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European eInvoicing: Formats, Standards, and When to Convert

European eInvoicing is now a production requirement, not a future topic. If your business exchanges invoices with partners in Italy, Germany, France, or Poland — or routes documents through public procurement networks — you are already working inside this ecosystem. This page explains the core concepts behind EU invoice formats and shows exactly which conversion paths this tool supports.

Ready to convert? Go directly to the Invoice Format Converter and choose your source format.

Why European Invoice Formats Are Not Interchangeable

Each EU country and network has adopted structured invoicing at its own pace and with its own technical choices. Italy built a national clearance platform (SDI) that mandates FatturaPA XML. Germany requires XRechnung for federal procurement. France uses Factur-X — a hybrid PDF with embedded XML — for both B2G and B2B workflows. Poland introduced KSeF with its own SKEF-mapped XML structure.

These formats share a common semantic foundation — the EN 16931 data model — but they encode that data differently. A UBL file that is valid for Peppol will not be accepted by the Italian SDI without transformation. That gap is exactly what this converter closes.

The Formats This Tool Works With

Format Reference at a Glance

When to Use Each Format — Decision Guide

Use UBL 2.1 when:

• Your buyer is registered on the Peppol network
• You are invoicing a public body in any EU or EEA country
• Your ERP or AP platform works with standard EN 16931 XML
• You want one format that works across multiple countries without changes

Use Factur-X when:

• You operate in France or Germany and your partner expects a PDF they can open
• Your workflow mixes automated processing and manual invoice review
• France's B2B e-reporting rules apply to your outgoing invoices

Use FatturaPA when:

• Either party in the transaction is an Italian company
• The invoice must be cleared through Italy's SDI platform
• You receive invoices from Italian suppliers that need further processing

Use CII when:

• Your downstream system is oriented around UN/CEFACT semantics
• You are converting from Factur-X and need the embedded XML extracted
• A partner's import tool accepts CII but not UBL

Use SKEF when:

• You invoice Polish businesses subject to the KSeF mandate
• You receive UBL invoices that need to be filed in Poland's KSeF system

What This Converter Does — and Does Not Do

This tool performs format-level conversion between structured invoice files. It maps business fields — amounts, party identifiers, VAT breakdowns, line items, payment terms — from one XML structure to another. It does not submit invoices to tax authorities, connect to Peppol access points, or store your invoice data after the session ends.

For full conversion paths showing every supported source-to-target combination, see the Conversion Matrix.

The Standard Behind All Formats

Every format listed above implements the same underlying data model: EN 16931. This European standard defines 176 invoice fields, which ones are mandatory, and what business rules govern them. When this converter transforms a FatturaPA file into UBL, it works at the level of those fields — not by reshuffling XML tags. Read more in the EN 16931 deep-dive.

Explore the Full Documentation

• EN 16931 — semantic model, mandatory terms, compliance mistakes
• Peppol BIS 3.0 — document identifiers, network basics, validation
• Country formats — Italy, Germany, France, Poland
• Conversion matrix — every supported source and target path
• implementation-guide — onboarding steps for ERP/accounting teams