BR-38 — E-Invoice Validation Rule & Fix

Fixture ID: chargeEmpty · XPath: /ubl:Invoice/cac:AllowanceCharge[1]/cbc:AllowanceChargeReason

1. Why This Rule Triggers (Diagnostic Message)

The document level charge at charges[0] states neither a reason (BT-104) nor a reason code (BT-105); both are empty. Every BG-21 group must carry at least one of them, because an unexplained addition to an invoice total is the single most disputed thing on a commercial document — the buyer's accounts-payable clerk has to decide whether to approve it, and "+missing" on its own gives them nothing to decide on.

2. How to Fix BR-38

Set charges[0].reason to a short description in the invoice language, or charges[0].reasonCode to a UNCL 7161 code, or both. Under XRechnung, prefer the free text: the mandated visualisation renders the code verbatim, so a buyer looking at the rendered invoice sees the bare code and not what it means.

3. Valid Code / Payload Example

"charges": [{ "amount": 25.00, "vatCategory": "S", "vatRate": 19, "reason": "Freight service", "reasonCode": "FC" }]