BT numbers (Business Terms) originate from the European standard EN 16931 — the technical specification for electronic invoices. Formats like XRechnung and ZUGFeRD are based on this standard. Each invoice field is assigned a unique code so that software systems worldwide can interpret its meaning consistently.
The full specification covers over 160 BT fields — but for a typical e-invoice, only around 20–30 of them are actually required.
Invoice Data
| BT | Meaning | |---|---| | BT-1 | Invoice number | | BT-2 | Invoice date | | BT-3 | Invoice type | | BT-5 | Invoice currency | | BT-9 | Due date | | BT-10 | Buyer reference (e.g. Leitweg-ID) | | BT-11 | Project reference | | BT-12 | Contract reference | | BT-13 | Purchase order reference | | BT-14 | Sales order reference | | BT-15 | Receiving advice reference | | BT-16 | Despatch advice reference | | BT-17 | Tender / lot reference | | BT-18 | Object identifier | | BT-19 | Buyer accounting reference | | BT-20 | Payment terms | | BT-22 | Invoice note | | BT-25 | Preceding invoice reference | | BT-26 | Preceding invoice issue date |
Seller (Invoice Issuer)
| BT | Meaning | |---|---| | BT-27 | Seller name | | BT-28 | Seller trading name | | BT-29 | Seller identifier | | BT-30 | Seller legal registration identifier | | BT-31 | Seller VAT identifier | | BT-32 | Seller tax registration identifier | | BT-33 | Seller additional legal information | | BT-34 | Seller electronic address | | BT-35 | Seller address line 1 | | BT-36 | Seller address line 2 | | BT-37 | Seller city | | BT-38 | Seller postal code | | BT-40 | Seller country | | BT-41 | Seller contact name | | BT-42 | Seller contact phone | | BT-43 | Seller contact email |
Buyer (Invoice Recipient)
| BT | Meaning | |---|---| | BT-44 | Buyer name | | BT-45 | Buyer trading name | | BT-46 | Buyer identifier | | BT-47 | Buyer legal registration identifier | | BT-48 | Buyer VAT identifier | | BT-49 | Buyer electronic address | | BT-50 | Buyer address line 1 | | BT-51 | Buyer address line 2 | | BT-52 | Buyer city | | BT-53 | Buyer postal code | | BT-55 | Buyer country | | BT-56 | Buyer contact name | | BT-57 | Buyer contact phone | | BT-58 | Buyer contact email |
Delivery
| BT | Meaning | |---|---| | BT-70 | Deliver to party name | | BT-71 | Deliver to location identifier | | BT-72 | Actual delivery date | | BT-73 | Invoicing period start date | | BT-74 | Invoicing period end date | | BT-75 | Deliver to address line 1 | | BT-76 | Deliver to address line 2 | | BT-77 | Deliver to city | | BT-78 | Deliver to postal code | | BT-79 | Deliver to region | | BT-80 | Deliver to country |
Payment
| BT | Meaning | |---|---| | BT-81 | Payment means type code | | BT-83 | Remittance information |
Invoice Line
| BT | Meaning | |---|---| | BT-126 | Invoice line identifier | | BT-128 | Invoice line object identifier | | BT-129 | Invoiced quantity | | BT-130 | Invoiced quantity unit | | BT-131 | Invoice line net amount | | BT-132 | Referenced purchase order line reference | | BT-134 | Invoice line period start date | | BT-135 | Invoice line period end date | | BT-146 | Item net price | | BT-149 | Item price base quantity | | BT-151 | Invoiced item VAT category code | | BT-152 | Invoiced item VAT rate | | BT-153 | Item name | | BT-154 | Item description | | BT-155 | Item seller's identifier | | BT-156 | Item buyer's identifier |
Allowances (Discounts)
| BT | Meaning | |---|---| | BT-92 | Document level allowance amount | | BT-93 | Document level allowance base amount | | BT-94 | Document level allowance percentage | | BT-95 | Document level allowance VAT category code | | BT-96 | Document level allowance VAT rate | | BT-97 | Document level allowance reason | | BT-98 | Document level allowance reason code |
Charges
| BT | Meaning | |---|---| | BT-99 | Document level charge amount | | BT-100 | Document level charge base amount | | BT-101 | Document level charge percentage | | BT-102 | Document level charge VAT category code | | BT-103 | Document level charge VAT rate | | BT-104 | Document level charge reason | | BT-105 | Document level charge reason code |
Totals
| BT | Meaning | |---|---| | BT-106 | Sum of invoice line net amounts | | BT-107 | Sum of allowances | | BT-108 | Sum of charges | | BT-109 | Invoice total amount without VAT | | BT-110 | Invoice total VAT amount | | BT-112 | Invoice total amount with VAT | | BT-113 | Paid amount | | BT-114 | Rounding amount | | BT-115 | Amount due for payment |