BR-CO – Conditions and calculations

BR-CO-22: document level charge (BG-21) without a reason

ErrorEN 16931 business rule (CEN)

The rule's own wording

[BR-CO-22]-Each Document level charge (BG-21) shall contain a Document level charge reason (BT-104) or a Document level charge reason code (BT-105), or both.

Source: CEN EN 16931, version 1.3.16

Meaning of the rule

Your invoice charges an amount at invoice level, such as shipping costs, without saying what for: reason text and reason code are both missing. The norm requires at least one of the two, so that the recipient can understand the amount and assign it to a cost type. Without a reason the charge remains an unexplained claim and the invoice is rejected. A word such as shipping costs or a code from UNTDID 7161 is enough.

What usually goes wrong

Shipping or packaging costs were taken over as an amount without a label.
The reason stands in the line text, but the charge at invoice level.
The software knows only an amount field for charges.

The fix in the XML

Add to the charge cbc:AllowanceChargeReason with a short text or cbc:AllowanceChargeReasonCode with a code from UNTDID 7161, for example FC for freight. In CII they are ram:Reason and ram:ReasonCode of the SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge with indicator true.

Before – invalid

<cac:AllowanceCharge>
  <cbc:ChargeIndicator>true</cbc:ChargeIndicator>
  <cbc:Amount currencyID="EUR">12.90</cbc:Amount>
  <cac:TaxCategory>
    <cbc:ID>S</cbc:ID>
    <cbc:Percent>19</cbc:Percent>
    <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
  </cac:TaxCategory>
</cac:AllowanceCharge>

After – corrected

<cac:AllowanceCharge>
  <cbc:ChargeIndicator>true</cbc:ChargeIndicator>
  <cbc:AllowanceChargeReasonCode>FC</cbc:AllowanceChargeReasonCode>
  <cbc:AllowanceChargeReason>Shipping costs</cbc:AllowanceChargeReason>
  <cbc:Amount currencyID="EUR">12.90</cbc:Amount>
  <cac:TaxCategory>
    <cbc:ID>S</cbc:ID>
    <cbc:Percent>19</cbc:Percent>
    <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
  </cac:TaxCategory>
</cac:AllowanceCharge>

Questions and answers

Can I bill shipping costs as a line instead?

Yes, as an invoice line of its own with quantity and price. Then the charge at invoice level disappears and BR-CO-22 with it.

Which code fits packaging?

ABK from UNTDID 7161 stands for packaging; FC for freight, ADR for other services. The list is part of the norm.

EN 16931 fields

BG-21
BT-104
BT-105

Check your invoice

The EN 16931 validator reports this rule with the line number and location – right in your browser, without upload.

Open the EN 16931 validator

The rule in detail

UBL · Context (XPath): /ubl:Invoice/cac:AllowanceCharge[cbc:ChargeIndicator = true()] | /cn:CreditNote/cac:AllowanceCharge[cbc:ChargeIndicator = true()]
UBL · Schematron test: exists(cbc:AllowanceChargeReason) or exists(cbc:AllowanceChargeReasonCode)
CII · Context (XPath): //ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge/ram:ChargeIndicator[udt:Indicator='true']
CII · Schematron test: (../ram:Reason) or (../ram:ReasonCode)

Explanation written on 14 September 2026

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