BR-FR-05:Legal form (forme juridique) missing
French invoices should include the legal form of the company (SAS, SARL, SA, EURL, etc.) in the seller information.
Engine Classification
Business data required · Explicit input workflow · No assumptions made
Required input: Legal Form (Forme Juridique)
What is BR-FR-05?
BR-FR-05 is a fatal validation rule defined in the factur-x specification (FRA national rules). It validates the CompanyID element under Party > 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:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:PartyLegalEntity/cbc:CompanyID
Why This Error Matters
SIRET is required for French legal entity identification.
BR-FR-05 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 Chorus Pro
- ·Error returned: BR-FR-05
- ·Specification: factur-x
How to Fix It
XML Example
Generic example based on the rule's target XPath. Your actual XML structure may differ.
<!-- Missing or empty element triggers cbc:CompanyID error --> <cbc:CompanyID></cbc:CompanyID>
<!-- Provide the required value --> <cbc:CompanyID>VALID_VALUE</cbc:CompanyID>
Technical Reference
XPath: /Invoice/cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:PartyLegalEntity/cbc:CompanyIDCode Example
<cac:PartyLegalEntity><cbc:CompanyLegalForm>SAS</cbc:CompanyLegalForm></cac:PartyLegalEntity>Common Causes
- ·Company setup incomplete
- ·Legal form not entered in software settings
- ·Using abbreviated company name without form
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-FR-05 automatically. See the fix response →
Commonly Seen In
Frequently Asked Questions
French invoices should include the legal form of the company (SAS, SARL, SA, EURL, etc.) in the seller information.
Add the legal form to the company information. You can also use Invoice Navigator's automatic Fixer tool to correct this instantly.
Yes, BR-FR-05 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-FR-05 can be automatically corrected using Invoice Navigator's Fixer tool. Upload your invoice and the tool will identify and fix common issues, including legal form (forme juridique) missing.
BR-FR-05 is commonly seen in exports from French accounting software. These software packages sometimes generate invoices that need adjustment to meet full compliance standards.
See Also
Related Errors
Last updated: 18 January 2026
Handle BR-FR-05 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.