EN 16931, XRechnung and Peppol error codes explained

Your e-invoice was rejected and you were handed a rule ID. Here is what each one means, why it fires and how to fix it — in English, including the German XRechnung BR-DE rules.

1662 rules from the official European Commission EN 16931 and KoSIT XRechnung rulesets, 54 with a written explanation so far.

Validate your invoice free to see exactly which rules your file breaks.

Explained in full

• BR-01 — The invoice is missing its specification identifier (BT-24) — the field that tells the receiver which e-invoicing standard the file follows.
• BR-02 — The invoice has no invoice number (BT-1).
• BR-03 — The invoice has no issue date (BT-2).
• BR-04 — The invoice has no invoice type code (BT-3).
• BR-05 — The invoice has no currency code (BT-5).
• BR-06 — The seller name (BT-27) is missing.
• BR-07 — The buyer name (BT-44) is missing.
• BR-08 — The seller postal address group (BG-5) is missing entirely.
• BR-09 — The seller address has no country code (BT-40).
• BR-10 — The buyer postal address group (BG-8) is missing entirely.
• BR-11 — The buyer address has no country code (BT-55).
• BR-16 — The invoice contains no invoice lines (BG-25).
• BR-CL-01 — The invoice type code is not a value from UNTDID code list 1001.
• BR-CL-03 — A currency identifier is not a valid ISO 4217 alpha-3 code.
• BR-CL-10 — An identifier scheme identifier is not from the ISO 6523 ICD list.
• BR-CO-09 — A VAT identifier does not start with a valid country prefix.
• BR-CO-10 — The sum of line net amounts (BT-106) does not equal the total of the individual line amounts (BT-131).
• BR-CO-13 — The total without VAT (BT-109) does not equal line totals minus allowances plus charges.
• BR-CO-14 — The total VAT amount (BT-110) does not equal the sum of the VAT category amounts (BT-117).
• BR-CO-15 — The total with VAT (BT-112) does not equal the total without VAT (BT-109) plus the VAT amount (BT-110).
• BR-CO-16 — The amount due for payment (BT-115) does not equal total with VAT minus prepaid amount plus rounding amount.
• BR-CO-25 — The invoice asks for payment but gives neither a due date (BT-9) nor payment terms (BT-20).
• BR-DE-1 — XRechnung requires payment instructions, and the invoice has none.
• BR-DE-2 — XRechnung requires a named contact for the seller, and the group is missing.
• BR-DE-3 — XRechnung requires the seller's city, and it is missing.
• BR-DE-4 — XRechnung requires the seller's post code, and it is missing.
• BR-DE-5 — The seller contact group exists but has no contact name.
• BR-DE-6 — The seller contact group has no telephone number.
• BR-DE-7 — The seller contact group has no email address.
• BR-DE-8 — XRechnung requires the buyer's city, and it is missing.
• BR-DE-9 — XRechnung requires the buyer's post code, and it is missing.
• BR-DE-10 — A delivery address was supplied without a city.
• BR-DE-11 — A delivery address was supplied without a post code.
• BR-DE-14 — A VAT breakdown group has no percentage rate.
• BR-DE-15 — XRechnung requires a buyer reference — for German public-sector receivers this is the Leitweg-ID.
• BR-DE-16 — VAT categories are in use but the seller declares no tax identifier of any kind.
• BR-DE-17 — The invoice type code is valid EN 16931 but outside the narrower list XRechnung accepts.
• BR-DE-18 — Early-payment discount (Skonto) terms are present but not in the strict machine-readable format XRechnung requires.
• BR-DE-21 — The file claims to be XRechnung but its customization identifier is not an XRechnung one.
• BR-DE-23-a — The invoice says payment is by bank transfer but gives no account to pay into.
• BR-DE-24-a — A card payment code is used without card information.
• BR-DE-25-a — A direct debit code is used without direct-debit details.
• BR-DE-26 — The invoice is marked as a correction but does not say what it corrects.
• BR-DE-30 — A direct debit group is missing the creditor identifier.
• BR-DE-31 — A direct debit group does not say which account will be debited.
• BR-DE-TMP-32 — Informational: the invoice does not state when the goods or services were supplied.
• BR-DEC-12 — The invoice total without VAT (BT-109) has more than two decimal places.
• BR-S-01 — Standard-rated items are present but there is no matching VAT breakdown entry for category S.
• BR-S-02 — A standard-rated line requires a seller VAT identifier, and none is present.
• BR-S-08 — The taxable amount in a standard-rate VAT breakdown does not match the sum of the lines at that rate.
• BR-S-09 — The VAT amount in a standard-rate breakdown does not equal taxable amount × rate.
• PEPPOL-EN16931-R001 — Peppol requires a business process identifier (BT-23), and it is missing.
• PEPPOL-EN16931-R010 — Peppol requires a buyer electronic address (BT-49), and it is missing.
• PEPPOL-EN16931-R020 — Peppol requires a seller electronic address (BT-34), and it is missing.

XRechnung (German CIUS) (39)

XRechnung Extension (15)

Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (23)

EN 16931 — calculations and conditions (24)

EN 16931 — code lists (23)

EN 16931 — decimal limits (21)

VAT — standard rated (10)

VAT — zero rated (10)

VAT — exempt (10)

VAT — reverse charge (10)

VAT — export outside the EU (10)

VAT — intra-community supply (12)

VAT — Canary Islands (IGIC) (10)

VAT — Ceuta and Melilla (IPSI) (10)

VAT — not subject to VAT (14)

VAT — Åland Islands (10)

VAT — other (10)

EN 16931 — core business rules (65)