DE-R-003:The element "Seller city" (BT-37) shall be provided.
Fix: This requires user input to resolve. Provide the correct value for BT-37. Review the relevant cbc: and cac: elements in your Invoice XML. Provide the required value in the free validator.
Seller city is missing. German invoices must include the seller's city in the address (BT-37).
Engine Classification
Business data required · Explicit input workflow · No assumptions made
Required input: Leitweg-ID
What is DE-R-003?
DE-R-003 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification (DEU national rules). It validates the BuyerReference element in the UBL invoice XML.
When this rule fires, the invoice is rejected by Peppol access points and never reaches the buyer.
Target path: /Invoice/cbc:BuyerReference
Why This Error Matters
Invoice will be rejected by German XRechnung validators. Germany has additional mandatory fields beyond EN16931 baseline, including seller contact details, complete addresses, and buyer reference (Leitweg-ID).
DE-R-003 is a hard failure — the invoice must be corrected and re-sent before it can reach the recipient.
Validator Behavior
- ·Causes invoice rejection
- ·Rejected by XRechnung endpoints
- ·Error returned: DE-R-003
- ·Specification: EN 16931
How to Fix It
Locate the field
Check cbc:BuyerReference at /Invoice/cbc:BuyerReference. The current value does not meet the rule requirements for DE-R-003.
Set the correct value
This requires user input to resolve. Provide the correct value for BT-37. Review the relevant cbc: and cac: elements in your Invoice XML.
Re-validate your invoice
Upload the corrected invoice to confirm DE-R-003 is resolved.
Before / After
<Invoice> <!-- Issue: The element Seller city (BT-37) shall be provided. --> </Invoice>
<Invoice> <!-- Issue resolved per EN 16931 --> </Invoice>
Technical Reference
/Invoice/cbc:BuyerReferenceCommon Causes
- ·German invoice missing seller city
- ·BT-37 Seller city element empty or absent
- ·cbc:CityName in seller address not provided
- ·Seller postal address incomplete for XRechnung
- ·German validation requires full seller address
Seeing this in production? The API handles DE-R-003 automatically. See the fix response →
Frequently Asked Questions
Seller city is missing. German invoices must include the seller's city in the address (BT-37).
This requires user input to resolve. Provide the correct value for BT-37. Review the relevant cbc: and cac: elements in your Invoice XML. You can also use Invoice Navigator's compliance engine to correct this automatically in your pipeline.
Yes, DE-R-003 is a critical error that will cause invoice rejection. It must be fixed before submission.
Many instances of DE-R-003 can be automatically corrected using Invoice Navigator's compliance engine. The fix is applied in your pipeline with full audit evidence.
Related Content
Last updated: 14 April 2026
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