BR-CO-19:Invoice period must have at least one date
If Invoicing period (BG-14) is used, the Invoicing period start date (BT-73) or the Invoicing period end date (BT-74) shall be filled, or both.
Engine Classification
Remove empty invoice period elements that lack both start and end dates
Confidence: 85% · Applied automatically in pipeline
What is BR-CO-19?
BR-CO-19 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification. It validates the InvoicePeriod element 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: //cac:InvoicePeriod[not(cbc:StartDate) and not(cbc:EndDate)]
Why This Error Matters
An empty invoice period element serves no purpose and violates the EN16931 specification. If you include an invoice period, it must specify at least one date to indicate the billing period covered.
BR-CO-19 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.
Invoice Navigator can automatically correct this error in your pipeline. The fix is applied with full audit evidence, so your compliance trail remains intact.
Validator Behavior
- ·Causes invoice rejection
- ·Error returned: BR-CO-19
- ·Specification: EN 16931
How to Fix It
Before / After
<cac:InvoicePeriod>\n <!-- Empty - no dates -->\n</cac:InvoicePeriod>
<cac:InvoicePeriod>\n <cbc:StartDate>2026-01-01</cbc:StartDate>\n <cbc:EndDate>2026-01-31</cbc:EndDate>\n</cac:InvoicePeriod>
Technical Reference
//cac:InvoicePeriod[not(cbc:StartDate) and not(cbc:EndDate)]Code Example
<!-- Option 1: Add dates -->\n<cac:InvoicePeriod>\n <cbc:StartDate>2026-01-01</cbc:StartDate>\n <cbc:EndDate>2026-01-31</cbc:EndDate>\n</cac:InvoicePeriod>\n\n<!-- Option 2: Remove empty element entirely -->Common Causes
- ·Template includes empty InvoicePeriod by default
- ·Export process creates structure without populating dates
- ·Copy-paste from another invoice forgot to update dates
- ·Conditional logic error in invoice generation
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-CO-19 automatically. See the fix response →
Frequently Asked Questions
BR-CO-19 occurs when an InvoicePeriod element exists in the invoice but contains no StartDate (BT-73) or EndDate (BT-74). The period element must have at least one date.
Either add dates to the invoice period (StartDate and/or EndDate), or remove the empty InvoicePeriod element entirely. Invoice Navigator can fix this automatically.
Yes, BR-CO-19 is a business rule violation that will cause invoice rejection. An invoice period must have at least one date to be valid.
Yes! Invoice Navigator automatically removes empty InvoicePeriod elements when no dates are present. This is a safe structural fix with no data loss.
See Also
Related Errors
Last updated: 27 February 2026
Handle BR-CO-19 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.