BR-DE-5 in your own invoice? Upload the file and find every error in seconds.
What does BR-DE-5 mean?
The element "Seller contact point" (BT-41) 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-5
- 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-5
- Find the faulty spot in the XML. Open the XML of the invoice and go to field BT-41 along this XPath:
//ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:DefinedTradeContact/ram:PersonName - Apply the fix. Add the seller contact point (BT-41) in 'ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:DefinedTradeContact/ram:PersonName'.
- Validate again. Save the file and validate it again to check that BR-DE-5 is no longer reported.
Concrete fix
Add the seller contact point (BT-41) in 'ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:DefinedTradeContact/ram:PersonName'.
XPath
//ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:DefinedTradeContact/ram:PersonNameFrequent questions about BR-DE-5
How do I fix BR-DE-5?
Add the seller contact point (BT-41) in 'ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:DefinedTradeContact/ram:PersonName'.
Related error codes
Check BR-DE-5 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.