# Leitweg-ID

German routing ID required for many public sector recipients (B2G).

## Definition

German routing ID required for many public sector recipients (B2G).

## Why this term matters

The Leitweg-ID is what tells ZRE/OZG-RE and Peppol Access Points which German federal/state department actually owns the invoice — without it (or with the wrong one), the invoice is dropped at the portal before any business validation runs. It is the most common single cause of B2G XRechnung rejection in Germany.

## Explanation

Used to route XRechnung invoices to the correct authority/department.

Missing or invalid Leitweg-ID often causes rejection.

## Common mistakes

- Putting the Leitweg-ID in BT-13 (PurchaseOrderReference) or BT-12 (ContractReference) instead of BT-10 (BuyerReference) — KoSIT BR-DE-15 fails.
- Sending a coarse-grained ID such as 991-12345-XX without the recipient’s sub-routing extension when the agency requires the full hierarchy.
- Reusing one supplier’s Leitweg-ID for multiple agencies — each contracting authority publishes its own ID, sometimes per department.
- Ignoring the checksum: a Leitweg-ID matches /^\d{2,12}-[A-Za-z0-9]{1,30}-\d{2}$/ and the trailing two digits are a checksum that must verify.

## Frequently asked questions

### Where does the Leitweg-ID come from?
Each German contracting authority assigns and publishes its Leitweg-ID — typically on its supplier-onboarding page, in tender documents, or in the order confirmation. It is never auto-generated.

### Is the Leitweg-ID required for all German B2G invoices?
It is required for federal authorities and most state authorities (Bavaria initially used a simpler scheme but has since aligned with Leitweg-ID for new awards). For municipalities, the requirement varies — check the local recipient profile.

### Can I send a Leitweg-ID via Peppol or only via the portals?
Both. Whether you submit via ZRE/OZG-RE webform/upload or route via Peppol Access Points to the German central PEPPOL gateway, the Leitweg-ID is carried in BT-10 and is what the receiver uses to dispatch the invoice internally.

## Related resources

- [Leitweg-ID validation guide](/resources/compliance/leitweg-id-validation)

## Related terms

- [XRechnung](/resources/glossary/xrechnung): German e-invoicing specification for the public sector based on EN 16931.
- [Validation](/resources/glossary/validation): Process of checking an e-invoice against syntax rules and business rules.
- [KoSIT](/resources/glossary/kosit): German coordination body; commonly refers to the BR-DE validation rules/validator for XRechnung.