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BR-01: Specification identifier (BT-24) is missing

Official message

[BR-01] An Invoice shall have a Specification identifier (BT-24).

EN 16931 (CII) · Error · Message language: English · Version: xrechnung-3.0.2-validator-configuration-2026-08-31

[BR-01] An Invoice shall have a Specification identifier (BT-24).

EN 16931 (UBL) · Error · Message language: English · Version: xrechnung-3.0.2-validator-configuration-2026-08-31

[BR-01] An Invoice shall have a Specification identifier (BT-24).

Factur-X / ZUGFeRD EN 16931 · Error · Message language: English · Version: Factur-X 1.08 / ZUGFeRD 2.4
Severity
Error The invoice is invalid and may be rejected by the recipient.
Applies to
EN 16931 (CII), EN 16931 (UBL), Factur-X / ZUGFeRD EN 16931
Affected fields
BT-24

What does this mean?

Every invoice must contain a specification identifier (BT-24). It identifies the standard or specification the invoice is based on, e.g. urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017. The element is missing or empty.

Typical causes

The generating system writes the invoice context (ExchangedDocumentContext) without a specification identifier.
The element exists but contains no value or only spaces.

How to fix the error

Enter the identifier of the specification used, e.g. urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017 for EN 16931 or the identifier of XRechnung or of the ZUGFeRD/Factur-X profile.
CII: rsm:ExchangedDocumentContext/ram:GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter/ram:ID, UBL: cbc:CustomizationID.
Generate and validate the invoice again.

In E-Rechnungsfreund

In the invoice form ("Experte" view), section "Profil & Prozesssteuerung (BG-2)" (profile and process control), check the field "Spezifikationskennung (BT-24)" (specification identifier). If it is empty, the identifier of the selected ZUGFeRD profile is used when the XML is generated.

Example

Wrong

<rsm:ExchangedDocumentContext>
  <ram:GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter>
    <ram:ID></ram:ID>
  </ram:GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter>
</rsm:ExchangedDocumentContext>

Correct

<rsm:ExchangedDocumentContext>
  <ram:GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter>
    <ram:ID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017</ram:ID>
  </ram:GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter>
</rsm:ExchangedDocumentContext>
For developers: test expression per syntax

EN 16931 (CII) (CII)

Context: /rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice

normalize-space(rsm:ExchangedDocumentContext/ram:GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter/ram:ID) != ''

EN 16931 (UBL) (UBL)

Context: /ubl:Invoice | /cn:CreditNote

normalize-space(cbc:CustomizationID) != ''

Factur-X / ZUGFeRD EN 16931 (CII)

Technical ID in the source: FX-SCH-A-000010

Context: /rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice

(rsm:ExchangedDocumentContext/ram:GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter/ram:ID != '')

Related validation rules

  • BR-02: Invoice number (BT-1) is missing
  • BR-03: Invoice issue date (BT-2) is missing
  • BR-04: Invoice type code (BT-3) is missing
  • BR-05: Invoice currency code (BT-5) is missing
  • BR-06: Seller name (BT-27) is missing
  • BR-07: Buyer name (BT-44) is missing

Last updated:
Explanation of the validation rule, not legal or tax advice.