BR-DE-26:A credit note or corrective invoice must reference the original invoice it...
A credit note or corrective invoice must reference the original invoice it is correcting. The preceding invoice reference field is required when the invoice type indicates a correction. This creates the audit trail needed for proper accounting.
Engine Classification
Business data required · Explicit input workflow · No assumptions made
Required input: Preceding Invoice Reference
What is BR-DE-26?
BR-DE-26 is a fatal validation rule defined in the XRechnung (Germany) specification (DEU national rules). It checks whether a credit note or corrective invoice must reference the original invoice it....
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.
Why This Error Matters
Invoice will be rejected by XRechnung validation. German public sector requires proper audit trails linking corrections to original invoices for compliance and accounting purposes.
BR-DE-26 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
- ·Rejected by XRechnung endpoints
- ·Error returned: BR-DE-26
- ·Specification: XRechnung (Germany)
Before / After
<Invoice> <cac:BillingReference>INVALID_CODE</cac:BillingReference> </Invoice>
<Invoice> <cac:BillingReference>VALID_CODE</cac:BillingReference> </Invoice>
Technical Reference
Common Causes
- ·Credit note created without linking to original invoice
- ·ERP system does not auto-populate reference when creating corrections
- ·Original invoice number unknown or lost
- ·Manual correction process bypasses reference requirement
- ·Invoice type code changed but reference not added
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-DE-26 automatically. See the fix response →
Related Errors
Last updated: 27 February 2026
Handle BR-DE-26 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.