InvoiceValidator.eu

DE-R-015

fatalPeppol BIS Billing 3.0profileUBLBT-10

The element "Buyer reference" (BT-10) shall be provided.

Why it fails

The Buyer reference (BT-10) is missing. In Germany this carries the Leitweg-ID, the routing identifier of the public authority you are invoicing - without it the invoice cannot be delivered.

How to fix it

Add BT-10 (UBL cbc:BuyerReference). For a public-sector buyer this must be the Leitweg-ID they gave you, in the form 991-12345-67. It is not a free-text order reference: if you invent one, the invoice is technically valid and still undeliverable. Ask the authority for it.

What the validator checks

UBL — context (/ubl-invoice:Invoice | /ubl-creditnote:CreditNote)[$supplierCountryIsDE and $customerCountryIsDE]

cbc:BuyerReference[boolean(normalize-space(.))]

Related rules

Part of DE-R — XRechnung via Peppol.

Check your own invoice against DE-R-015

…or paste the XML instead

Nothing is stored, and the whole invoice is checked, not just this rule. A PDF only works if it is Factur-X / ZUGFeRD — a PDF with the invoice XML inside it.

This is a Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 rule: an invoice can be perfectly valid EN 16931 and still be rejected by it.