From January 1, 2025, a significant change in accounting comes into force in Germany: electronic invoicing becomes mandatory for all companies in the B2B sector. This measure aims to drive digitalization and increase efficiency in accounting.
In addition to the conversion to electronic patient files in the health care system in Germany and the use of e-billing by public authorities, a law came into force in 2013 that further advances electronic administration at municipalities and public authorities. This is the so-called E-Government Act. In this context, some principles of electronic record keeping and substitute scanning were also laid down.
The "paperless office" - perhaps not just wishful thinking for long. Now that smartphones have become commonplace, people are using less and less paper (calendars, planners, journals and so forth) in managing their personal affairs. Although most businesses still work with paper documents, they are gradually making the digital transformation. Because of various security considerations, especially when it comes to billing, it has long been standard practice to rely on paper as the medium for delivering and archiving invoice-related data.