errorDEUXRechnung (Germany)

BR-DE-18:Invalid Skonto (Cash Discount) Format

XRechnung Skonto (early payment discount) lines in PaymentTerms must follow the required format: #SKONTO#TAGE=n#PROZENT=n.nn#BASISBETRAG=n.nn#

Severity
Fatal
Rule set
XRechnung (Germany)
Country
DEU
Fix type
AUTO-FIX
Confidence
80%
Category
structural

Engine Classification

Ensure seller contact email is present for XRechnung compliance

Confidence: 80% · Applied automatically in pipeline

What is BR-DE-18?

BR-DE-18 is a fatal validation rule defined in the XRechnung (Germany) specification (DEU national rules). It validates the ElectronicMail element under Party > Contact 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:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact/cbc:ElectronicMail

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Why This Error Matters

Invoice rejected. German payment discount terms must follow the exact format specification.

BR-DE-18 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
  • ·Rejected by XRechnung endpoints
  • ·Error returned: BR-DE-18
  • ·Specification: XRechnung (Germany)

How to Fix It

1.

Identify Skonto line

Find #SKONTO# in PaymentTerms/Note

2.

Correct format

Use #SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00#BASISBETRAG=100.00#

Before / After

Failing XML
<Invoice>
  <!-- Issue: XRechnung Skonto lines must match the required regex pattern -->
</Invoice>
Corrected XML
<Invoice>
  <!-- Issue resolved per XRechnung (Germany) -->
</Invoice>

Technical Reference

XPath//cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact/cbc:ElectronicMail
SpecXRechnung (Germany)
Operationset_default
StrategyEnsure seller contact email is present for XRechnung compliance

Common Causes

  • ·Skonto (cash discount) format invalid
  • ·PaymentTerms/Note does not match required regex
  • ·German early payment discount incorrectly formatted
  • ·Skonto line missing required #TAGE#PROZENT# format
  • ·Cash discount terms not in XRechnung specification

Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-DE-18 automatically. See the fix response →

Frequently Asked Questions

XRechnung requires Skonto (cash discount) lines to follow a specific format: #SKONTO#TAGE=days#PROZENT=percentage#BASISBETRAG=amount# (BASISBETRAG is optional).

Reformat the Skonto line in PaymentTerms/Note to: #SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00# (for 2% discount within 14 days).

Skonto is the German term for early payment discount. It specifies the discount percentage and number of days within which payment must be made to receive the discount.

Yes, Invoice Navigator can automatically reformat invalid Skonto lines to the correct pattern.

Related Errors

BR-DE-17

Invalid XRechnung Invoice Type Code

Last updated: 27 February 2026

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Handle BR-DE-18 Automatically in Your Pipeline

The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.

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