BR-DE-7: Seller contact email address (BT-43) is missing

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

BT-43 Seller contact email address

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-7] The element "Seller contact email address" (BT-43) must be transmitted.

Official text (German): Das Element "Seller contact email address" (BT-43) muss übermittelt werden.

Why this error occurs

XRechnung requires an e-mail address in the seller contact: cbc:ElectronicMail in cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact (UBL) or ram:EmailURIUniversalCommunication/ram:URIID in ram:DefinedTradeContact (CII). Authorities send rejection notices and queries to this address. It is typically missing when the exporter writes the e-mail only into the seller's electronic address (cbc:EndpointID) or not at all.

How to fix it

Add cbc:ElectronicMail (UBL) or ram:EmailURIUniversalCommunication/ram:URIID (CII) with a monitored mailbox, e.g. invoice@muster-gmbh.de. Write a single plain address without display name or mailto: prefix, and make sure it meets the format check of BR-DE-28 (exactly one @, no leading or trailing dot). The endpoint ID (BT-34) does not replace this field.

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:ElectronicMail[boolean(normalize-space(.))]

CII

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

Test (XPath):

ram:EmailURIUniversalCommunication/ram:URIID[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-28 Seller contact email address has an invalid format
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-6 Seller contact telephone number (BT-42) is missing
BR-DE-8 The element "Buyer city" must be transmitted

Frequently asked questions

What does BR-DE-7 mean?

BR-DE-7 is a xrechnung rule: The element "Seller contact email address" (BT-43) must be transmitted.

Will my invoice be rejected because of BR-DE-7?

Yes. BR-DE-7 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-7 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.