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BR-05 Invoice currency code must be present

Under business rule BR-05 of EN 16931-1, which applies to every CIUS such as XRechnung, Peppol BIS and Factur-X, every electronic invoice must state the invoice currency code (BT-5 / DocumentCurrencyCode) as a valid 3-letter ISO 4217 code such as EUR, USD, GBP or CHF. All monetary amounts on the invoice, including line net amounts, allowance and charge amounts, VAT breakdown totals and the amount due, are expressed in this currency. The only exception is the invoice total VAT amount in accounting currency (BT-111), which uses the VAT accounting currency (BT-6).

Problem Description

ERROR

EN 16931 core business rule (CEN)

Context and Significance

This is an EN 16931 core rule. Without the currency code the recipient cannot value the amounts or book the VAT. BR-05 only checks that the element is present and not empty; a symbol such as "€" or an unknown code fails the code list rule BR-CL-04 instead. The error usually appears when an export writes the currency only as currencyID attributes on the amounts and leaves out the header element.

Solution

In your ERP or invoicing system, set the document currency on the invoice header. In UBL 2.1, add <cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>EUR</cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode> directly under the root <Invoice> element. In UN/CEFACT CII, add <ram:InvoiceCurrencyCode>EUR</ram:InvoiceCurrencyCode> under <ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement>. Give every amount the same currencyID attribute as BT-5; only BT-111 may use a different currency.

Quick actions

Validate XMLConvert invoice

Valid Examples

  • Invoice header contains BT-5 = "EUR" from the ISO 4217 code list
  • Invoice header contains BT-5 = "USD" for international commercial billing

Invalid Examples

  • Invoice root element omits cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode / ram:InvoiceCurrencyCode entirely
  • cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode is present but empty (<cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode/>); a symbol such as "€" fails BR-CL-04 instead

Code Examples

Valid XML
<cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>EUR</cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>
Invalid XML
<cbc:ID>INV-2026-001</cbc:ID>
<cbc:IssueDate>2026-02-15</cbc:IssueDate>

Affected Fields

BT-5 Invoice currency code

Validation Tools

Official KoSIT Validator

Run the official KoSIT validator with the XRechnung configuration to check EN 16931 and XRechnung rules.

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