EN16931 business rules reference
EN16931 defines the semantic model of a European electronic invoice as a set of business rules. Each rule has an identifier, such as BR-01 or BR-CO-15, and points to a business term, such as BT-24. This page lists the rules this validator checks, grouped by what they enforce.
Two kinds of rules matter most in practice. Mandatory field rules (the BR series) require that certain data is present. Arithmetic consistency rules (the BR-CO series) require that the amounts add up: line totals, VAT amounts and the payable amount all have to agree. A national profile rule, such as the German buyer reference, adds a country requirement on top of the common core.
Mandatory field rules
| Rule | Business term | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| BR-01 | BT-24 | An Invoice shall have a Specification identifier (BT-24). |
| BR-02 | BT-1 | An Invoice shall have an Invoice number (BT-1). |
| BR-03 | BT-2 | An Invoice shall have an Invoice issue date (BT-2). |
| BR-04 | BT-3 | An Invoice shall have an Invoice type code (BT-3). |
| BR-05 | BT-5 | An Invoice shall have an Invoice currency code (BT-5). |
| BR-06 | BT-27 | An Invoice shall contain the Seller name (BT-27). |
| BR-07 | BT-44 | An Invoice shall contain the Buyer name (BT-44). |
| BR-08 | BG-5 | An Invoice shall contain the Seller postal address (BG-5). |
| BR-09 | BT-40 | The Seller postal address shall contain a Seller country code (BT-40). |
| BR-10 | BG-8 | An Invoice shall contain the Buyer postal address (BG-8). |
| BR-11 | BT-55 | The Buyer postal address shall contain a Buyer country code (BT-55). |
| BR-12 | BT-106 | An Invoice shall have the Sum of Invoice line net amount (BT-106). |
| BR-13 | BT-109 | An Invoice shall have the Invoice total amount without VAT (BT-109). |
| BR-14 | BT-112 | An Invoice shall have the Invoice total amount with VAT (BT-112). |
| BR-15 | BT-115 | An Invoice shall have the Amount due for payment (BT-115). |
| BR-16 | BG-25 | An Invoice shall have at least one Invoice line (BG-25). |
| BR-21 | BT-126 | Each Invoice line shall have an Invoice line identifier (BT-126). |
| BR-22 | BT-129 | Each Invoice line shall have an Invoiced quantity (BT-129). |
| BR-23 | BT-130 | Each Invoice line shall have a quantity unit of measure code (BT-130). |
| BR-24 | BT-131 | Each Invoice line shall have an Invoice line net amount (BT-131). |
| BR-25 | BT-153 | Each Invoice line shall have the Item name (BT-153). |
| BR-26 | BT-146 | Each Invoice line shall have an Item net price (BT-146). |
| BR-27 | BT-146 | The Item net price (BT-146) shall not be negative. |
| BR-CO-18 | BG-23 | An Invoice shall have at least one VAT breakdown (BG-23). |
| BR-45 | BT-116 | Each VAT breakdown shall have a VAT category taxable amount (BT-116). |
| BR-46 | BT-117 | Each VAT breakdown shall have a VAT category tax amount (BT-117). |
| BR-47 | BT-118 | Each VAT breakdown shall be defined through a VAT category code (BT-118). |
| BR-48 | BT-119 | Each VAT breakdown shall have a VAT category rate (BT-119), except category O. |
| BR-S-01 | BT-31 | A Standard rated Invoice shall contain the Seller VAT identifier (BT-31). |
| BR-S-05 | BT-119 | In a Standard rated VAT breakdown the VAT rate shall be greater than zero. |
| BR-Z-01 | BT-31 | A Zero rated Invoice shall contain the Seller VAT identifier (BT-31). |
| BR-Z-05 | BT-119 | In a Zero rated VAT breakdown the VAT rate shall be zero. |
| BR-E-01 | BT-31 | An Exempt Invoice shall contain the Seller VAT identifier (BT-31). |
| BR-E-05 | BT-119 | In an Exempt VAT breakdown the VAT rate shall be zero. |
Arithmetic consistency rules
| Rule | Business term | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| BR-CO-10 | BT-106 | Sum of Invoice line net amount (BT-106) equals the sum of line net amounts. |
| BR-CO-13 | BT-109 | Invoice total without VAT (BT-109) equals line total minus allowances plus charges. |
| BR-CO-14 | BT-110 | Invoice total VAT amount (BT-110) equals the sum of VAT breakdown tax amounts. |
| BR-CO-15 | BT-112 | Invoice total with VAT (BT-112) equals total without VAT plus total VAT. |
| BR-CO-16 | BT-115 | Amount due (BT-115) equals total with VAT minus prepaid plus rounding. |
| BR-CO-17 | BT-117 | VAT category tax amount (BT-117) equals taxable amount times rate. |
National profile rules
| Rule | Business term | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| BR-DE-15 | BT-10 | The Buyer reference (BT-10) shall be present (Leitweg-ID for German B2G). |
This reference covers the rules the tool evaluates. It is a high-value subset, not the complete EN16931 rule set, and it targets the failures that actually block a submission. National profiles such as XRechnung or Factur-X can add further requirements.
What is the difference between a BR and a BR-CO rule?
A BR rule usually requires that a field is present. A BR-CO rule checks that amounts are consistent with each other, for example that the invoice total with VAT equals the total without VAT plus the total VAT.
What does a business term (BT) number mean?
Each piece of information in an EN16931 invoice has a business term identifier, such as BT-24 for the specification identifier. Rules reference these terms so the requirement is unambiguous.
Is this the complete rule set?
No. It is the high-value subset the tool checks, covering the mandatory fields and arithmetic that most commonly block an invoice. The full standard contains more conditional rules.
What is BR-DE-15?
It is a German profile rule requiring the buyer reference (BT-10), which carries the Leitweg-ID for invoices to German public bodies. It becomes a scored mandatory rule for XRechnung.
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