Leitweg-ID and public buyers
Invoicing a German public authority is a separate regime from B2B, with its own standard, its own portal and one field that decides whether the invoice arrives at all.
The Leitweg-ID is issued by the buyer
The Leitweg-Identifikationsnummer is the routing identifier of the authority you are invoicing. It is assigned by that authority — for federal bodies by the Zentrale Finanzverwaltung des Bundes — and communicated to you when the order is placed.
You cannot derive it, look it up in a public register, or reuse another authority's. If your customer has not given you one, ask for it before you start the invoice; there is no way to complete a compliant federal invoice without it.
§ 5 of the E-Rechnungsverordnung makes the Leitweg-ID mandatory invoice content, alongside bank details, payment terms and an e-mail or De-Mail address. Supplier number and order number are also required when they were communicated to you during contracting.
Where it goes on the invoice
The Leitweg-ID travels as the buyer reference — field BT-10 of the European norm. On the invoice form it is the buyer reference field; in an XRechnung file it is BuyerReference.
Two mistakes account for most rejections:
Putting it in the wrong field. Your own supplier number, the contract number or a project code do not substitute for it. If the buyer reference carries anything other than the Leitweg-ID, a federal buyer will refuse the invoice.
Treating routing as acceptance. When the invoice travels over Peppol, the Leitweg-ID also appears as the receiver's participant identifier — scheme 0204. That is the address on the envelope. The Leitweg-ID must additionally appear inside the invoice, and the authority checks the two separately. A successful delivery with an empty buyer reference is still a refused invoice.
Your own identifier is not a Leitweg-ID
When your company is registered on the Peppol network, it is registered under its VAT identification number — scheme 9930. The Leitweg-ID belongs to the public buyer, as a receiver.
If someone asks you to register your company under 0204, that is a misunderstanding: a supplier registered under a Leitweg-ID becomes a participant nobody addresses.
Which portal receives the invoice
The federal platforms have been consolidated. The ZRE became unavailable during Q4 2025, and the federal administration now receives e-invoices through the OZG-RE. Transmission requires prior registration with the portal, and Peppol is one of the channels it accepts.
Germany is a federal state, so a Land authority or a municipality is not covered by the federal rules: they have their own implementing law, and sometimes their own portal. KoSIT maintains the synopsis of Land implementations. When the buyer is not federal, ask them which channel and which standard they accept rather than assuming.
Exemptions worth knowing
§ 3 Abs. 3 of the E-Rechnungsverordnung exempts invoices from direct awards up to EUR 1,000 from the electronic form, together with a small number of other cases such as classified matters. An exemption removes the obligation; it does not stop you from sending an e-invoice if the authority can receive one.
Before you send the first one
- Get the Leitweg-ID in writing from the buyer.
- Confirm which standard and channel they accept — federal means XRechnung through the OZG-RE.
- Put the Leitweg-ID in the buyer reference field, not anywhere else.
- Send one invoice and confirm with the buyer that it arrived and was readable, before you switch a whole billing run over.