOL standardizations or other standards that  satisfy the standardization. So ing to this during the transition phase in the first  transition phase which starts in 1 of January 2025 as we said all companies  should adjust their systems for receiving the incoming invoices.  So if your supplier sends an invoice in European Union standard it will be  allowed to send starting from this state so the receiver should accept this. So as  long as your supplier sends the invoice in the European Union  Peppol or ZugFeRD any other  supported format then the  receiver must accept these incoming invoices so the receiver should adjust  their systems for receiving these invoices starting from 1st of January  2025. On the other hand, paper invoices will still be allowed. Unstructured  formats such as PDF or other EDI formats will still be allowed however in this  case this content is required so if you are sending a unstructured document or  EDI format you have to guess your receiver consent for sending in these  formats. However for the first one for European Union standard this consent is  not required you can send without any consent if you are producing the  invoices ing to EN standards. And just go back one slide Yavuz.  You know the main point to consider here is you know you must be able to receive  the an electronic e-invoice. I know a lot of companies will still use paper or  PDFs uh via email but because there's multiple options in Germany you don't  want to be caught out by one of your customers for example sending you an  invoice an XML invoice and you're not able to receive it technically you must  be able to accept it so this point is really key for German businesses.  Yes, you are right Bradley. This is the critical point because you will you  should accept the incoming invoices if they are in standard European Union  format so the system should be adjusted starting from this date for receiving  this type of invoices. Yeah. Continue with the second  phase in 2027, 1st of January 2027 starting from this date as you might  remember we have a turnover condition if your company has a turnover rate greater  than 800k then the invoices should be sent in European Union standard or a  compatible format. So this will become a mandatory option so the invoices should  be sent ing to the European Union standards atarting from this date for  for large companies. Paper invoices will not be allowed, unstructured format will  not be allowed, other EDI formats will be allowed but for this one the receiver  content will be required. Also for smaller companies in 2028 27 they can  send the invoices in electronic European Union standard or they can send paper  unstructured format or other EDI formats however this time they have to get the  receivers consent in 2027. If you come to the 1st of January  2028, this time all of the companies in Germany should are under the e-invoice  mandate so all of the companies should adjust their systems for sending and  receiving invoices in EN 16931 standard format so XRechnung ZugFeRD,   Peppol be these are the standardized format so all of the  companies should adjust their systems for sending and receiving the invoices  in these main formats. Starting from this date paper invoices will not be allowed,  unstructured formats for will not be allowed, other EDI formats that are not  compatible with the European Union standards will not be allowed after this  date. So this is the actually this is the main date in which the e-invoicing  implementation become mandatory with all aspects of the system.  And yeah Yavuz like how will this mandate from the German governments effect  businesses this is also one of the key points you know businesses are going  have to change you know what is the main impact on businesses in  Germany? Yes, as we briefly introduced in the previous slides first of all the  format will be changed so during the transition phase different formats will  be able to use but in general the standard for the electronic invoices  will be shift to EN 16931 standards XRechnung, Peppol BIS or ZUGFeRD so these formats will be the  main formats that will be supported in Germany e invoicing system. On the other  hand from the implementation deadline perspective starting from 1st of January  2025 as we said all companies must be ready to receive en and standard  invoices this is also a critical impact on the businesses. So the businesses  should configure their systems for receiving EN standard e-invoices.  During the transition phase as we shown in the previous slides paper invoices  will be phase out so issuing paper invoices will be prohibited after the  transition period with key milestones in for larger companies January 2027 for  smaller companies January 2028 so starting from these days paper invoices  will not be able to use. During the transition period actually the companies  may have some flexibility during the transition phase businesses can exchange  invoices based on the agreements bilateral agreements with the supplier  and the buyer so if they adhere to the general timelines they can use different  formats during this transition period however if the supplier wants to send  EN standard format then you have to accept these invoices even in the transition period.  Finally we have the supplier autonomy the suppliers no longer need  buyer consent to send e-invoices if they comply with the European Union standard  so in this respect buyer consent is not searched so if your supplier sent in  European Union standard format then you have to accept it ing to current  mandate. In addition to these points there are some additional points that  the companies should consider the system provides some flexibility because the  long transition period requires systems and access points processes to be  adaptable to handle various formats so the companies should have this  flexibility. They have a flexible system that can accept different formats and  that that can process these different format invoices. Also from the  compliance requirement perspective EDI and point to point connections will still be  permitted during the transition phase however during the end of the transition  phase these formats should be compatible with the EN standardizations.  From the email invoicing  continuity invoices currently  sent via email as PDF file so ZUGFeRD invoices has a PDF and XML files together.  It is embedded XML fil is embedded in the PDF file so these ZUGFeRD format can be  it is compliant with the EN standard so using the ZUGFeRD format the email invoicing  can be used. Cross-border invoicing will not be affected by the current  mandate because it is not in scope however if your company has this  flexibility you will be able to send invoices to the Cross-border invoicing as  well. For the B2G invoicing currently it is implemented in Germany so it will  remain unchanged. Finally for text reporting while text reporting remains  the same for now ing to our perspective the VIDA initiative will  address it around 2030. So starting from these days probably the VIDA initiative  will also be implemented in Germany for text reporting however in during the  transition phase the text reporting will remain the same. There will be no change  for text reporting during the transition. Thank you Yavuz. The next few  slides we've got around 10 to 12 slides remaining so if you have any  questions please get them in now. In this section we're going to discuss our  own solutions what alternatives we offer as a company, our sort of  implementation structure that we do at Melasoft and then we're going to go into  detail regarding our solution specifically for Germany. So Yavuz what  alternatives do we have at Melasoft ? In general as Melasoft, we have three  alternatives. We implemented each of these alternative in different countries  for different companies. Our main solution is an SAP Add-on solution so it  is compatible with sap ERP system. It is an add-on for SAP system. In addition to  this solution we have a Melasoft platform solution. This platform solution can  compatible with all ERP systems. Also we have a centralized e-compliance solution.  Especially this solution can be implemented for companies multinational  companies that have operations in different countries so using this  centralized e-compliance solution the companies can satisfy the requirements  for invoicing in different companies at this in different countries at the same  time. So the centralized solution can be used as a main solution as a single  solution for submission of invoicing to different countries Tax Authorities and  recipients. So in this part, I will briefly explain our solution  alternatives for SAP Add-on solution, for portal solution, platform solution  and also I will introduce our Peppol solution as well. First let's start with  the SAP Add-on solution. As I said SAP Add-on solution works inside the SAP  environment once the invoices are created in the SAP system the relevant  information is excreted from the relevant SAP modules and tables and the XML file  or the e-document is created within the SAP environment. So after creation of the  invoice it will automatically be created once the invoices are created in the SAP  system in SD, FI or MM modules and the user can see the created e-invoices over  the Melasoft outbound cockpit. So all of the information monitoring, reporting and  all processes can be monitored over the Melasoft outbound cockpit. Also our Melasoft  SAP Add-on solution has the archiving option as well so if required the  created and incoming invoices can be archived in SAP servers or some other  servers on different platforms. Once the invoices are created  in the SAP system then the invoices can be sent to the text authorities or the  recipients using our integration module. For integration we have different  options if you are for instance for SAP system if you are using a CPI,PI/PO  system for integration SAP integration suite then we can communicate over this  suit with the government authorities. We can use public administration Hub. We can  communicate over the integrated platforms because in some countries  these integrated companies are used for sending and receiving invoices. Also we  can communicate over the value added network such as FTPS, HTTPS or Web  Services can also be used. Also as Melasoft we are a Peppol Access Point so the created  invoices can be shared with the e-invoice recipient over the Peppol network as well or  as in Germany in current implementation email option can also be used for  submission of the invoices to the tax authorities or recipients. In our  solution if the tax authority is in the system is a component in the system upon  validation you can track the statute of the e-invoices directly in the SAP  environment. So all of the process can be managed by Melasoft SAP Add-on solution.  You can see the statute of the invoice whether it is validated or not whether  it is accepted or rejected by the recipient. All of this status information  is available in our cockpit. So whole process can be managed by using the SAP  Add-on for the ERP. And also Yavuz for example in Germany the tax  authority it's decentralized in Germany so it wouldn't necessarily go to the tax  authority it would come to a KoSIT Peppol Service Provider and then the invoices  then sent to the recipient. That is correct isn't it?  Yeah yes, you are correct Bradley. For the AP site account payable  workflow this time we are in the recipient side so the incoming invoices  can be received by the tax authorities or by the sellers, by the supplier, by  using the communication chanel agreed by the seller. So in this case if the tax  authority is in use in the architecture then we have some periodic jobs that  continues to check the government portal whether or not some new invoice are  available. If they are available then they are pulled to the Melasoft incoming  cockpit. If they are sent directly from the seller using the email option or Peppol  network or any other network then we also get these invoices to the Melasoft SAP Add-on. directly in the cockpit. Also in the cockpit the user can  see the invoices in different formats. For instance, you can see the XML format  you can see the PDF version of the invoice so the human readable format is  available in our solution. For the incoming side if required we also have  the automatic booking option so the incoming invoices can be directly  submitted to the SAP system by using our semi-automatic posting option. So the  relevant information is extracted from the XML file and then this information  will become available for the invoice booking screens in SAP. Additionally, if  the recipient company uses some invoice management solutions such as Vendor  invoice management solution, DMS document management system solution or  any other third party application. Also our solution is able to forward the  incoming invoices to these solutions in the required format. For instance, the  invoices can be sent to these solutions in XML format in PDF format or any other  agreed format. So this is also within the capabilities of our SAP Add-on solution. In addition to our SAP solution, we also have a Melasoft platform solution.  This platform solution actually the process is very similar but the only  difference is the invoices are created in our web based Melasoft portal solutions. So we extract the relevant information from the ERP system the data file is  extracted in different formats including EDI format and also once the data file  is extracted from the ERP system then the XML ing to XML mapping the  standard e-documents will be created over the Melasoft portal and then similar to  SAP case they will be submitted to the tax authorities or they will be sent to  recipients by using our integration module. So in this case all of the  process can be managed over the Melasoft platform so you can see the status of  the invoices in the government platform or whether they are accepted or rejected  by the recipient all this information will become available over the cockpit  users. For the incoming site it is again similar the incoming invoices will be  pulled from the government portal or they will be taken from the seller over  the Peppol network or email option or the agreed platform and once these  information is accepted then they will become available in the inbound cockpit in  the Melasoft platform. Also the incoming document will also be submitted to the  ERP system in the data file format agreed so the process will be ended for  the AP workflow. We also have Peppol Network  integration module as we said Melasoft is an Peppol certified access point so once your  receiver is also a Peppol access point get Peppol ID then we can send the e-invoices to your  invoice CP receiver over the Peppol network in this case the created  invoices are submitted to the Melasoft access point and the documents are  created ing to Peppol BIS standard or XRechnung and then they will be sent to the  receiver access point over the Peppol Network. So for getting this information the  central registry for the addressing is used. So the receivers should be registered  to the Peppol network they should have a Peppol ID in order to be able to get  invoices over the Peppol network. So if your supplier is sending you e-invoices  over the Peppol network then the receiver should have the Peppol ID and registered  in the Peppol system to be able to get invoices over the Peppol network. This is the  critical point for Germany because Peppol network will be the one of the main  transmission channel that will be used for e-invoice transmission in Germany.  Finally we have the centralized e-compliance solution. Actually it is the  platform solution so depending on the company code the corresponding cockpit  will be available for the end user so the invoices will be created ing  to standardizations of the corresponding country. So if the country is located in  Germany then the invoices will be created ing to Germany e-invoice  mandate. If it is in Romania then the invoices will be created ing to  Romanian invoicing UBL standard. So once the invoices are created in the Melasoft  platform then will be submitted to the corresponding tax authority directly  from our platform and also invoice recipient. So using a single platform  especially the multinational companies that have operations in different  countries will be able to use a single solution for submitting and receiving  invoices to their recipients and the tax authorities. So obviously all of these  architectures they're all different every company or every country would  have different yeah  architectures it depends on the  country to be honest. They have to meet certain standards but yeah Germany has  taking a bit of a different approach but like you know what is Melasoft's  implementation you know what are the steps that we normally take when  implementing an e-invoice project. Of course implementation as  Bradley introduced depends on the country significantly because in each country a  different invoicing model is used different invoicing formats can also be  used employed in different countries, however the general implementation  stages is more or less similar in general first at first we have the  project planning stage during this stage we define the project scope and  objectives together with our clients we develop project timeline and some  milestone activities especially for in determining these milestone activities  we consider the mandatory dates so without before this states the invoicing  solution should be ready to satisfies the mandate requirements. Also during  this project planning phase the project teams are formed the roles are  determined and assigned and at the end of this phase we conduct a kickoff  meeting for aligning all stakeholders for discussing the project plan and  other details related with project management. After the project planning  stage, after the project kickoff we start the functional and technical analysis  session in this stage we define functional and non-functional  requirements of our of the businesses. Because each company may have different  operations different invoice types and different processes regarding invoicing  process. So our solution actually is ready for each country that are  implementing e-invoicing system however it should be customized for specific company  requirements. So for this customization we conduct this functional and technical  analysis and as a result of this session we determine all requirements all  functional and technical requirements of the companies in which we are going to  implement our e-invoicing solution. Once this stage is completed  then we start development and customizations. Our solution is  customized based on the requirements of the companies invoice types and other  specific issues during this phase after the developments and customizations are  completed then we perform Melasoft team perform unit testing and debugging in  order to test the solution. Once the solution is ready then we go to next  session which is training and testing stage. Before testing to be started  we provide necessary trainings. We provide training materials together with  the training schedules and then after the training sessions are conducted we  require user acceptance tests to be conducted under different scenarios the  user conduct the user acceptance tests. Once all of the test issues are resolved  and closed then the system is ready for deployment stage. During the deployment  stage we develop a deployment plan and the checklist we perform the pre-  testing pre-deployment testing to ensure system readiness and also after  completing all deployment activities then the system will be ready for goal  live session. During the go live session we have an hypercare period so during  this period the occurring problems or face problems are solved immediately and  we our support team works in close coordination with the end users to solve  the problems in real time. Finally after the go live session we have the post  go live period. During this period actually we have a support system so this support  system is us for the problems faced so once the user faces a problem then they  open a support ticket in Melasoft support system and ing to the service  level agreement these support issues are handled and solved by Melasoft team. In  addition to support we also have a post go live maintenance support as well  during this phase our compliance team Melasoft compliance team continues to monitor  the changes in the government systems we monitor the updates in that are  published in the tax authorities so whenever a change occurs in the system  we update our solution ing to this change and also we inform our users, our  clients in this country about these changes if some updates should be done  in our solution after approval by our client then we make the necessary  changes in our solution in the client system as well. So these updates are also  in our maintenance and support agreement. In general implementation  stage we cannot specify a certain time for this stage however in general it  takes four to eight weeks depending on the implementation excluding the waiting  times and other bureaucratic issues it takes to four to six weeks but as I said  it depends on the specific needs of the companies implementation requirements of  the governments so the project plan may change ing to the implementation  and company specific issues. And the this is the final four  slides and then we move on to questions so if you do have questions  get them in now and we can answer them at the end the last four slides are  going to be our solutions specifically for Germany so yeah please feel free  to ask questions and we're nearly at the end thank you. Yes in this part we will  talk about Melasoft e-invoice solution specifically for Germany. Actually  Melasoft offers a fully compliant invoice solution for inbound and  outbound flows in Germany for B2G and B2B mandates. So for B2G invoicing Melasoft  solution connects to the ZRE and OZG-RE platforms via the Peppol network for  delivering invoices on behalf of our customers and receiving the invoices as  well but for B2G for sending purposes so the government platforms are also Peppol  members so is the Peppol access point so the invoices can be submitted to the  government authorities over the Peppol network. For the B2B invoicing on the  other hand our solution offers different e-invoice capabilities including the EDI  formats as well as formats ing to the European Union standards such as ZUGFeRD,  XRechnung and Peppol BIS  standards. So our solution  is compatible with the standards and the invoices can be created in each of these  formats that are acceptable in Germany. For accounts receivable part we  receive the invoice data from the senders in the format in the agreed  format and this format is converted to the data converted into e-document format we  produce EN compliant formats as I said ZUGFeRD, XRechnung and Peppol.  These formats and then we deliver invoice to the recipients using the  interoperability network, Peppol network or other methods such as email option.  So our solution is also capable for different transmission channels as well.  Finally if required we have the archiving option as well so the incoming  or outgoing invoices can be archived in Melasoft servers that are located in Germany  or on the servers of the client for instance if SAP system is use then the  invoices can be archived on SAP servers or any other servers of the clients that  are on cloud. For the account payable side in  this case we are in the recipient side so we receive the invoices data from the  senders via interoperability network, Peppol network, email or other methods.  So once an invoice comes to the over Peppol Network for instance we get this invoice  and we submit this invoice to the receiver system or if it comes through  through the email option then we got the email and we get the e-documents from this  email and also we convert this document to data file and sent to the customer  ERP system. For incoming site as I said we also have the archiving option for  the incoming site as well. To sum up what are the main  benefits of Melasoft solution can be used as a single solution for sending and  receiving invoices in different countries. So if you are a multinational  company a single solution can be used for sending and receiving invoices in  different countries. The invoices can be created ing the specifications of  different countries in Melasoft solution. Our solution as I said support all  alternative formats so the invoices can be created in XRechnung,   ZUGFeRD format, Peppol BIS format UBL format or other European Union  standardized formats can also be created in Melasoft solution. In our solution we do not  modify existing processes of the client so we mapping ing to the client  system so we do not modify existing processes we have the Peppol network  connectivity option so you can not only send invoices within the country by  using the Peppol network you can also send invoices to the other companies in other  countries as well. So Peppol network will become much more efficient probably in  European Union countries in the future. Finally we have a support and  maintenance system so ing to this support and maintenance agreement we  continuous to monitor the changes legislation changes and also the updates  in the government system once a new update is done on the system we update  our solution ingly so our Melasoft solution will also compatible with the  latest updates of the government and also we update our customers about the  updates if accepted and approved then we update our solution in the client system  as well. Thanks Yavuz, thanks Yavuz so yeah  we'll just wait a few seconds for more questions to come in we already have  a few already so I'll just wait a few more moments for other people to  get their questions in. Okay we've got a few I'll start with this one.  Do you use OCR technology in your SAP integration suite during the  phase until 2028 we will receive PDF files also can I use your program  instead of SAP vendor invoice management by open text? The answer to that is yes  we do offer our own OCR technology however a lot of companies use vendor  invoice management as well. So actually our SAP Add-on our solutions actually  integrate with vendor invoice management. So we can actually park the  invoices in Vendor invoice management. Do you want to add anything more to that  Yavuz? Yes let me add a few points first of if the incoming invoices are in PDF  format. We can part the PDF document by using OCR tools and we extract relevant  information that should be booked in the SAP environment. So this is possible in  our solution. Additionally if it's an XML document so it is in the XML format then  we extract the relevant information from the XML document and we have a automatic  booking capability in our solution so the incoming invoices can be  automatically booked to the SAP system the relevant information will be  accepted from the XML document. There may be some missing information such as  purchase order numbers so this number can be updated manually. Also we have  this capability in our solution. So using our solution automatic booking solution  the incoming invoices can be booked in the SAP system as well.  Thanks Yavuz and there was also a second point of this question. Does  Melasoft offer support in the German language in which SLA levels? I'm  not sure what the last part means but because obviously we do projects in  Romania, Poland, Serbia, Denmark yeah multiple countries yeah we are  matching the language if the customer is predominantly speaking their own native  language then of course we offer the support as well. Another question.  How does the hybrid model for example ZUGFeRD benefit businesses in  Germany? Yes during the presentation actually we discussed about this topic.  ZUGFeRD is a hybrid format that has two main components and PDF file together  with an embedded XML file. So this is very advantageous for Germany  implementation because PDF is a human readable format and XML is a machine  readable format so once the invoice is sent in ZUGFeRD format the receiver site can  read the pdf version and uh also they can get the XML version for submitting  the invoice to their system because it is machine  readable so as it satisfies both options it is efficient and probably it will be  used most of by most of the companies in Germany especially during the transition  phase because of its Effectiveness. Okay thanks Yavuz. We got  another question. What challenges might businesses face when implementing  e-invoicing systems? Yeah, how can businesses overcome these problems?  Yes, as we discussed in the e-invoicing in Germany part and also the  in the solutions part. The main obstacle for the companies in Germany different  formats are allowed during the transition phase. So if the supplier  sends an invoice in compliant format then the receiver should accept this so  if it is a ZUGFeRD format you have to receive this invoice and you have to get  the relevant information from this file or if it is in XRechnung format you have to  read this file and you have to make the booking in your system. So on the  recipient side the companies should adjust their system for receiving  different formats because EM formats will become mandatory starting from 2025  once your supplier sends the invoice in this format you have to get this  invoices and you have to process these invoices. So this is one of the main  obstacle in Germany. Also there is a transition phase in  Germany so during this transition phase the companies has some time for  preparation of their system for sending invoices. So during this transition  phase the companies should adjust their systems for sending for creating XML  documents or XRechnung or  Peppol BIS or ZUGFeRD formats.  So they have to adjust their systems during this transition phase for sending  the invoices in these different formats. This is all another restriction  requirement from the companies in Germany. Okay thanks Yavuz. Okay,  multiple questions I'm going to take three more and then we'll wrap up okay  How does the German e-invoicing mandate align with the European Union  e-invoicing regulations? Actually e-invoicing regulation is  at the core of the Germany e-invoicing system. Because all of the  main standards all of the main format to be used should be compatible with the  European Union directive and European Union standard. So it is at the core of  the e-invoicing regulation in Germany. ZUGFeRD format is an EN compatible format XRechnung  format is an EN compatible format, Peppol format is an EN compatible format so the  main format to be used for invoicing should be compatible with the EN  standardization. So EN, European Union regulation is the main actually is the main  regulation that is used for shaping the details for the invoicing system in  Germany. Thanks Yavuz. This one's and also an important question I would say. What role  does Peppol play in German e-invoicing? Yes as we discussed in the  e-invoicing model in Germany post audit model will be implemented. In this model,  the government authorities are not in architecture they do not directly  invoice verification and validation process so the infrastructure is not  provided by the government for this reason the companies should use  different infrastructure, different transmission channels for sending and  receiving invoices and in this respect Peppol is the main architecture that  provides secure and standardized invoice exchange and transmission mechanism. So  in this respect Peppol will play a significant role in Germany because it  supports the required formats that are used in Germany Peppol BIS format, XRechnung  formats. These are supported by Peppol system so as they support the main  requirements of the German legislation Peppol system will be used by a main  transmission channel for e-invoicing. Additionally, Peppol system also compatible  with the B2G invoicing in Germany because the government platforms has  access points Peppol access points so in this respect it is also compatible with B2G  invoicing because of these two main reasons Peppol infrastructure will be  probably the main architecture that will be used for invoice exchange in Germany.  Okay, final question Yavuz thank you. Is there any exemptions or  considerations for small sms, small medium sized enterprises under  e-invoicing mandate by Germany? Actually as we discussed in the  transition phase, there will be a phase transition in Germany ing to  company size the obligations will start especially for sending part for  the outbound transactions. It will be start for smaller companies starting in 2028.  So until this they will be able to use the PDF documents or some other EDI versions  this as long as they are agreed with their suppliers and buyers. So in this  respect small companies can have can still have time for adjusting their  outcomes side however for the incoming side if their supplier submits the  invoices in the compatible format EN standardized formats they have to  receive these invoices so in this respect they have to adjust their  incoming side for these for reading the incoming documents in different XML  formats so this is the main constraint for the small company so they have to  make systems ready for the incoming side starting from 2025 however for outgoing  side they can adjust they have still time for creating documents ing to  the European Union standards. Thank you Yavuz and yeah  if we've missed some questions we'll get back to you or if you want to email us  directly you can find our emails at the back the bottom of this slide. I also  just want to discuss one more slide for companies that are not end users.  Melasoft we are offering a partnership model because we understand in Germany that  not everyone can be a Peppol Access Point and you will need to pass through a service  provider so we're open to Partnerships with other consulting  companies or accounting software companies that want to send XRechnung or  e-invoices and they need a Peppol service provider Melasoft can be the access point  for your projects and we can work together in meeting the mandate by the  German government. Obviously this is a personal discussion but if anyone wants  to reach out to me to discuss this in more detail my email is at the bottom  bradley.birch@melasoft.com and I'm open to any  sort of conversation about this once again thanks a lot from myself and and  Yavuz for everyone lasting this long I know that we went over so yeah thanks a  lot. Have a nice day and yeah if you need any questions just ask me thank you.