Skip to content

BR-03: Invoice issue date (BT-2) is missing

Official message

[BR-03] An Invoice shall have an Invoice issue date (BT-2).

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

[BR-03] An Invoice shall have an Invoice issue date (BT-2).

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

[BR-03] An Invoice shall have an Invoice issue date (BT-2).

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-2

What does this mean?

Every invoice must have an invoice issue date (BT-2). The date is missing or empty; in CII it must be given in format 102 (YYYYMMDD).

Typical causes

The invoice issue date was not set.
CII: The date is given without the attribute format="102" or in another format in the element udt:DateTimeString.

How to fix the error

Enter the invoice issue date.
CII: rsm:ExchangedDocument/ram:IssueDateTime/udt:DateTimeString with format="102" and the date as YYYYMMDD, e.g. 20260315. UBL: cbc:IssueDate in format YYYY-MM-DD.
Generate and validate the invoice again.

In E-Rechnungsfreund

In the invoice form, section "Rechnungsdetails" (invoice details), fill in the field "Ausstellungsdatum (BT-2)" (issue date).

Example

Wrong

<ram:IssueDateTime>
  <udt:DateTimeString format="610">202603</udt:DateTimeString>
</ram:IssueDateTime>

Correct

<ram:IssueDateTime>
  <udt:DateTimeString format="102">20260315</udt:DateTimeString>
</ram:IssueDateTime>
For developers: test expression per syntax

EN 16931 (CII) (CII)

Context: /rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice

normalize-space(rsm:ExchangedDocument/ram:IssueDateTime/udt:DateTimeString[@format='102']) != ''

EN 16931 (UBL) (UBL)

Context: /ubl:Invoice | /cn:CreditNote

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

Factur-X / ZUGFeRD EN 16931 (CII)

Technical ID in the source: FX-SCH-A-000012

Context: /rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice

(rsm:ExchangedDocument/ram:IssueDateTime/udt:DateTimeString[@format='102']!='')

Related validation rules

  • BR-01: Specification identifier (BT-24) is missing
  • BR-02: Invoice number (BT-1) 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.