I wasn't 100% is I asked an LLM and the reply was that yes, this is indeed still required. I mean I can work around this by adding a manual field but would you consider adding this detail as a building block please?
Yes, for normal German invoices it is generally required.
Under § 14 Abs. 4 Nr. 6 UStG, an invoice must state the time of delivery or other service: Zeitpunkt der Lieferung oder sonstigen Leistung. For freelance/service invoices this is usually shown as:
- Leistungsdatum: 28.04.2026
- Leistungszeitraum: 01.04.2026 - 30.04.2026
- Leistungszeitraum: April 2026
- If identical: Leistungsdatum entspricht Rechnungsdatum
For ongoing freelance work, a Leistungszeitraum is the correct practical form.
Exceptions/nuance:
- Small-value invoices under 250 EUR have simplified requirements.
- If the service date/period is clear from another document referenced on the invoice, that can sometimes suffice.
- For XRechnung/ZUGFeRD, this should ideally be a structured field, not just free text.
My recommendation: open an XPferd issue if there is no dedicated Leistungsdatum / Leistungszeitraum field. It should probably support both:
- invoice-level service period/date
- optionally line-item-level service periods for mixed periods
Temporary workaround: put Leistungszeitraum: <month/year or date range> into the invoice notes or line-item description, but that is less ideal, especially for structured e-invoices.
I wasn't 100% is I asked an LLM and the reply was that yes, this is indeed still required. I mean I can work around this by adding a manual field but would you consider adding this detail as a building block please?