Fix BR-DE-20: Debtor IBAN for direct debit not valid

BR-DE-20 in your own invoice? Upload the file and find every error in seconds.

What does BR-DE-20 mean?

With payment means 59 (SEPA direct debit), XRechnung checks whether the debtor IBAN (BT-91) is a valid IBAN: country code, check digits, then up to 30 letters or digits, and the check digits must add up. The rule comes from KoSIT (XRechnung) and is a warning: the invoice stays valid.

Common causes of BR-DE-20

The IBAN is shortened, for example with asterisks or X as on the paper invoice (DE89 **** **** 3000).
A typo: then the check digits do not add up.
Dots, hyphens or other characters in the value. Spaces do no harm, the check removes them first.
The debtor IBAN is missing altogether. Then the warning comes too, and XRechnung adds the error BR-DE-31 or BR-DE-25-a.

How to fix BR-DE-20

Find the faulty spot in the XML. Open the XML of the invoice and go to field BT-91 along this XPath://ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementPaymentMeans/ram:PayerPartyDebtorFinancialAccount/ram:IBANID
Apply the fix. With payment means 59 the debtor IBAN (BT-91) should be a valid IBAN. A shortened or wrong IBAN causes this warning; the invoice stays valid. If the debtor IBAN is missing altogether, the warning comes too, and XRechnung adds an error: BR-DE-31, or BR-DE-25-a if the mandate reference and the creditor ID are missing as well. To avoid the warning, enter the full IBAN in 'ram:PayerPartyDebtorFinancialAccount/ram:IBANID', for example 'DE89370400440532013000'.
Validate again. Save the file and validate it again to check that BR-DE-20 is no longer reported.

Concrete fix

With payment means 59 the debtor IBAN (BT-91) should be a valid IBAN. A shortened or wrong IBAN causes this warning; the invoice stays valid. If the debtor IBAN is missing altogether, the warning comes too, and XRechnung adds an error: BR-DE-31, or BR-DE-25-a if the mandate reference and the creditor ID are missing as well. To avoid the warning, enter the full IBAN in 'ram:PayerPartyDebtorFinancialAccount/ram:IBANID', for example 'DE89370400440532013000'.

XPath//ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementPaymentMeans/ram:PayerPartyDebtorFinancialAccount/ram:IBANID

Before / after: the XML example

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

Wrong

<ram:PayerPartyDebtorFinancialAccount>
  <ram:IBANID>DE89**************3000</ram:IBANID>
</ram:PayerPartyDebtorFinancialAccount>

Correct

<ram:PayerPartyDebtorFinancialAccount>
  <ram:IBANID>DE89370400440532013000</ram:IBANID>
</ram:PayerPartyDebtorFinancialAccount>

Frequent questions about BR-DE-20

Is BR-DE-20 still checked?

Yes, as a warning: with payment means 59, XRechnung checks whether BT-91 is a valid IBAN. A shortened IBAN as on the paper invoice triggers it; the invoice stays valid.

How do I fix BR-DE-20?

Enter the full debtor IBAN without asterisks in 'ram:PayerPartyDebtorFinancialAccount/ram:IBANID'. Spaces may stay.

Related error codes

Check BR-DE-20 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.

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