BR-DE-2
Buyer Reference Missing (BT-10)
What This Error Means
A buyer reference (Leitweg-ID) is required in BT-10 for all invoices sent to German public sector entities. This is the routing identifier used by the ZRE/OZG-RE portals to route the invoice to the correct administrative unit. Without it, the invoice cannot be delivered.
Why this happens
BR-DE-2 fires when the BuyerReference element (BT-10) is missing or empty. For invoices to German public sector buyers, this field carries the Leitweg-ID, the routing identifier that the ZRE/OZG-RE platforms use to deliver the invoice to the correct administrative unit. The error typically occurs because the seller never received or never entered the Leitweg-ID, because the field was left at a placeholder value, or because the invoice was generated from a B2B template where BuyerReference is not normally populated.
How to Fix It
Add the Leitweg-ID to cbc:BuyerReference. Format: 04011000-1234512345-06. Contact the buyer for their assigned Leitweg-ID. For federal entities, the Leitweg-ID is published in the procurement notice.
Step-by-step
1) Obtain the Leitweg-ID from the contracting authority — it is communicated in the order, contract or procurement notice and cannot be invented. 2) Enter it unchanged into cbc:BuyerReference, directly under the Invoice root. 3) Do not truncate, reformat, or pad it; the three hyphen-separated segments and the two-digit check digit must be preserved. 4) Re-validate. If the platform now reports BR-DE-15 instead of BR-DE-2, the field is present but the format/check digit is wrong — re-check the value against the authority's documentation. 5) For pure B2B invoices, BR-DE-2 does not apply; ensure you are generating the correct profile for the recipient.
<cbc:BuyerReference>04011000-1234512345-06</cbc:BuyerReference>
Fix Automatically
Upload your invoice to our Smart Repair engine. It will detect and fix BR-DE-2 errors automatically with a GoBD audit trail.
Open Smart RepairFrequently asked questions
Where do I get the Leitweg-ID?
From the public authority you are invoicing. It is provided in the order, contract or procurement notice. You cannot generate it yourself, and it is unique per receiving unit.
Does BR-DE-2 apply to B2B invoices?
The mandatory Leitweg-ID requirement is a B2G specificity. In pure B2B, BT-10 is optional and often used as an order or cost-centre reference, so BR-DE-2 in its B2G sense does not block the invoice.
What is the difference between BR-DE-2 and BR-DE-15?
BR-DE-2 means the buyer reference is missing entirely; BR-DE-15 means it is present but has an invalid Leitweg-ID format (e.g. wrong check digit). Fixing BR-DE-2 by entering a malformed ID can turn it into BR-DE-15.
Related Errors
Other commonly encountered validation errors