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BR-DE-7 Seller contact email must be provided

In XRechnung, the seller contact email address (BT-43) is mandatory within the seller contact group (BG-6). Public procurement invoice platforms in Germany, such as OZG-RE (direct federal administration, more than 170 indirect federal bodies and several Länder) and other state or municipal portals, use this address to automatically send technical status updates, receipt confirmations, rejection notices, and payment advisories.

Problem Description

ERROR

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

Interactive pipeline

Click a stage to see what it checks, or type a rule ID to light up the stage that reports it.

Try:

BR-DE-7 XRechnung rule (Germany)

Reported in stage 3: National rules (CIUS).

Level error: the report recommends rejecting the invoice.

Stage 3 · What it checks

  • The specification identifier in BT-24 selects the rule set, for example XRechnung 3.0 or Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.
  • XRechnung adds the German BR-DE rules: buyer reference (BT-10), seller contact, payment instructions.
  • Peppol adds PEPPOL-EN16931 and country rules. XRechnung applies some PEPPOL-EN16931 rules too.

Example codes

Typical fix

Fill the fields the rule set requires in your master data, such as the Leitweg-ID in BT-10 or the seller contact.

A validator checks an e-invoice in stages. First the file must be well-formed XML that matches the UBL or CII schema (XSD). Then the EN 16931 business rules run: BR core rules, BR-CO calculations, BR-CL code lists, BR-DEC decimals and VAT-category rules such as BR-S. Next come the national or network rules that BT-24 selects: BR-DE for XRechnung, PEPPOL-EN16931 for Peppol BIS Billing. The report lists every failed rule: one error means reject, warnings alone still mean accept. BR-DE-7: XRechnung rule (Germany), reported in the stage “National rules (CIUS)”. Rule sets: KoSIT validator 1.6.3 with the XRechnung configuration of 31 Aug 2026 (EN 16931 artefacts 1.3.16), Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.21.

Context and Significance

An invoice submitted without a valid seller contact email cannot receive automated clearing notices or reject diagnostics from public gateway APIs, prompting immediate Schematron rejection.

Solution

In your accounting or invoicing configuration, maintain a monitored accounts receivable or billing email address. In UBL 2.1 syntax, populate <cbc:ElectronicMail> inside <cac:AccountingSupplierParty><cac:Party><cac:Contact>. In UN/CEFACT CII syntax, populate <ram:EmailURIUniversalCommunication><ram:URIID> inside <ram:SellerTradeParty><ram:DefinedTradeContact>. Per rule BR-DE-28, the email address must be properly formatted with exactly one @ character and a valid domain name.

Quick actions

Validate XMLConvert invoice

Valid Examples

  • BT-43 = "rechnungswesen@lieferant.de"
  • BT-43 = "billing-support@vendor.com"

Invalid Examples

  • Seller contact group (cac:Contact / ram:DefinedTradeContact) includes name and phone but omits cbc:ElectronicMail / ram:URIID
  • Email element contains malformed address without domain (e.g. "rechnung@")

Code Examples

Valid XML
<cac:Contact>
  <cbc:Name>Finanzbuchhaltung</cbc:Name>
  <cbc:Telephone>+49 30 1234567</cbc:Telephone>
  <cbc:ElectronicMail>rechnung@lieferant.de</cbc:ElectronicMail>
</cac:Contact>
Invalid XML
<cac:Contact>
  <cbc:Name>Finanzbuchhaltung</cbc:Name>
  <cbc:Telephone>+49 30 1234567</cbc:Telephone>
</cac:Contact>

Affected Fields

BT-43 Seller contact email address
BG-6 Seller contact
BT-41 Seller contact point
BT-42 Seller contact telephone number

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.