# EN 16931 invoices

freispace creates EN 16931-compatible invoices by default, which will be a legal requirement in EU member states by 2025, with a slow rollout.

## Compliance[​](#compliance "Direct link to Compliance")

The invoices are also compliant to country-specific standards:

* XRechnung / ZUGFeRD 2.2 / E-Rechnung (Germany)
* Factur-X (France)

## Contents[​](#contents "Direct link to Contents")

The EN 16931 standard defines an XML-based format with the invoice's contents in a machine-readable way. The generated PDF invoices contain the XML as an attachment.

## Handling in freispace[​](#handling-in-freispace "Direct link to Handling in freispace")

Whenever possible, freispace will automatically create EN 16931-compatible invoices. If, however, the generation of such invoice fails (e.g. because of missing company data), freispace reverts back to classic PDF invoices without the attachment.

### Validation problems[​](#validation-problems "Direct link to Validation problems")

Some of the most common validation problems are due to missing or erroneous input.

Find a list of common causes of validation issues [on this page](https://docs.freispace.com/docs/billing/factur-x/validation-issue-causes.md).