Is seller contact information really mandatory for XRechnung?

Yes. The German CIUS (DE-R-002) makes BG-6 mandatory even though it is optional in base EN 16931. All three subfields — name, telephone, email — must be present and non-empty.

Can I use a shared mailbox instead of a person's name?

Yes. A role or team name (e.g. Debitorenbuchhaltung or AR Team) is acceptable in cbc:Name. The intent is a reachable contact route, not a specific individual.

What phone number format does DE-R-002 expect?

The rule only checks that cbc:Telephone is non-empty. Formatting is not validated, but Kosit recommends E.164 (+49 30 1234567). Extensions and international codes are both accepted.

Does this rule apply to Peppol invoices sent to German buyers?

Yes. When routing to a German public buyer over Peppol, the Access Point applies XRechnung CIUS rules including DE-R-002. B2B Peppol invoices to non-DE buyers are not affected.

Can Invoice Navigator auto-fix DE-R-002?

No — this rule requires input. Invoice Navigator flags the missing fields and, if you provide the contact block once per seller, will inject it into every subsequent invoice through the standing-rule feature.

Error codes · EN 16931 · Germany

DE-R-002Fixable here

Seller contact information missing (XRechnung)

This is the rejection, word for word: „[DE-R-002] DE-R-002 fires when a German invoice (XRechnung / EN 16931 CIUS-DE) is submitted without the mandatory seller contact group BG-6. XRechnung requires a contact person name, a telephone number, and an email address for the selling party — even for B2G invoices where the public buyer needs to reach the invoicing entity about queries.“

The Schematron rule DE-R-002 asserts that /Invoice/cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact exists and contains cbc:Name, cbc:Telephone, and cbc:ElectronicMail with non-empty values. Missing any one of the three triggers the error. The rule is enforced by the XRechnung Kosit validator and Peppol Access Points routing to German public buyers. Note: BG-6 is optional in the base EN 16931, but the German CIUS makes it mandatory.

What to have readyContact Person Name · Contact Telephone · Contact Email

What we doPopulate cac:Contact under cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party with a contact person name (cbc:Name), a telephone number (cbc:Telephone), and an email address (cbc:ElectronicMail). This is user input — Invoice Navigator flags the gap but the values must come from your ERP or invoicing operator.

Choose the rejected invoiceor drop it here

XRechnung XML or ZUGFeRD PDF. Checking is free · corrected file €1.90 · the first every 30 days is free · no sign-up.

If you enter it yourself in your invoicing software

Before

<cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
  <cac:Party>
    <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="9930">DE123456789</cbc:EndpointID>
    <cac:PartyName><cbc:Name>Muster GmbH</cbc:Name></cac:PartyName>
    <cac:PostalAddress>...</cac:PostalAddress>
    <cac:PartyTaxScheme>...</cac:PartyTaxScheme>
    <cac:PartyLegalEntity>
      <cbc:RegistrationName>Muster GmbH</cbc:RegistrationName>
    </cac:PartyLegalEntity>
    <!-- cac:Contact missing -->
  </cac:Party>
</cac:AccountingSupplierParty>

After

<cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
  <cac:Party>
    <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="9930">DE123456789</cbc:EndpointID>
    <cac:PartyName><cbc:Name>Muster GmbH</cbc:Name></cac:PartyName>
    <cac:PostalAddress>...</cac:PostalAddress>
    <cac:PartyTaxScheme>...</cac:PartyTaxScheme>
    <cac:PartyLegalEntity>
      <cbc:RegistrationName>Muster GmbH</cbc:RegistrationName>
    </cac:PartyLegalEntity>
    <cac:Contact>
      <cbc:Name>Anna Schmidt (Buchhaltung)</cbc:Name>
      <cbc:Telephone>+49 30 1234567</cbc:Telephone>
      <cbc:ElectronicMail>rechnungen@muster-gmbh.de</cbc:ElectronicMail>
    </cac:Contact>
  </cac:Party>
</cac:AccountingSupplierParty>

What the finding looks likeExample

FindingValue missing · DE-R-002

Location/Invoice/cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact/cbc:Name

From youContact Person Name, Contact Telephone, Contact Email

ThenPassed

ProofSHA-256 and /verify link after the check