zugpferd.cr

A Crystal library for generating and parsing ZUGFeRD 2.x (Factur-X) e-invoices — the structured XML format mandated by EU Directive 2014/55/EU and German GOBD.

Generates UN/CEFACT CII XML, validates against EN 16931 business rules, parses CII XML back into domain structs, and optionally embeds the XML into a PDF/A-3b file. Validated against the official Mustang CLI (XSD + Schematron).

Profiles supported

Installation

Add to your shard.yml:

dependencies:
  zugpferd:
    github: zugpferd/zugpferd.cr

Then run shards install.

PDF/A-3b embedding (optional)

PDF embedding requires libharu (system package) and the hpdf shard. Add it to your shard.yml:

dependencies:
  zugpferd:
    github: zugpferd/zugpferd.cr
  hpdf:
    github: threez/hpdf.cr
    version: ~> 0.9.10

Then opt in with a separate require:

require "zugpferd"
require "zugpferd/pdf"

Usage

Generating an invoice

require "zugpferd"

invoice = Zugpferd::Invoice.build(Zugpferd::Profile::EN16931) do |b|
  b.document = Zugpferd::ExchangedDocument.new(
    id: "INV-2025-001",
    issue_date: Time.utc(2025, 1, 15)
  )

  b.seller = Zugpferd::TradeParty.new(
    "Muster GmbH",
    address: Zugpferd::TradeAddress.new("Berlin", "DE",
      postcode: "10115", line_one: "Musterstr. 1"),
    tax_registrations: [
      Zugpferd::TaxRegistration.new(
        Zugpferd::TaxRegistration::SchemeID::VA, "DE123456789")
    ],
    electronic_address: "seller@example.de"
  )

  b.buyer = Zugpferd::TradeParty.new(
    "Kunde AG",
    address: Zugpferd::TradeAddress.new("Hamburg", "DE"),
    electronic_address: "buyer@example.de"
  )

  b.delivery_date = Time.utc(2025, 1, 15)

  b.add_line_item Zugpferd::SupplyChainTradeLineItem.new(
    position: 1,
    name: "Consulting",
    billed_quantity: BigDecimal.new("8"),
    unit_code: "HUR",           # UN/ECE Rec 20: HUR = hour
    net_price: BigDecimal.new("150.00"),
    tax_category_code: Zugpferd::ApplicableTradeTax::CategoryCode::S,
    tax_rate_percent: BigDecimal.new("19.00")
  )

  net   = BigDecimal.new("1200.00")
  vat   = BigDecimal.new("228.00")

  b.settlement = Zugpferd::TradeSettlement.new(
    currency_code: "EUR",
    taxes: [
      Zugpferd::ApplicableTradeTax.new(
        calculated_amount: vat,
        basis_amount: net,
        category_code: Zugpferd::ApplicableTradeTax::CategoryCode::S,
        rate_applicable_percent: BigDecimal.new("19.00")
      )
    ],
    line_total_amount:     net,
    tax_basis_total_amount: net,
    tax_total_amount:      vat,
    grand_total_amount:    net + vat,
    due_payable_amount:    net + vat,
    payment_means_code:    "58",   # SEPA credit transfer
    payee_iban:            "DE89370400440532013000",
    due_date:              Time.utc(2025, 2, 14)
  )
end

xml = invoice.to_xml   # validates then serialises
File.write("invoice.xml", xml)

Parsing an invoice

require "zugpferd"

xml = File.read("invoice.xml")
inv = Zugpferd::Reader.from_xml(xml)

puts inv.profile                          # => EN16931
puts inv.document.id                      # => "INV-2025-001"
puts inv.seller.name                      # => "Muster GmbH"
puts inv.settlement.grand_total_amount    # => 1428.00
puts inv.line_items.size                  # => 1

Embedding XML into a PDF/A-3b file

Requires the optional hpdf dependency and require "zugpferd/pdf" (see Installation above).

require "zugpferd"
require "zugpferd/pdf"

xml = invoice.to_xml

Zugpferd::PdfEmbed.create(xml, "invoice.pdf") do |doc|
  page = doc.add_page
  # draw invoice layout using the Hpdf::Doc API...
end

PdfEmbed.create sets up PDF/A-3b conformance (XMP metadata, sRGB output intent, Factur-X extension namespace) and attaches factur-x.xml before saving.

Validation

Invoice#to_xml runs the built-in validator automatically. To validate without generating XML:

begin
  Zugpferd::Validator.new(invoice).validate!
rescue Zugpferd::ValidationError => e
  e.violations.each { |v| puts v }
end

Key types

Development

crystal spec              # unit + compliance tests
make test-integration     # downloads Mustang CLI and runs XSD/Schematron + PDF/A-3b validation

make test-integration requires Java. It downloads the Mustang CLI JAR to vendor/ on first run and validates all generated profiles plus fixture files against the official EN 16931 schemas.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.