BR-DE-13Error — invoice will be rejectedxrechnung

XRechnung BR-DE-13 (legacy): delivery date or invoice period

Note: BR-DE-13 is no longer part of the current XRechnung 3.x rule set — modern validators do not emit this code. Historically it covered the recommendation to provide either the actual delivery date (BT-72) or an invoice period (BG-14). That information is still good practice but is now checked through the EN 16931 core rather than a dedicated BR-DE rule.

Last updated: 2026-06-01

Affected field

cac:Delivery/cbc:ActualDeliveryDate (BT-72) or cac:InvoicePeriod/cbc:StartDate + EndDate (BG-14)

Cause

The invoicing system does not export a delivery date (common for service invoices) and no invoice period is set.

Fix

Add either the delivery date (for goods) or the invoice period start/end dates (for services or ongoing deliveries).

Incorrect example
<!-- No Delivery and no InvoicePeriod element present -->
Correct example
<!-- Option 1: Delivery date -->
<cac:Delivery>
  <cbc:ActualDeliveryDate>2026-05-15</cbc:ActualDeliveryDate>
</cac:Delivery>

<!-- Option 2: Invoice period -->
<cac:InvoicePeriod>
  <cbc:StartDate>2026-05-01</cbc:StartDate>
  <cbc:EndDate>2026-05-31</cbc:EndDate>
</cac:InvoicePeriod>

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Frequently asked questions

What about service invoices?▼

For services there is usually no physical delivery date. Use the invoice period (InvoicePeriod) with start and end dates instead.

Can I use the invoice date as the delivery date?▼

Technically yes, but it is not semantically correct. Use the actual date the service was performed or goods were delivered.

Related error codes