BR-DE-26 in your own invoice? Upload the file and find every error in seconds.
What does BR-DE-26 mean?
If the element Invoice type code (BT-3) carries the code 384 (Corrected invoice), PRECEDING INVOICE REFERENCE BG-3 must appear at least once. This is a national KoSIT rule (XRechnung) that goes beyond EN 16931 and is mandatory for German e-invoices.
Common causes of BR-DE-26
- 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-26
- Find the faulty spot in the XML. Open the XML of the invoice and go to field BT-3 along this XPath:
//ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:InvoiceReferencedDocument/ram:IssuerAssignedID - Apply the fix. For invoice type 384 (Corrected invoice), state the preceding invoice (PRECEDING INVOICE REFERENCE, BG-3) in 'ram:InvoiceReferencedDocument/ram:IssuerAssignedID'.
- Validate again. Save the file and validate it again to check that BR-DE-26 is no longer reported.
Concrete fix
For invoice type 384 (Corrected invoice), state the preceding invoice (PRECEDING INVOICE REFERENCE, BG-3) in 'ram:InvoiceReferencedDocument/ram:IssuerAssignedID'.
XPath
//ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:InvoiceReferencedDocument/ram:IssuerAssignedIDFrequent questions about BR-DE-26
How do I fix BR-DE-26?
For invoice type 384 (Corrected invoice), state the preceding invoice (PRECEDING INVOICE REFERENCE, BG-3) in 'ram:InvoiceReferencedDocument/ram:IssuerAssignedID'.
Related error codes
Check BR-DE-26 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.