DATEV E-Invoice Platform: What Invoice Dispatch Costs Since July 2026

The DATEV E-Invoice Platform was completely free until June 30, 2026. Since July 2026 it no longer is, and many mid-market companies only noticed the change on their monthly invoice. The e-invoice obligation itself is described in detail elsewhere; here we focus on the cost question: What does the DATEV E-Invoice Platform cost now, and who is actually affected?

What Does the DATEV E-Invoice Platform Cost Since July 2026?

Since July 2026, DATEV charges EUR 0.50 per outgoing invoice when it is sent from a third-party system via the e-invoice mailbox. Receipt of invoices remains permanently free of charge regardless of transmission method, as does sending from DATEV's own invoicing solutions.

Terms at a glance, all information from DATEV, as of August 3, 2026 (DATEV E-Invoice Platform):

• Receipt: free of charge, permanent, and independent of transmission method.
• Dispatch from DATEV solutions: free of charge.
• Dispatch from third-party systems: EUR 0.50 per outgoing invoice, monthly billing.
• Optional e-invoice generation: EUR 5.00 per calendar year, annually cancellable.
• Base fee: none. DATEV explicitly describes the model as pure pay-per-use with no setup costs; the mailbox can be cancelled monthly at month-end.

Until June 30, 2026, all platform services were available free of charge. This transition period has ended (DATEV announcement on the e-invoice platform).

Who Pays and Who Doesn't: The Dividing Line Runs at the Source System

What matters for costs is not invoice volume, but which system the invoice originates from. Anyone who writes their outgoing invoices in a DATEV application and sends them from there continues to pay nothing. Anyone who sends from an ERP, a merchandise management system, an industry-specific program, or a custom workflow pays per invoice.

This is the uncomfortable side of the regulation for mid-market companies, because in practice the outgoing invoice rarely originates in DATEV. It originates where the order originates: in the ERP, in the tradesperson software, in the shop. In NordFlux projects for invoice automation dispatch is almost always built directly from these upstream systems. If you deliver via the DATEV mailbox in the process, since July 2026 you are on the cost-incurring side of the dividing line.

What Does This Mean Numerically Per Client?

Costs scale linearly with the number of outgoing invoices sent from third-party systems; there is no tiered pricing and no minimum charge. The flat rate of EUR 0.50 is confirmed by DATEV; the quantities in the following examples are purely assumptions and not based on experience:

• 100 outgoing invoices per month from a third-party system: EUR 50 monthly, EUR 600 annually.
• 500 outgoing invoices per month: EUR 250 monthly, EUR 3,000 annually.
• The same invoices sent from a DATEV invoice generation solution: EUR 0.

Calculate with your own numbers instead of example numbers. The only figure you need is the number of outgoing invoices per month that are actually delivered via the DATEV mailbox and not via email or a customer portal. This number is usually significantly smaller than the total number of invoices.

What Deadlines Are in the Background?

The price change falls in a year when legal transition deadlines are changing anyway. German companies have been required to receive e-invoices since January 1, 2025. For issuing, there is a graduated transition rule: Until December 31, 2026, all invoice issuers may continue to issue other invoices; for companies with prior-year revenue of no more than EUR 800,000, this extends to December 31, 2027 (BMF, Questions and Answers on E-Invoicing).

For cost planning, this means: The dispatch volume via e-invoice channels will increase over the next two years, not decrease. If you send 20 e-invoices per month today, you will send all by 2028. The EUR 0.50 is therefore not a one-time figure but a growing line item.

What Needs to Be Checked Now

Three verification steps clarify in about an hour whether the price change affects you at all and to what extent.

• Clarify source system: Which system do your outgoing invoices actually go from? Only the path from third-party systems via the DATEV mailbox is chargeable.
• Count delivery method: How many invoices actually go through the mailbox, and how many via email, Peppol, or a customer portal? Only the mailbox method is charged.
• Compare alternatives: For small volumes, the flat-rate e-invoice generation at EUR 5.00 per year is mathematically the most economical option. For large volumes, it's worth looking at a proprietary dispatch method, such as via Peppol or a ZUGFeRD workflow in n8n.

Important for the third option: A proprietary dispatch method replaces the platform fee with effort for operation and format validation. This only pays off at a volume where the platform fee is in the four-digit range per year, and usually only if there is already an automation project for the e-invoicing process in the works. For most mid-market clients, the platform fee is the more economical option; it should simply be known and not come as a surprise on the invoice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does the DATEV E-Invoice Platform Cost Since July 1, 2026?

Sending an outgoing invoice from a third-party system via the DATEV E-Invoice mailbox costs EUR 0.50 per invoice. The optional e-invoice generation costs EUR 5.00 per calendar year. No setup costs or base fees apply (DATEV, as of August 3, 2026).

Is Receipt of E-Invoices via DATEV Still Free?

Yes. DATEV states that there are no permanent charges for receiving invoices via the e-invoice mailbox regardless of transmission method. The fee applies exclusively to dispatch from systems of other vendors.

Do I Have to Pay if I Write My Invoices in DATEV?

No. Invoice dispatch via the mailbox, when initiated from a DATEV invoicing solution, remains free of charge. The EUR 0.50 per invoice applies only if the invoice originates from a third-party system.

Is a Proprietary E-Invoice Dispatch Worth It Instead of the DATEV Platform?

It depends on volume. For a few hundred invoices per year, the platform fee is below the operational effort for a proprietary dispatch method. Only with several thousand outgoing invoices per year from third-party systems does a proprietary connection via Peppol or an automation workflow become economically interesting.

Until When Do the Legal Transition Deadlines for E-Invoice Dispatch Apply?

Until December 31, 2026, all invoice issuers are still permitted to issue other invoices. For companies with total revenue of no more than EUR 800,000 in the prior year, the transition rule extends to December 31, 2027 (BMF).