Skip to main content

Reference

Markdown export

BR-DE-18 Cash discount payment terms should use the XRechnung syntax

Under German commercial invoicing practices, early payment discounts (Skonto) are widely granted (e.g. "2% cash discount if paid within 14 days, net within 30 days"). Because the underlying European standard EN 16931 lacks dedicated structured XML fields for cash discounts at the invoice level, XRechnung standardizes the text format of payment terms (BT-20) using structured hashtags: #SKONTO#TAGE={days}#PROZENT={percentage}#. Public accounting software and automated ERP payment workflows parse these hashtags to calculate discount deadlines and net payable amounts automatically.

Problem Description

WARNING

German XRechnung rule (KoSIT, BR-DE) · XRechnung 3.0

Context and Significance

Rule BR-DE-18 is a warning-level recommendation. While plain unstructured text does not invalidate the XML, using structured hashtags guarantees automated discount processing in public accounting backends.

Solution

In your ERP invoice export settings, format early discount terms in BT-20 according to the XRechnung hashtag convention: #SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00#. For multi-tiered cash discounts, provide multiple lines such as #SKONTO#TAGE=10#PROZENT=3.00# #SKONTO#TAGE=20#PROZENT=2.00#. In UBL 2.1 syntax, populate <cac:PaymentTerms><cbc:Note>#SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00#</cbc:Note></cac:PaymentTerms>. In UN/CEFACT CII syntax, populate <ram:SpecifiedTradePaymentTerms><ram:Description>#SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00#</ram:Description></ram:SpecifiedTradePaymentTerms>. Free-text descriptions may be appended after the hashtag expressions.

Quick actions

Validate XMLConvert invoice

Valid Examples

  • BT-20 = "#SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00#"
  • BT-20 = "#SKONTO#TAGE=10#PROZENT=3.00# #SKONTO#TAGE=20#PROZENT=1.50# Zahlbar rein netto innerhalb von 30 Tagen."

Invalid Examples

  • BT-20 = "2% Skonto bei Zahlung innerhalb von 14 Tagen" (Unstructured plain German text without #SKONTO# tags)
  • BT-20 = "#SKONTO#TAGE:14#PROZENT:2%#" (Malformed hashtag syntax using colons and percent sign inside value)

Code Examples

Valid XML
<cac:PaymentTerms>
  <cbc:Note>#SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00#</cbc:Note>
</cac:PaymentTerms>
Invalid XML
<cac:PaymentTerms>
  <cbc:Note>2% Skonto bei Zahlung innerhalb von 14 Tagen, rein netto nach 30 Tagen</cbc:Note>
</cac:PaymentTerms>

Affected Fields

BT-20 Payment terms

Validation Tools

Official KoSIT Validator

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

Convert PDF to XRechnung

Find validation errors during conversion and review each correction.