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BR-CO-26 Field BT-29 Calculation and consistency rules (BR-CO)

Fix BR-CO-26: Seller identifier (BT-29/BT-30/BT-31) missing

[BR-CO-26]-In order for the buyer to automatically identify a supplier, the Seller identifier (BT-29), the Seller legal registratio

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What does BR-CO-26 mean?

The seller needs at least an identifier, a legal registration identifier or a VAT identifier. That lets the buyer identify him automatically.

Common causes of BR-CO-26

How to fix BR-CO-26

  1. Find the faulty spot in the XML. Open the XML of the invoice and go to field BT-29 along this XPath://ram:SellerTradeParty
  2. Apply the fix. For the buyer to identify the supplier automatically, the seller needs at least one identifier. In 'ram:SellerTradeParty', add one of: Seller identifier 'ram:ID' (BT-29), legal registration identifier 'ram:SpecifiedLegalOrganization/ram:ID' (BT-30) or Seller VAT identifier 'ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID' with schemeID='VA' (BT-31).
  3. Validate again. Save the file and validate it again to check that BR-CO-26 is no longer reported.
Concrete fix

For the buyer to identify the supplier automatically, the seller needs at least one identifier. In 'ram:SellerTradeParty', add one of: Seller identifier 'ram:ID' (BT-29), legal registration identifier 'ram:SpecifiedLegalOrganization/ram:ID' (BT-30) or Seller VAT identifier 'ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID' with schemeID='VA' (BT-31).

XPath//ram:SellerTradeParty

Before / after: the XML example

This is the spot in question before and after the fix (Cross Industry Invoice, ZUGFeRD/Factur-X).

Wrong 
<ram:SellerTradeParty>
  <ram:Name>Musterfirma GmbH</ram:Name>
</ram:SellerTradeParty>
Correct 
<ram:SellerTradeParty>
  <ram:Name>Musterfirma GmbH</ram:Name>
  <ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration>
    <ram:ID schemeID="VA">DE123456789</ram:ID>
  </ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration>
</ram:SellerTradeParty>

Frequent questions about BR-CO-26

Do I have to give all three identifiers?
No, one of them is enough: Seller identifier (BT-29), legal registration identifier (BT-30) or VAT identifier (BT-31). Most invoices carry the VAT identifier anyway, which satisfies the rule.
Why is my VAT identifier not accepted as an identifier?
It counts only if the attribute schemeID='VA' is set. Without that attribute the validator does not read the value as BT-31.

Related error codes

BR-CO-10 Sum of invoice line net amounts does not add up BR-CO-13 Invoice total amount without VAT calculated wrongly BR-CO-3 VAT point date and VAT point date code exclude each other BR-CO-9 Seller VAT identifier without country prefix BR-CO-15 Invoice total amount with VAT (BT-112) does not add up BR-CO-16 Amount due for payment (BT-115) does not add up

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