What is a Leitweg-ID?

What is a Leitweg-ID? It is a German public body’s address for e-invoices. Without it, an invoice to a public sector buyer does not reach the right office.

By Vincent Rosenkranz, Sales & Marketing Manager at BESITEC · Updated 9 Nov 2026

In short. A routing ID issued by public sector buyers in Germany. The supplier enters it in every e-invoice, in the buyer reference field BT-10. Suppliers do not need one of their own.

What is a Leitweg-ID made of?

Coarse address

Up to 12 digits. Identifies federal, state or municipal level.

Fine address

Optional, up to 30 characters. The specific office within the authority.

Check digits

Two digits at the end. Catches typos and swapped numbers.

Hyphens separate the parts. The pattern is coarse address, hyphen, fine address, hyphen, check digits. There is no central directory of all IDs.

The format specification is provided by XStandards Einkauf.

Where suppliers get the ID

From the buyer usually in the purchase order or contract
On request if missing, ask purchasing or accounts payable
Never apply yourself suppliers do not need their own, only the recipient’s

If it is missing or wrong, the portal rejects the invoice. That delays payment.

What is a Leitweg-ID used for in the e-invoice?

Format	Field	Note
`XRechnung`	BT-10 buyer reference	Mandatory for public bodies
`ZUGFeRD`	BT-10 in the XML part	From EN 16931 profile
`Peppol BIS`	BT-10 and recipient address	Scheme 0204

In the Peppol network the ID also serves as the recipient address. KoSIT registered the prefix 0204 for this. An invoice can thus reach the ZRE and OZG-RE portals directly.

There is no such ID in B2B. There, BT-10 holds a reference the buyer specifies, such as a cost centre.