This article explains how you as a customer can access and use a staging environment for the DocuWare E-Invoicing Service. It covers the purpose of the staging environment, what is included, and how to get started.
Terms & definition
A staging environment is a replica of the production environment used for testing, including validation, sending, and receiving e-invoices, before switching to the productive environment. It mirrors the production setup as closely as possible, including onboarding information, connection to the provider and network (e.g., Peppol or other country-specific networks), to ensure that new changes work as expected and do not introduce issues.
For you as a customer, the staging environment is provided so you can familiarize yourself with the E-Invoicing Service, validate your workflows, and test e-invoice processes before going live in a productive setting.
Depending on the country, differences in the scope of the staging account are possible. Country-specific availability and test scope may change at any time due to changes in legislation. See the country overview below for the current status.
Country | Test Scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Belgium | full test capability | - |
Germany | full test capability | - |
Poland | full test capability | The customer must provide a KSeF Test Certificate obtained independently via the KSeF Test Portal |
France | E-Invoicing supported | E-Reporting not available in the staging environment |
Prerequisites
To receive a staging environment, an active E-Invoicing Service order placed and the E-Invoicing Service onboarding process is required for the legal entity.
Why do you need a productive system if you only want to test? The staging environment is intended as a complement to - not a replacement for - the productive system. It allows you to safely test and validate e-invoice processes without risking legally valid document transactions.
A staging account is automatically provisioned for each ordered account per legal entity. There is currently no time limitation on the staging account.
Staging environment details
What is the staging environment?
The staging environment allows you to test the E-Invoicing Service without sending legally valid e-invoices. It is linked to your DocuWare Cloud Organization as a second account. No separate DocuWare Test Cloud is required. The E-Invoicing Service for the staging environment is activated at no additional cost.
What can you do in the staging environment?
Learn and test e-invoicing functionality.
Build and validate workflows around e-invoice processes.
Test the end-to-end flow of sending and receiving e-invoices in a safe environment.
What is included in the staging environment?
Access to the E-Invoicing Service
One account per legal entity / registration
What is NOT included in the staging environment?
Test documents / e-invoices - own test data, xml-file, e-invoices are necessary
Connection to the productive Peppol network or other productive country-specific networks.
Tax report setup for e-reporting and e-invoices
Pre-built e-invoicing workflows or file cabinets.
France: E-Reporting is not supported in the staging environment.
Poland: Full test capability requires a valid KSeF Test Certificate obtained independently via the KSeF Test Portal. See Term & Definition for details.
Single Account Limitation
Only one account per registration is included in the staging environment. If a customer requires a second entity to test sending and receiving e-invoices, it may be necessary to involve a DocuWare Partner or DocuWare Professional Services.
Exceptions are companies with subsidiaries that are also registered for the E-Invoicing Service. They can use their different legal entities to test sending and receiving directly within the E-Invoicing Service.
How to request a staging environment
No separate request is needed. The staging account is automatically provisioned as part of the onboarding workflow for your productive DocuWare E-Invoicing Service. Iit is created in the background at the same time the production account is set up. No additional steps are required from your side or your DocuWare Partner regarding onboarding.
If the staging account is missing or the option to switch to the staging account is not visible, contact DocuWare Support.
How to access the staging account
Once provisioned, the staging account is accessible in DocuWare Configurations > E-Invoicing Service.
To switch to the staging environment:
Go to DocuWare Configurations > Integrations > E-Invoicing.
Open an existing configuration or create a new one.
On the Provider Connection tab, under Provider Environment Type, select Staging. The Staging option is only visible if a staging environment has been provisioned for your account.
From the Company Name dropdown, select your staging account. The staging account name follows the format
Test | <Company Name>, see the Naming convention paragraph below.Confirm that the status displays Connected.
Select General Configuration to proceed with your staging setup.
For the remaining configuration steps, follow the instructions described in How-to configure DocuWare E-Invoicing Service. Keep in mind the limitations of the staging environment.
Naming Convention for Accounts
The staging account name is derived directly from the production account name. All accounts are set up with country-specific addresses and VAT IDs from the E-Invoicing Service onboarding process.
Format:
Test | <Company Name>Example:
Production Account: ACME GmbH
Staging Account: Test | ACME GmbH