BR-03: Every invoice needs an issue date (BT-2)

Explained by Matheel from ZATCA's rule text and the condition SDK 3.4.8 executes · Updated October 24, 2026

Error: the invoice is rejectedAll invoicesFields: BT-2

Checks that the document root has a cbc:IssueDate element and that it is not empty.

How to fix it

Add the issue date directly under the root element in the UBL date format YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. <cbc:IssueDate>2026-10-24</cbc:IssueDate>.

ZATCA's official text

[BR-03]-An Invoice shall have an Invoice issue date (BT-2).
Source: ZATCA SDK 3.4.8 · EN 16931 (CEN) rules

Fails when (the condition ZATCA's SDK runs)

not(exists(cbc:IssueDate) and (cbc:IssueDate) !='')

Related rules

• BR-KSA-04 · Issue date must not be in the future
• BR-KSA-73 · Prepaid amount (BT-113) requires full prepayment reference on lines
• BR-02 · Every invoice needs an invoice number (BT-1)
• BR-04 · Every invoice needs an invoice type code (BT-3)
• BR-05 · Every invoice needs a currency code (BT-5)
• BR-06 · The seller's legal name (BT-27) must be present