BR-DE – XRechnung

BR-DE-5: seller contact point (BT-41) is empty

ErrorXRechnung business rule (KoSIT)

The rule's own wording

[BR-DE-5] Das Element "Seller contact point" (BT-41) muss übermittelt werden.

Source: KoSIT XRechnung, version 3.0.2 (Schematron 2.6.0)

The fix in the XML

Put the name of a person or a department into Contact/Name, for example "Accounts receivable". The value must not consist of spaces only; together with telephone and e-mail the field is mandatory.

Before – invalid

<cac:Contact>
  <cbc:Name> </cbc:Name>
  <cbc:Telephone>+49 30 1234560</cbc:Telephone>
  <cbc:ElectronicMail>[email protected]</cbc:ElectronicMail>
</cac:Contact>

After – corrected

<cac:Contact>
  <cbc:Name>Accounts receivable</cbc:Name>
  <cbc:Telephone>+49 30 1234560</cbc:Telephone>
  <cbc:ElectronicMail>[email protected]</cbc:ElectronicMail>
</cac:Contact>

Meaning of the rule

The seller's contact block has no name of a contact person, or the name is empty. XRechnung requires that the recipient can reach a specific contact with questions about the invoice; a block with only a telephone number is not enough. As long as the field stays empty the invoice is rejected at intake and has to be submitted again, even when every amount is correct.

What usually goes wrong

Only a telephone number or an e-mail address is stored for the contact in the invoicing software, no name.
The field was filled with a space or a placeholder that comes out empty in the export.
The contact block comes from a template in which the name was never completed.

Questions and answers

Can BT-41 name a department rather than a person?

Yes. The standard asks for a contact point; "Accounts receivable" or "Customer service" is fine as long as the field is not empty and telephone and e-mail belong to it.

Why does the validator report BR-DE-5 when a name is entered?

Usually the name sits in the wrong element, under PartyName instead of Contact, or the field holds spaces only. The check reads cac:Contact/cbc:Name and nothing else.

EN 16931 fields

BT-41

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The rule in detail

UBL · Context (XPath): /ubl:Invoice/cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact | /cn:CreditNote/cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact
UBL · Schematron test: cbc:Name[boolean(normalize-space(.))]
CII · Context (XPath): /rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeAgreement/ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:DefinedTradeContact
CII · Schematron test: (ram:PersonName,ram:DepartmentName)[boolean(normalize-space(.))]

Explanation written on 14 September 2026

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