# BR-25 Item name must be present on every invoice line

Under EN 16931 rule BR-25, every invoice line (BG-25) must contain an item name in BT-153 (ItemName / Name). The item name is the primary human-readable and machine-readable text identifier describing the goods supplied or services performed. In public procurement verification and corporate purchasing, recipient invoice approval workflows require a clear item name to verify that delivered items match the approved purchase order requisition.

## Problem Description

> **ERROR**: EN 16931 core business rule (CEN)

## Context and Significance

An invoice line without an item name cannot be processed by automated accounting and enterprise catalog matching software, triggering Schematron error BR-25.

## Solution

In your product catalog or invoice line editor, enter a clear descriptive item name for each position. In UBL 2.1 syntax, populate <cbc:Name> inside <cac:InvoiceLine><cac:Item>. In UN/CEFACT CII syntax, populate <ram:Name> within <ram:SpecifiedTradeProduct> under <ram:IncludedSupplyChainTradeLineItem>. Do not leave the item name tag empty or substitute it solely with an item code.

- [Validate XML](/en/xrechnung-validator?source=resource&rule=BR-25)
- [Convert invoice](/en/pdf-to-xrechnung?source=resource&rule=BR-25)

## Valid Examples

- Invoice line item with BT-153 = "Cloud Server Hosting (Monthly)"
- Invoice line item with BT-153 = "Druckerpapier DIN A4 80g/m²"

## Invalid Examples

- cac:Item element specifies classification code or buyers identifier but omits cbc:Name
- Item name element exported with whitespace only (<cbc:Name> </cbc:Name>)

## Code Examples

### Valid XML
```
<cac:InvoiceLine>
  <cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID>
  <cac:Item>
    <cbc:Name>IT-Beratung Senior Consultant</cbc:Name>
  </cac:Item>
</cac:InvoiceLine>
```

### Invalid XML
```
<cac:InvoiceLine>
  <cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID>
  <cac:Item>
    <cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>
      <cbc:ID>S</cbc:ID>
      <cbc:Percent>19.00</cbc:Percent>
      <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
    </cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>
  </cac:Item>
</cac:InvoiceLine>
```

## Affected Fields

- [BT-153 Item name](/resources/xrechnung/bt-153-invoice-line-item-name)
- [BG-31 Item information](/resources/xrechnung/bt-153-invoice-line-item-name)
- [BG-25 Invoice line](/resources/xrechnung/bt-126-invoice-line-identifier)

## Related Rules

- [BR-24](/resources/kosit-validator-errors/br-24-invoice-line-net-amount-must-be-present)
- [BR-26](/resources/kosit-validator-errors/br-26-invoice-line-item-net-price-must-be-present)

## Validation Tools

- [Official KoSIT Validator](https://github.com/itplr-kosit/validator): Run the official KoSIT validator with the XRechnung configuration to check EN 16931 and XRechnung rules.
- [Convert PDF to XRechnung](/pdf-to-xrechnung): Find validation errors during conversion and review each correction.

## Related Resources

- [Official Specification](https://docs.peppol.eu/poacc/billing/3.0/rules/ubl-tc434/)
- [Test Suite](https://github.com/itplr-kosit/xrechnung-testsuite)
- [All validation errors](/resources/kosit-validator-errors): Overview of the EN 16931, XRechnung and Peppol validation rules explained here.