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Spotlight PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 The EU e-invoicing mandate is here — France Sept 2026, Belgium Jan 2026, Germany 2025.

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Foundations

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Standards

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Flagship messages

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Tools

DRSC — the German accounting standardiser on the ledger side

DRSC (Deutsches Rechnungslegungs Standards Committee) is the German private accounting standards body. Its role in the e-invoicing landscape is indirect but important: it sets the DRS (Deutsche Rechnungslegungs Standards) that apply downstream of the invoice (posting to accounts, consolidation, tax returns) and coordinates with KoSIT/FeRD/BMF to ensure coherence between invoice format and bookings.

Origin and legal status

DRSC was created in 1998 by the KapAEG Act (Kapitalaufnahmeerleichterungsgesetz — capital-raising facilitation act) which amended §342 HGB to permit delegation to a private committee of consolidation-level (Konzernabschluss) accounting standardisation. Inspired by the US FASB and the international IASB.

  • Federal recognition: ministerial accreditation by BMJ (Bundesministerium der Justiz), renewable. Without it, DRS would lose their "Soll-Norm" status and would no longer be presumed compliant with §297 HGB.
  • Funding: contributions from DAX 40 and MDAX corporations, donations from audit firms (PwC, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, BDO, Mazars), no direct public funding.
  • Members: listed German corporations (Siemens, SAP, BMW, Volkswagen, Bayer, BASF, Deutsche Bank, Allianz, etc.), major audit firms, professional associations (BDI, IDW — Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer).
  • Difference with KoSIT: KoSIT is public (Bund + Länder), public IT competence. DRSC is private, accounting competence. No hierarchy between the two — they cooperate when e-invoicing crosses accounting.

Normative mandate HGB and IFRS

The DRSC mandate covers two accounting frameworks that apply to German businesses according to their size and listing status:

  • HGB (Handelsgesetzbuch) — German accounting law. Applicable to all German businesses for individual accounts. DRSC drafts HGB-scope DRS, particularly on topics not explicitly addressed by HGB (consolidation, derivative instruments, business segments, etc.).
  • IFRS — international framework. Mandatory for consolidated accounts of companies listed on an EU regulated market (Regulation EC 1606/2002). DRSC participates via its delegation at IASB and EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) in IFRS drafting.
  • GoBD (Grundsätze zur ordnungsmäßigen Führung und Aufbewahrung von Büchern, Aufzeichnungen und Unterlagen in elektronischer Form). BMF framework of 28 November 2019 on digital bookkeeping. DRSC does not maintain it (BMF role) but contributes through positions and hearings.

KoSIT/FeRD/BMF coordination

DRSC maintains institutional relationships with other actors in the German e-invoicing chain, mainly through hearings and joint working groups:

  • BMF — legislative hearings. DRSC is regularly heard in BMF consultations preparatory to tax letters (the letter of 15 October 2024 on e-Rechnung was subject to a DRSC consultation as early as July 2024).
  • FeRD — WG5 observer. DRSC sends a permanent observer to Working Group 5 "Recht und Compliance" of FeRD, to flag accounting implications of ZUGFeRD evolutions.
  • KoSIT — ad hoc coordination. No permanent joint committee. Episodic coordination on codification matters (e.g., mapping InvoiceTypeCode UNCL 1001 to HGB §253 classes).
  • IDW — reinforced coordination. The Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) — German equivalent of the Compagnie nationale des commissaires aux comptes — shares several members with DRSC and is de facto the operational channel for the profession's positions on e-invoicing.

DRS standards relevant to e-invoicing

Several DRS have direct or indirect implications for the accounting treatment of electronic invoices:

DRSTitleYearE-invoicing relevance
DRS 13 Latente Steuern 2023 Accounting treatment of VAT differences between invoice issuance period and payment period
DRS 24 Immaterielle Vermögensgegenstände im Konzernabschluss 2016 Governs capitalisation of ERP / e-invoicing setup costs as a fixed asset
DRS 25 Währungsumrechnung im Konzernabschluss 2018 Currency conversion rules for intracom invoices (BT-5 DocumentCurrencyCode different from EUR)
DRS 27 Anteilmäßige Konsolidierung 2020 Proportional consolidation, relevant for intra-group invoices and shared VAT

Work in progress 2025-2028

The DRSC work programme published in January 2026 explicitly mentions three e-invoicing projects:

  1. Position paper on Mitteilungspflicht (BMF 2025 consultation). DRSC is preparing a formal position pushing for an automated extraction approach from ZUGFeRD/XRechnung rather than a separate return.
  2. DRS 28 (draft) — Digital tax reporting. A new standard under consultation that would codify best practices for digital bookkeeping linked to e-invoicing flows (integration GoBD + UStG).
  3. EU ViDA coordination. DRSC, via its EFRAG delegation, supports the German transposition of the ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) package, especially on digital reporting requirements (DRR) that could modify the ZM from July 2030 onwards.