BR-DE-6: Seller contact telephone number (BT-42) is missing

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

BT-42 Seller contact telephone number

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-6] The element "Seller contact telephone number" (BT-42) must be transmitted.

Official text (German): Das Element "Seller contact telephone number" (BT-42) muss übermittelt werden.

Why this error occurs

XRechnung requires a telephone number in the seller contact: cbc:Telephone in cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact (UBL) or ram:TelephoneUniversalCommunication/ram:CompleteNumber in ram:DefinedTradeContact (CII). It gives the paying authority a direct channel for invoice questions. The element is usually missing because the company master data has no phone number mapped to the invoice export.

How to fix it

Add cbc:Telephone (UBL) or ram:TelephoneUniversalCommunication/ram:CompleteNumber (CII) with the number of the contact person or department, preferably in international format such as +49 30 1234567. The number must contain at least three digits (BR-DE-27). Do not put a fax number or a URL here.

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/cac:Party/cac:Contact | /cn:CreditNote/cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact

Test (XPath):

cbc:Telephone[boolean(normalize-space(.))]

CII

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

Test (XPath):

ram:TelephoneUniversalCommunication/ram:CompleteNumber[boolean(normalize-space(.))]

Check your invoice

Drop your XML or PDF on the validator and every failed rule is linked to its page here. Free, no account, the file is not stored.

Check your invoice →

Same check via API:

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

Related rules

BR-DE-27 Seller contact telephone number has fewer than three digits
BR-DE-1 Payment instructions (BG-16) are missing
BR-DE-2 Seller contact (BG-6) is 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-7 Seller contact email address (BT-43) is missing
BR-DE-8 The element "Buyer city" must be transmitted

Frequently asked questions

What does BR-DE-6 mean?

BR-DE-6 is a xrechnung rule: The element "Seller contact telephone number" (BT-42) must be transmitted.

Will my invoice be rejected because of BR-DE-6?

Yes. BR-DE-6 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-6 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.