BR-DE-1 in your own invoice? Upload the file and find every error in seconds.
What does BR-DE-1 mean?
An invoice (INVOICE) must contain PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS (BG-16). This is a national add-on rule from KoSIT (XRechnung). It goes beyond EN 16931 and is mandatory for German e-invoices.
Common causes of BR-DE-1
- The element required by the German KoSIT rule is missing from the XML.
- The value appears only in the PDF, not in the structured data set.
- The entry was left empty.
How to fix BR-DE-1
- Find the faulty spot in the XML. Open the XML of the invoice and go to field BG-16 along this XPath:
//ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementPaymentMeans - Apply the fix. Add the group PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS (BG-16): at least the payment means 'ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementPaymentMeans/ram:TypeCode' (BT-81) and the matching payment group (BG-17 credit transfer / BG-18 card / BG-19 direct debit).
- Validate again. Save the file and validate it again to check that BR-DE-1 is no longer reported.
Concrete fix
Add the group PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS (BG-16): at least the payment means 'ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementPaymentMeans/ram:TypeCode' (BT-81) and the matching payment group (BG-17 credit transfer / BG-18 card / BG-19 direct debit).
XPath
//ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementPaymentMeansFrequent questions about BR-DE-1
How do I fix BR-DE-1?
Add the group PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS (BG-16): at least the payment means 'ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementPaymentMeans/ram:TypeCode' (BT-81) and the matching payment group (BG-17 credit transfer / BG-18 card / BG-19 direct debit).
Related error codes
Check BR-DE-1 automatically
Instead of digging through the XML by hand you can validate your ZUGFeRD or XRechnung file online – upload the PDF or the XML and you get every error with rule ID, affected field, fix and XPath, as a readable report or as JSON through the API.