Error codes › BR-DE-18 · Deutsch

BR-DE-18: Cash discount (Skonto) line has the wrong format

A rule from XRechnung, the German national specification (CIUS) of EN 16931. What the message means and how to fix it.

What the message means

In XRechnung a cash discount for early payment (German “Skonto”) is written as a machine-readable line in the payment terms (BT-20), for example #SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00# followed by a line break. TAGE means days, PROZENT means percent. The rule reports lines that start with # but do not follow exactly this pattern.

How to fix it

Write one line per discount step: #SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00# – percent with a dot and exactly two decimals, days as a whole number, no spaces. Optionally with a base amount: #SKONTO#TAGE=14#PROZENT=2.00#BASISBETRAG=100.00#. Every line ends with a line break, the last one too. Free text such as “2 % discount if paid within 14 days” may come before it but must not start with #.

Where the field is in the file

The rule applies only to invoices that declare XRechnung in the specification identifier (BT-24), for example invoices to German public authorities. For Peppol BIS, ZUGFeRD or a plain EN 16931 invoice it does not apply. The original rule text in the KoSIT files is German.

Check the invoice again: The free validator runs the official KoSIT rule files (EN 16931 rules for UBL and CII, plus the German XRechnung rules) in your browser. Your invoice never leaves your computer, and the report links to the English explanations.

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Technical notes on the data format, not tax or legal advice. Whether VAT rate, supply and amounts are correct in substance is a question for your tax adviser.