Importing E-Invoices into Lexware, sevDesk & DATEV: A Practical Comparison

Since 1 January 2025, every German company — including small businesses under § 19 UStG — must be able to receive structured e-invoices. That obligation is easy to state and surprisingly fiddly in practice, because the real question is: does your accounting software actually read the file correctly and turn it into a booking? This article compares how the three most common German systems — DATEV, sevDesk, and Lexware Office — handle incoming e-invoices.

> Short answer: All three read the structured XML on receipt (both hybrid ZUGFeRD and pure XRechnung). DATEV works as a hub with multiple inbound channels and booking suggestions; sevDesk auto-recognizes and also sends; Lexware Office imports and recognizes both but often gates sending behind a higher tariff.

What "importing" an e-invoice really means

An e-invoice is not imported the way a scanned PDF is. The system reads the structured XML — the embedded CII in a ZUGFeRD file, or the standalone XML of an XRechnung — and maps each business term (supplier, amounts, VAT, line items) to fields it can book. The XML is authoritative; the visible PDF is only a rendering.

DATEV: the hub model

DATEV is less a single app than an ecosystem. For inbound e-invoices it behaves as a hub:

• Inbound channels — documents arrive via TRAFFIQX, Peppol, or plain email
• Formats — reads both XRechnung and ZUGFeRD
• Booking suggestions — proposes account assignments from the extracted data
• Archiving — stores the original in a GoBD-compliant way

This makes DATEV the natural choice where a tax advisor is in the loop, because the same document flows from receipt to booking to archive without re-keying.

sevDesk: recognize and send

sevDesk covers both directions. It automatically recognizes incoming e-invoices — hybrid or pure XML — and it can create and send XRechnung as well as ZUGFeRD 2.1 / 2.2. For a small business that wants one tool for issuing and receiving, this two-way support is the main draw.

Lexware Office: import broadly, send by tariff

Lexware Office imports and auto-recognizes both ZUGFeRD and XRechnung on receipt, so the receiving obligation is comfortably covered on any plan. Sending structured e-invoices, however, is typically gated behind a higher tariff. Pricing and plan boundaries change, so verify what your current subscription includes before assuming you can issue XRechnung from it.

Side-by-side

*Feature scope and pricing evolve — confirm details with each vendor for your plan.*

The gap all three leave open

None of these systems can fix a supplier who still sends a plain PDF. A scanned or exported PDF is not an e-invoice under § 14 UStG — it has no structured XML to read. Your software will treat it as a document image, not a bookable e-invoice, and OCR guesses are not the same as validated fields.

That is exactly where a conversion step helps. Turning that PDF into a valid ZUGFeRD or XRechnung file gives your accounting system the structured XML it expects, so auto-recognition and booking suggestions work as designed.

Don't forget the archive

Whichever system you use, remember the GoBD obligation: the original structured XML must be retained unaltered and audit-proof for 8 years (shortened from ten by BEG IV, effective 1 January 2025). Most of these systems archive automatically, but confirm they store the *original file*, not just a print view. Details in GoBD & e-invoice archiving.

Fill the PDF gap

If some of your incoming invoices still arrive as plain PDFs, convert them before booking so your system imports clean, structured data.

TaxLayer turns a PDF invoice into a validated ZUGFeRD or XRechnung file that DATEV, sevDesk, and Lexware Office can import cleanly. The first two conversions each month are free — no credit card required.