XRechnung & ZUGFeRD Validator (Germany, EN 16931)

About the XRechnung & ZUGFeRD Validator (Germany, EN 16931)

Drop an XRechnung (UBL or CII) or a ZUGFeRD / Factur-X PDF and see at once whether it keeps the rules: the XML syntax, the structure of the EN 16931 schemas, the EN 16931 business rules (required fields, totals per VAT rate, VAT categories) and, for XRechnung, the German rules BR-DE and the Peppol rules XRechnung adopted. Each finding is explained in plain German or English with its rule, its business term (for example BT-10 Käuferreferenz) and its line in the XML, and one click marks the field in the readable invoice.

These are basic checks, not a legal validation. Nothing is uploaded: the file is read in your browser, so it may contain real customer and bank details.

Common uses

• Checking an XRechnung before uploading it to a public portal, so a rejection does not delay payment.
• Reading a received XRechnung, which has no PDF: the readable view and a PDF to print or file.
• Finding out why a customer’s system rejected an invoice: the rule ID and the field, in plain words.
• Software developers testing the XML their system writes, with the XML line of every finding.

What is checked — and what is not

• XML syntax: well-formed, namespaces, character encoding. ZUGFeRD 1.0 and other documents are recognised and named.
• Structure: element names, order and count against the EN 16931 part of the CII D16B (Factur-X) and UBL 2.1 schemas. The tables are derived from the published schemas; this is not a complete XSD validation.
• EN 16931 business rules in MySmartCoPilot’s own implementation of the published rule descriptions: required business terms (BR-01 to BR-65), the totals (BR-CO-10 to BR-CO-17), the VAT categories (BR-S, BR-Z, BR-E, BR-AE, BR-IC, BR-G, BR-O), decimals (BR-DEC) and code lists (BR-CL).
• XRechnung 3.0: the national rules BR-DE-1 to BR-DE-31 and the Peppol rules XRechnung adopted, written after KoSIT’s XRechnung Schematron (Apache License 2.0, github.com/itplr-kosit/xrechnung-schematron) and tested against KoSIT’s published test files.
• ZUGFeRD / Factur-X PDFs: the embedded invoice file (factur-x.xml, xrechnung.xml or zugferd-invoice.xml), its AFRelationship and MIME type, and the XMP declarations (PDF/A-3, a Factur-X conformance level that matches the XML’s profile). The PDF itself is not validated as PDF/A.

Not checked: the official CEN validation artefacts (published under the EUPL), the rules of the XRechnung extension (BR-DEX), the CVD rules, and whether a VAT number, IBAN or Leitweg-ID has actually been issued — those are checked for their form and check digits only.

Errors, warnings and notes

• Fehler / error: a rule is broken. An official validator would reject the file for the same reason, and public portals refuse it.
• Warnung / warning: probably wrong, or a rule receivers handle differently — for example a Leitweg-ID or an IBAN whose check digits do not match, a missing specification identifier of XRechnung, or a VAT amount that misses the rate times the taxable amount by a few cents. The last one is only a warning because the rule itself tolerates a difference below one unit of the currency: software that rounds the VAT per line lands there, and an official validator reports nothing.
• Hinweis / note: worth knowing, not wrong — for example an invoice date in the future, a VAT amount one cent off the rounded rate (rounding per line), or elements that EN 16931 does not use.

Every finding keeps the rule identifier of the standard (BR-…, BR-DE-…, PEPPOL-EN16931-R…), so the sender’s software provider can look it up. Findings that start with MSC- are MySmartCoPilot’s own checks.

Common errors and how to fix them

• BR-DE-15 — the buyer reference (BT-10) is missing. Public buyers give their Leitweg-ID for it; business customers often give their order number.
• BR-DE-2, BR-DE-5 to BR-DE-7 — XRechnung needs the seller’s contact (BG-6) with name, phone and e-mail.
• BR-CO-10 to BR-CO-16 — the totals do not add up: usually a discount or charge left out of a sum, or amounts rounded differently.
• BR-S-08, BR-AE-08 and similar — the VAT breakdown does not match the lines: each VAT category and rate needs its own breakdown with the sum of its lines, discounts and charges.
• PEPPOL-EN16931-R008 — an empty element: leave out elements without a value instead of writing them empty.
• BR-DE-21 — the file names another specification than XRechnung 3.0; ask the sender which version their software writes.

Kurz auf Deutsch

Ziehen Sie eine XRechnung (XML in UBL- oder CII-Syntax) oder ein ZUGFeRD-/Factur-X-PDF in das Feld. Die Datei wird im Browser gelesen und nicht hochgeladen. Geprüft werden die XML-Syntax, die Struktur, die Geschäftsregeln von EN 16931 und für XRechnung die Regeln BR-DE; jeder Fehler wird verständlich erklärt und lässt sich in der lesbaren Rechnung anzeigen. Bericht und lesbares PDF lassen sich herunterladen. Es handelt sich um eine Basisprüfung, keine rechtliche Validierung. Eine korrekte E-Rechnung erstellen Sie mit dem XRechnung-Generator.

Validation and viewing, officially

The BMF recommends validating e-invoices when they are created and sent, but names no validator, “for reasons of equal treatment of all market participants” — a validation is not itself a condition for input VAT deduction. To read an e-invoice, the tax administration offers a viewer at e-rechnung.elster.de. Source: the BMF’s questions and answers on e-invoicing (questions 7 and 12a). KoSIT publishes its validator, the XRechnung configuration and test suite as open source at xeinkauf.de.

Limitations

• Basic checks, not a legal validation: MySmartCoPilot’s own implementation of the EN 16931 rules (not the official CEN artefacts) plus the XRechnung rules after KoSIT. A receiver’s validator may judge a file differently; it has the final word.
• Only EN 16931 documents: XRechnung, ZUGFeRD 2.x / Factur-X (all profiles are read; MINIMUM and BASIC WL are reported as not being e-invoices) and Peppol BIS Billing 3.0. ZUGFeRD 1.0 and other formats are recognised but not checked.
• The structure check covers the EN 16931 elements of the schemas, not every detail of a complete XSD validation; the PDF is not validated as PDF/A.
• XRechnung 3.0 rules. Files of older XRechnung versions are checked against the current rules.
• Large files (over 40 MB) are not read.

Privacy

The file is read in your browser and is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot. Only your choice of interface language is kept in this browser.