Free XRechnung Viewer — Open the XML as a Readable Invoice

An XRechnung is pure XML — there is no page to look at. Upload the .xml file you received and read it as a clean, human-readable PDF: seller, buyer, Leitweg-ID, line items, VAT breakdown and the amount due. Works with both XRechnung syntaxes (UBL and CII). Free, no signup.

Open an XRechnung file Validate it instead

How the XRechnung viewer works

1

Upload the XRechnung XML

Drop in the .xml file. The viewer detects the syntax automatically from the root element — UBL (Invoice / CreditNote) or UN/CEFACT CII (CrossIndustryInvoice) — so you don't need to know which variant your supplier's software produced.

2

Every field is parsed

Parties, the buyer reference (Leitweg-ID), order and contract references, payment means with IBAN, payment terms, line items, allowances and charges, and the VAT breakdown — the same structured data your accounting software would import.

3

Read, print or archive the PDF

The invoice opens as a human-readable PDF in a new tab — laid out like a normal invoice document. Check the amounts, forward it to a colleague, print it, or file it with your records.

What the XRechnung viewer covers

Both syntaxes: UBL and CII

The XRechnung standard allows two XML syntaxes. Public-sector platforms and most tools emit UBL; SAP and DATEV ecosystems often emit CII. The viewer opens both and renders them identically.

Invoices and credit notes

Both document types render correctly — a credit note is clearly labelled as such, so a Gutschrift never gets mistaken for a payable invoice.

ZUGFeRD PDFs too

If your supplier sent a ZUGFeRD / Factur-X hybrid PDF instead of a bare XRechnung XML, upload it as-is — the embedded XML is extracted from the PDF/A-3 wrapper automatically.

No installation, nothing stored

Runs in the browser against our EU-hosted API — no desktop viewer to install, no ERP needed. The file is processed to render the PDF and is not kept.

Why you receive XRechnung files

XRechnung is Germany's e-invoice standard, mandatory for invoices to federal and most state public-sector buyers since 2020. Since January 2025, all German companies must also be able to receive EN 16931 e-invoices in B2B — and issuing becomes mandatory in stages through 2028. So an invoice that used to arrive as a paper letter or a simple PDF now increasingly arrives as a bare .xml file that a normal PDF reader cannot open.

Double-clicking an XRechnung shows raw XML tags — technically complete, practically unreadable. The viewer turns it into the invoice document a human expects, without any software installation.

Viewer or validator?

The viewer answers "what does this invoice say?" — amounts, IBAN, VAT, payment terms. The validator answers "is this file compliant?" — it runs the official KOSIT schematron (BR-DE-*, CII-DE-*) plus the EN 16931 rules and reports every violation by rule ID. Suppliers validate before sending; recipients mostly just need the viewer.

The machine-readable data is what gets booked

With XRechnung there is no visual page at all, so the XML is the invoice. What the viewer renders is exactly what any compliant accounting system will import: the same fields, the same totals, the same VAT categories — just formatted for human eyes.

XRechnung viewer: FAQ

How do I open an XRechnung file?

An XRechnung is pure XML — there is no visual page at all, so double-clicking it just shows raw tags. Upload the .xml to the aiDoks viewer and it renders the invoice as a clean, readable PDF: seller, buyer, Leitweg-ID, line items, VAT breakdown and the amount due. Free, no registration.

Which XRechnung syntaxes are supported?

Both. The XRechnung standard allows UBL (Invoice / CreditNote) and UN/CEFACT CII (CrossIndustryInvoice); the viewer detects the syntax automatically from the root element and renders both identically. Credit notes are clearly labelled as such.

Can I keep the rendered PDF as my copy of the invoice?

You can save, print or archive the rendered PDF — but keep the original XML file too. For a received XRechnung, the XML is the legal invoice; the PDF is a human-readable visualization of it.

What is the difference between the viewer and the XRechnung validator?

The viewer answers 'what does this invoice say?' — amounts, IBAN, VAT, payment terms. The validator answers 'is this file compliant?' — it runs the official KOSIT schematron (BR-DE-*, CII-DE-*) plus EN 16931 and reports every violation by rule ID. Both are free.

A supplier sent me a ZUGFeRD PDF instead — does that work too?

Yes. Upload the ZUGFeRD / Factur-X hybrid PDF as-is; the embedded XML is extracted from the PDF/A-3 wrapper automatically and rendered the same way.

Related tools

XRechnung validator

Check the same file against the official KOSIT and EN 16931 rules.

Factur-X / ZUGFeRD viewer

Open a hybrid PDF and read its embedded XML invoice.

PEPPOL vs XRechnung

Which German e-invoice format do you actually need?

Open your XRechnung now

Free, no signup — upload the XML and read the invoice in seconds.

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