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“Automatic” sending format for contacts

Aktualisiert

⚠️ DRAFT – clarify before publishing and delete this block:

  • English UI labels for the field and the option (“Document format for sending” / “Automatic”?)
  • Exact wording of the yellow notice in the send dialog
  • Cut-off date for new accounts
  • Screenshots (same as German version)

“Automatic” is the automatic format selection for sending.

If a contact is set to “Automatic”, easybill detects on sending which format the invoice was created in and sends exactly that format: a ZUGFeRD invoice as ZUGFeRD, an XRechnung as XRechnung – each in the highest format version. You no longer need to store the sending format on each contact or select it yourself every time you send.

Your benefits:

  • No maintenance per contact: you define the format once, centrally, in the document template – all contacts set to “Automatic” follow it.
  • Ready for mandatory e-invoicing: if your template creates e-invoices, easybill automatically sends them as e-invoices – without touching individual contacts.
  • No wrong format when sending: what was created is always what is sent, in the most current format version.
  • No unnecessary files: “Automatic” does not create an additional format. Only what your template specifies is created.

💡 Recommendation

Set your contacts to Automatic and control the e-invoice format via the document template. You only need a fixed format on the contact if a customer explicitly requires a specific format, e.g. a public authority requiring XRechnung.

Jump to:

Setting on the contact

Contacts > Customers > open customer > Edit > Settings

  • Open the customer and click Edit
  • Go to Settings
  • In the field Document format for sending, select Automatic
  • Save the contact

[Screenshot to follow: contact-settings-document-format-automatic.jpg – ALT: Document format for sending field with the Automatic option on a contact]

Automatic or fixed format?

Automatic Fixed format (e.g. ZUGFeRD 2.5 EN16931)
Which formats are created? Only those set by the document template or the editor Template/editor plus the format version stored on the contact, which easybill creates additionally
What is preselected when sending? The highest created format version (rules below) The format version stored on the contact
Maintenance Once, in the template For each contact individually

In short: “Automatic” does not add a format to the document. If you create ZUGFeRD, easybill sends ZUGFeRD. If your document template only creates the standard PDF, easybill only sends the standard PDF.

How to set the e-invoice format in the template: Standard-E-Rechnungsformat festlegen (German). If you work with several formats, it is best to create one document template per format.

What is preselected when sending?

ℹ️ Format and format version

  • Format: the type of invoice – standard PDF, ZUGFeRD or XRechnung
  • Format version: the specific variant of a format – e.g. ZUGFeRD 2.4 EN16931, ZUGFeRD 2.5 EXTENDED or XRechnung 3.0.2

If the contact is set to Automatic, easybill preselects what was created when the document was finalised. If a format exists in several format versions, the highest is preselected:

Created … Preselected …
standard PDF only standard PDF
XRechnung 2.3 and XRechnung 3.0.2 XRechnung 3.0.2 (highest format version)
ZUGFeRD 2.4 EN16931 and ZUGFeRD 2.5 EN16931 ZUGFeRD 2.5 EN16931 (highest format version)
ZUGFeRD 2.4 EN16931 and ZUGFeRD 2.5 EXTENDED ZUGFeRD 2.5 EXTENDED (highest format version)
ZUGFeRD 2.5 EN16931 and ZUGFeRD 2.5 EXTENDED (same version) ZUGFeRD 2.5 EN16931
ZUGFeRD and XRechnung (two different formats) nothing – see next section

You can change the preselection in the send dialog at any time.

[Screenshot to follow: send-dialog-preselection-automatic.jpg – ALT: Send dialog with preselected ZUGFeRD format]

Nothing preselected: ZUGFeRD and XRechnung

If a document was created as both ZUGFeRD and XRechnung, easybill does not preselect a format. A yellow notice appears below the field: „Bitte Versandformat wählen.“ (“Please select a sending format.”)

  • Select the format you want
  • Only then can the document be sent

[Screenshot to follow: send-dialog-notice-select-format.jpg – ALT: Yellow notice asking to select a sending format in the send dialog]

Recurring invoices, bulk sending and API

When easybill sends without the send dialog, it does not ask. This applies to:

  • Recurring invoices with automatic sending
  • Sending several documents at once
  • Sending via the REST API

The same rules as above apply. The only exception: if ZUGFeRD and XRechnung were created, the highest ZUGFeRD format version is sent.

ℹ️ Your customer needs XRechnung?

Set XRechnung as a fixed format on the contact or use a document template that only creates XRechnung.

Which default do new contacts get?

  • New accounts (registered from [date]): every newly created contact is set to Automatic – including contacts created via import or API.
  • Existing accounts: newly created contacts still get standard PDF as default – including via import or API. Existing contacts keep their previous format. For these contacts to receive e-invoices, you need to actively switch them to Automatic.

ℹ️ Existing customer?

Check your contacts now and switch them to Automatic in one go using bulk processing (see below). This way all your contacts are ready for e-invoicing.

Changing contacts

The rules described reflect the current state and may change as e-invoicing evolves.

Currently, the related articles are only available in German.