Fix BR-DE-4: Seller post code (BT-38) missing

What does BR-DE-4 mean?

The element "Seller post code" (BT-38) must be provided. This is a national KoSIT rule (XRechnung) that goes beyond EN 16931 and is mandatory for German e-invoices.

Common causes of BR-DE-4

• 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-4

1. Find the faulty spot in the XML. Open the XML of the invoice and go to field BT-38 along this XPath://ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:PostalTradeAddress/ram:PostcodeCode
2. Apply the fix. Add the seller post code (BT-38) in 'ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:PostalTradeAddress/ram:PostcodeCode'.
3. Validate again. Save the file and validate it again to check that BR-DE-4 is no longer reported.

Before / after: the XML example

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

<ram:PostalTradeAddress>
  <!-- ram:PostcodeCode fehlt -->
  <ram:CityName>München</ram:CityName>
</ram:PostalTradeAddress>

<ram:PostalTradeAddress>
  <ram:PostcodeCode>80331</ram:PostcodeCode>
  <ram:CityName>München</ram:CityName>
</ram:PostalTradeAddress>

Frequent questions about BR-DE-4

Related error codes

Check BR-DE-4 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.