ZUGFeRD E-Invoice from Airtable in Zapier: Filter the Rows, Build the JSON, Email the Hybrid PDF

PDF4me Create ZUGFeRD Invoice is a Zapier action that converts structured invoice data into a hybrid PDF/A-3 e-invoice. Reading one Airtable row, it turns a JSON object into EN 16931 XML embedded in a readable PDF, writes the file back onto the record, and emails it to the buyer.

E-invoicing mandates arrive as a file format problem and get answered as a procurement problem: pick a platform, pay per document, migrate your data into it. That answer is reasonable at scale and absurd for a team issuing twenty invoices a month out of a database they already run. The alternative is not writing XML by hand. It is describing the invoice as JSON and letting something else produce the conformant file.

Why-Based Q&A​

What You'll Get​

Input: an Airtable row with the invoice number, the dates, a seller block with a VAT ID, a buyer block, one line item and the totals, with Status set to New. Output: a ZUGFeRD PDF/A-3 on that record and in the buyer's inbox.

One row per invoice. Every column here becomes a key in the JSON the Zap sends.

The buyer sees an invoice. Their accounting system sees the XML inside it.

What You Need​

The Zap at a Glance​

1. New Record (Airtable) fires on every new row in ZUGFeRD Requests.
2. Filter conditions (Filter by Zapier) continues only when Status is exactly New.
3. Create ZUGFeRD Invoice (PDF4me) converts the JSON into a hybrid PDF.
4. Update Record (Airtable) writes the file, the status and a link back to the row.
5. Send Email (Gmail) delivers the e-invoice to the buyer.

Complete Zap overview​

The same five-step shape as the Swiss QR Zap. Only the PDF4me step in the middle differs.

Step 1: How do you trigger a Zap from a new Airtable row?​

Flow so far: nothing yet, this is the trigger.

1. Create a Zap and pick Airtable > New Record.
2. Choose the Base PDF4me Live Automations and the Table ZUGFeRD Requests.
3. Test. Zapier reports Found 1 new Record in Airtable and the columns become available downstream.

The polling badge reads 2 min, which comes from the plan rather than this step.

Step 2: How do you stop the Zap invoicing a half-finished row?​

Flow so far: the Airtable trigger.

1. Add Filter by Zapier > Only continue if....
2. Build one rule: 1. Status / (Text) Exactly matches / New.
3. Test it.

Filter conditions configuration​

The green box names the field that let the record through. The equivalent yellow box names the one that stopped it.

Step 3: How do you turn the row into a ZUGFeRD invoice?​

Flow so far: the trigger and the filter.

1. Add PDF4me > Create ZUGFeRD Invoice.
2. Set the output options:
   • File Name: ZUGFeRD_ plus the Invoice Number plus .pdf
   • Input Format: JSON
   • Output Mode: XmlWithPdf
   • Zugferd Version: 2+
   • Conformance Level: EN16931
   • Render Invoice On Pdf: True
   • Leave File empty unless you are supplying your own letterhead page
3. Paste the object into Invoice Json Data and map each Airtable field into it:

{
  "InvoiceId": "{{Invoice Number}}",
  "TypeCode": "380",
  "InvoiceType": "RECHNUNG",
  "IssueDate": "{{Invoice Date}}T00:00:00",
  "DeliveryDate": "{{Invoice Date}}T00:00:00",
  "IsTest": false,
  "Seller": {
    "Name": "{{Seller Name}}",
    "VatId": "{{Seller VATID}}",
    "Address": {
      "Street": "{{Seller Street}}",
      "PostalCode": "{{Seller Postal Code}}",
      "City": "{{Seller City}}",
      "Country": "{{Seller Country}}"
    }
  },
  "Buyer": {
    "Name": "{{Buyer Name}}",
    "Address": {
      "Street": "{{Buyer Street}}",
      "PostalCode": "{{Buyer Postal Code}}",
      "City": "{{Buyer City}}",
      "Country": "{{Buyer Country}}"
    }
  },
  "LineItems": [
    {
      "ProductName": "{{Item Description}}",
      "Quantity": {{Quantity}},
      "UnitCode": "C62",
      "UnitPrice": {{Unit Price}},
      "LineTotal": {{Net Total}}
    }
  ],
  "Totals": {
    "Currency": "{{Currency}}",
    "LineTotal": {{Net Total}},
    "TaxBasisTotal": {{Net Total}},
    "TaxPercent": {{VAT Rate}},
    "TaxTotal": {{VAT Amount}},
    "GrandTotal": {{Gross Total}},
    "ChargeTotal": 0,
    "AllowanceTotal": 0
  },
  "Payment": {
    "Currency": "{{Currency}}",
    "PaymentReference": "{{Invoice Number}}",
    "DueDate": "{{Due Date}}T00:00:00"
  }
}

Three parts are worth pausing on. TypeCode 380 is the code for a commercial invoice and is fixed. UnitCode C62 is the UN/ECE code for "one of something", which is what you want for hours or units of service. And PaymentReference in the Payment block is the text the buyer quotes when paying, which here is just the invoice number.

Create ZUGFeRD Invoice configuration​

Every value is an Airtable token. Note VAT Amount 190.95 and Gross Total 1195.95, even though the grid displays them as 191 and 1196.

What each setting decides​

Step 4: How do you write the invoice back to the record?​

Flow so far: everything through the PDF4me step.

1. Add Airtable > Update Record.
2. Configure:
   • Base PDF4me Live Automations, Table ZUGFeRD Requests
   • Record: the ID from the trigger
   • Append attachments: False
   • Document: the File Url from step 3
   • Status: Generated
3. Leave every other field empty so nothing is overwritten.

Update Record configuration​

The warning at the top is the one worth reading. Everything below it is empty on purpose.

Step 5: How do you send the e-invoice to the buyer?​

Flow so far: everything through the record update.

1. Add Gmail > Send Email.
2. Configure:
   • To: the Email column from the trigger
   • Subject: Your e-invoice plus the Invoice Number
   • Body type: Html
   • Body: a short greeting naming the buyer, the invoice number and the total
   • Attachments: the File Url from step 3

Send Email configuration​

The attachment is the same File Url that step 4 wrote to Airtable, so the record and the email always carry the same file.

Run the Zap and Verify​

1. Publish the Zap.
2. Add a row to ZUGFeRD Requests with a seller, a buyer, one line item, both dates and Status New.
3. Wait for the poll. All five steps should be green.
4. Open the row: Document should hold a PDF named after the invoice number, and Status should read Generated.
5. Open the attachment. You should see a readable invoice page, and a ZUGFeRD validator should find EN 16931 XML inside the same file.
6. Add a row with Status Generated and confirm the Zap stops at step 2.

In the captured run, version 1 completed successfully on Oct 24 2026 at 12:09:01 am, producing ZUGFeRD_RE-2026-0011.pdf for an invoice from Muster GmbH in Berlin to Test Kunde AG in Muenchen, ten units of Consulting at 100.50, totalling 1195.95 EUR.

Common Variations You Can Add Without Rebuilding​

How this compares to the other ways of issuing an e-invoice​

Each row describes the alternative. The last row is this Zap.

We also built the identical flow in Make. The differences are small but real: Make filters inside the trigger for free where Zapier spends a step, Make needs parseNumber around every money value where Zapier maps them straight through, and Make uploads the file as bytes where Zapier hands Airtable a URL.

Common questions​

What is e-invoicing?​

E-invoicing means issuing an invoice as structured data a machine can read, rather than as a picture of a page. The buyer's accounting system parses it and books it without anyone retyping, which is the point: the saving is on the receiving side, not yours.

A growing number of jurisdictions now require it for business and public-sector trade. The European standard EN 16931 defines the core set of fields, and formats like ZUGFeRD implement it.

What is electronic invoicing?​

The same thing. "Electronic invoicing" tends to be the term in legislation and "e-invoicing" the term in product marketing, and both mean structured, machine-readable invoice data rather than a PDF attached to an email.

Worth being clear about what does not count: a scanned paper invoice is not electronic invoicing, and neither is an ordinary PDF. Without embedded structured data the receiver still has to read it.

Can Airtable create invoices?​

Not compliant ones. Airtable holds the data and can lay it out in an interface or a printable view, but it cannot produce a PDF/A-3 carrying conformant EN 16931 XML, which is what a mandate asks for.

The split this Zap uses is the practical one: Airtable is the record, PDF4me produces the artefact, and the artefact comes back to the record as an attachment.

How does accounts payable automation work?​

Three parts: intake, extraction and posting. Intake gets documents into one place, extraction turns them into fields, posting writes those fields into the ledger with an approval gate in front of it.

Hybrid e-invoices remove the middle part. When the XML is already inside the file, extraction is parsing rather than recognition, and that is why mandates keep pushing towards it. This Zap is the sending half of that arrangement.

Troubleshooting​

Next Steps​

A mandate looks like a format problem and is really a data problem. If the invoice already exists as rows, most of the work is done.