BR-DE-2: Seller contact (BG-6) is missing – e-invoice error explained

StandardXRechnung 3.0.2 (KoSIT, German CIUS of EN 16931)SeverityError: the invoice is rejectedSyntaxUBL, CIIBusiness terms

BG-6 Seller contact

Applies toXRechnung in UBL or CII syntax, including ZUGFeRD / Factur-X PDFs with the XRECHNUNG profile. Invoices to German public authorities (federal, state and municipal) must pass it.

Official rule text

[BR-DE-2] The group "SELLER CONTACT" (BG-6) must be transmitted.

Official text (German): Die Gruppe "SELLER CONTACT" (BG-6) muss übermittelt werden.

Why this error occurs

XRechnung makes the seller contact group mandatory so that the paying authority can reach a person or department about the invoice. The rule checks for cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact (UBL) or ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:DefinedTradeContact (CII). It is usually missing because the ERP has no contact mapped for the own company or because the exporter only writes contact data for the buyer.

How to fix it

In UBL add cac:Contact inside cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party (after cac:PartyLegalEntity) with cbc:Name, cbc:Telephone and cbc:ElectronicMail; XRechnung requires all three (BR-DE-5, BR-DE-6, BR-DE-7). In CII add ram:DefinedTradeContact under ram:SellerTradeParty with ram:PersonName or ram:DepartmentName, ram:TelephoneUniversalCommunication/ram:CompleteNumber and ram:EmailURIUniversalCommunication/ram:URIID. A department such as accounts receivable is fine as contact name.

Example (valid)

<cac:Contact>
  <cbc:Name>Accounts receivable</cbc:Name>
  <cbc:Telephone>+49 30 1234567</cbc:Telephone>
  <cbc:ElectronicMail>invoice@muster-gmbh.de</cbc:ElectronicMail>
</cac:Contact>

What the validator checks

Checked element (context):

UBL

/ubl:Invoice/cac:AccountingSupplierParty | /cn:CreditNote/cac:AccountingSupplierParty

Test (XPath):

cac:Party/cac:Contact

CII

/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeAgreement/ram:SellerTradeParty

Test (XPath):

ram:DefinedTradeContact

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Same check via API:

curl -F file=@invoice.xml https://einvoicechecker.com/v1/validate

Related rules

BR-DE-1 Payment instructions (BG-16) are missing
BR-DE-3 Seller city (BT-37) is missing
BR-DE-4 The element "Seller post code" must be transmitted
BR-DE-5 Seller contact point (BT-41) is missing
BR-DE-6 Seller contact telephone number (BT-42) is missing
BR-DE-7 Seller contact email address (BT-43) is missing
BR-DE-8 The element "Buyer city" must be transmitted
BR-DE-9 The element "Buyer post code" must be transmitted

Frequently asked questions

What does BR-DE-2 mean?

BR-DE-2 is a xrechnung rule: The group "SELLER CONTACT" (BG-6) must be transmitted.

Will my invoice be rejected because of BR-DE-2?

Yes. BR-DE-2 is flagged "fatal"; validators (KoSIT, Peppol access points, the German ZRE/OZG-RE portals) reject the invoice until it is fixed.

Which formats does BR-DE-2 apply to?

XRechnung in UBL or CII syntax, including ZUGFeRD / Factur-X PDFs with the XRECHNUNG profile. Invoices to German public authorities (federal, state and municipal) must pass it. Syntax: UBL and CII.

Source: XRechnung 3.0.2, schematron 2.6.0 (KoSIT, September 2026). Catalogue generated from the official schematron on 2026-10-14.