# BR-DE-1 Payment instructions must be provided

Under the German national standard XRechnung (and E-Rechnungsverordnung - E-Rech-V), every electronic invoice submitted to federal, state, or municipal public sector buyers must contain at least one payment instructions group (BG-16). While the European baseline standard EN 16931 allows omitting payment instructions when payment is handled out-of-band or pre-settled, German public procurement mandates explicit payment instructions so that automated public cash management systems (Bundeskasse, Landesoberkassen) can disburse funds directly to the designated bank account without manual clerk intervention.

## Problem Description

> **ERROR**: German XRechnung rule (KoSIT, BR-DE) · XRechnung 3.0

## Context and Significance

Payment instructions form the bridge between document approval and accounting execution. If BG-16 is absent, KoSIT-based XRechnung validation reports an error, and recipient platforms such as OZG-RE (direct federal administration, more than 170 indirect federal bodies and several Länder) and other state or municipal portals reject the invoice before it reaches the procurement department.

## Solution

To resolve this error in your ERP or billing system (such as SAP, DATEV, Microsoft Dynamics 365, or Odoo), configure a valid payment method on the invoice header. In UBL 2.1 syntax, add a <cac:PaymentMeans> container element with a valid UNCL 4461 code in <cbc:PaymentMeansCode> (e.g. 58 for SEPA credit transfer, 30 for credit transfer, or 59 for SEPA direct debit). For credit transfers (codes 30, 58), also provide the payee bank account IBAN in <cac:PayeeFinancialAccount><cbc:ID>. In UN/CEFACT CII syntax, add <ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementPaymentMeans> under <ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement> with <ram:TypeCode> and <ram:PayeePartyCreditorFinancialAccount>.

- [Validate XML](/en/xrechnung-validator?source=resource&rule=BR-DE-1)
- [Convert invoice](/en/pdf-to-xrechnung?source=resource&rule=BR-DE-1)

## Valid Examples

- BG-16 present with payment means code 58 (SEPA credit transfer) and payee IBAN DE89370400440532013000
- BG-16 present with payment means code 59 (SEPA direct debit) and mandate reference

## Invalid Examples

- Invoice header contains total amounts but omits the cac:PaymentMeans / SpecifiedTradeSettlementPaymentMeans block entirely
- Invoice relies solely on payment terms free text (BT-20) without structured payment instructions in BG-16

## Code Examples

### Valid XML
```
<cac:PaymentMeans>
  <cbc:PaymentMeansCode>58</cbc:PaymentMeansCode>
  <cac:PayeeFinancialAccount>
    <cbc:ID>DE89370400440532013000</cbc:ID>
  </cac:PayeeFinancialAccount>
</cac:PaymentMeans>
```

### Invalid XML
```
<cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
  <cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount>
  <cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount>
  <cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount currencyID="EUR">119.00</cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount>
  <cbc:PayableAmount currencyID="EUR">119.00</cbc:PayableAmount>
</cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
```

## Affected Fields

- [BG-16 Payment instructions](/resources/xrechnung/bt-81-payment-means-type-code)
- [BT-81 Payment means type code](/resources/xrechnung/bt-81-payment-means-type-code)
- [BT-84 Payment account identifier](/resources/xrechnung/bt-84-payment-account-identifier)

## Related Rules

- [BR-49](/resources/kosit-validator-errors/br-49-payment-means-type-code-required)
- [BR-50](/resources/kosit-validator-errors/br-50-credit-transfer-account-identifier-required)
- [BR-61](/resources/kosit-validator-errors/br-61-credit-transfer-account-required)

## 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://xeinkauf.de/xrechnung/)
- [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.