BR-43:Allowance/charge reason required
Each Invoice line charge (BG-28) shall have an Invoice line charge amount (BT-141).. Check the `cac:AllowanceCharge` element in your invoice XML.
Engine Classification
Financial or legal field · Modification blocked by policy
Reason: Allowance/charge reasons affect accounting treatment and tax reporting. The reason must accurately reflect the business purpose.
What is BR-43?
BR-43 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification. It validates the AllowanceChargeReason element under AllowanceCharge 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: //cac:AllowanceCharge/cbc:AllowanceChargeReason
Why This Error Matters
Invoice rejected. Cannot calculate line total without knowing charge amount.
BR-43 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-43
- ·Specification: EN 16931
How to Fix It
Add reason code
UNCL5189 for allowances, UNCL7161 for charges
Add reason text
Clear description of discount/charge
Common codes
95=discount, 100=special agreement, 64=delivery charge
Before / After
<cac:InvoiceLine> <!-- cac:AllowanceCharge is missing --> </cac:InvoiceLine>
<cac:InvoiceLine> <cac:AllowanceCharge>valid-value</cac:AllowanceCharge> </cac:InvoiceLine>
Technical Reference
XPath: //cac:AllowanceCharge/cbc:AllowanceChargeReasonCode Example
<cac:AllowanceCharge>
<cbc:ChargeIndicator>false</cbc:ChargeIndicator>
<cbc:AllowanceChargeReasonCode>95</cbc:AllowanceChargeReasonCode>
<cbc:AllowanceChargeReason>Volume discount</cbc:AllowanceChargeReason>
<cbc:Amount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:Amount>
</cac:AllowanceCharge>Common Causes
- ·Line charge added without amount value
- ·AllowanceCharge/Amount not mapped for line charges
- ·Percentage line surcharge without base amount
- ·Line charge template missing amount mapping
- ·Null amount for line-level surcharge
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-43 automatically. See the fix response →
Commonly Seen In
Frequently Asked Questions
Document and line allowances/charges must include a reason.
Add reason text and code to allowances/charges. You can also use Invoice Navigator's automatic Fixer tool to correct this instantly.
Yes, BR-43 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-43 can be automatically corrected using Invoice Navigator's Fixer tool. Upload your invoice and the tool will identify and fix common issues, including allowance/charge reason required.
BR-43 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-43 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.