BR-28:The Item gross price (BT-148) shall NOT be negative.
The Item gross price (BT-148) shall NOT be negative.. Review the `cbc:BaseQuantity` element.
Engine Classification
Business data required · Explicit input workflow · No assumptions made
Required input: Buyer company name
What is BR-28?
BR-28 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification. It validates the RegistrationName element under PartyName > Name or cac:PartyLegalEntity in the UBL invoice XML.
When this rule fires, the invoice is non-compliant and will be rejected by Peppol access points and national validation services. The sending system receives a rejection response and the invoice does not reach the buyer.
Target path: XPath: /Invoice/cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party/cac:PartyName/cbc:Name or cac:PartyLegalEntity/cbc:RegistrationName
Why This Error Matters
Invoice rejected. Negative gross prices are mathematically invalid.
BR-28 is a hard failure. Invoices that trigger this rule are rejected at the access point and never reach the recipient. In Peppol networks, this means your sending system receives an MLR (Message Level Response) with a rejection status. The invoice must be corrected and re-sent, adding delay to your payment cycle.
Validator Behavior
- ·Causes invoice rejection
- ·Error returned: BR-28
- ·Specification: EN 16931
How to Fix It
Add trading name
In PartyName/Name
Or legal name
In PartyLegalEntity/RegistrationName
Match records
Should match buyer master data
Before / After
<cac:Price> <cbc:BaseQuantity>-100.00</cbc:BaseQuantity> </cac:Price>
<cac:Price> <cbc:BaseQuantity>100.00</cbc:BaseQuantity> </cac:Price>
Technical Reference
XPath: /Invoice/cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party/cac:PartyName/cbc:Name or cac:PartyLegalEntity/cbc:RegistrationNameCode Example
<cac:AccountingCustomerParty>
<cac:Party>
<cac:PartyName>
<cbc:Name>Customer Corp</cbc:Name>
</cac:PartyName>
</cac:Party>
</cac:AccountingCustomerParty>Common Causes
- ·Negative gross price entered in source system
- ·Calculation error when applying surcharges
- ·Base amount for allowance set incorrectly
- ·Data corruption during system migration
- ·Manual price override with wrong sign
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-28 automatically. See the fix response →
Commonly Seen In
Frequently Asked Questions
The buyer must have either a trading name or legal registration name.
Add buyer PartyName or PartyLegalEntity/RegistrationName. You can also use Invoice Navigator's automatic Fixer tool to correct this instantly.
Yes, BR-28 is a critical error that will cause invoice rejection. It must be fixed before submission to ensure your invoice is accepted by the recipient's system.
Many instances of BR-28 can be automatically corrected using Invoice Navigator's Fixer tool. Upload your invoice and the tool will identify and fix common issues, including buyer trading name or legal name required.
BR-28 is commonly seen in exports from All invoicing software. These software packages sometimes generate invoices that need adjustment to meet full compliance standards.
See Also
Related Errors
Last updated: 27 February 2026
Handle BR-28 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.