BR-DEC-11: Write the sum of document charges with no more than two decimals

The short answer

BR-DEC-11 fails when cac:LegalMonetaryTotal/cbc:ChargeTotalAmount is written with more than two characters after the decimal point. Write the charge total with two decimals at most: 3.50, not 3.500.

The recorded charge itself is written correctly and only its total is padded. A formatter that pads both brings BR-DEC-05 for the charge as well, and UBL-DT-01 once per element.

What the rule checks

The rule takes the text of cbc:ChargeTotalAmount inside cac:LegalMonetaryTotal and allows at most two characters after the decimal point. The charges being summed are not read by this rule.

When tried with both the document charge and the charge total written as 3.500, the invoice reported this rule, BR-DEC-05 and two UBL-DT-01 findings, one at each element.

An unrounded charge total brings the arithmetic check with it. When tried, 3.504 also reported BR-CO-12, which compares the total exactly with the charges rounded to 3.50, while BR-CO-13 still passed because it rounds its own result.

How an integration ends up here

Possible causes, from the shape of the rule rather than from measured usage:

• The charge total is added up from freight or handling fees kept at more than two decimals.
• Totals are written with a fixed number of decimals chosen for prices.
• A total of zero is formatted as 0.000 when no charges apply.

How to fix it

1. Round each document charge to two decimals, add them, and round the sum.
2. Write it to cac:LegalMonetaryTotal/cbc:ChargeTotalAmount with at most two decimals and no surrounding whitespace.
3. If the document has no charges, write 0.00 or omit the element; when tried, omitting it from the minimal invoice validated.
4. Use the rounded charge total when you add charges to the total without VAT.

Validate your corrected invoice

Before and after

These are fragments, not complete documents. The complete synthetic documents they come from are linked below.

Fragment of the failing invoice: 66.00 + 3.50 - 1.00 = 68.50, with the charge total written as 3.500

<cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
  <cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="GBP">66.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount>
  <cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount currencyID="GBP">68.50</cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount>
  <cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount currencyID="GBP">80.20</cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount>
  <cbc:AllowanceTotalAmount currencyID="GBP">1.00</cbc:AllowanceTotalAmount>
  <cbc:ChargeTotalAmount currencyID="GBP">3.500</cbc:ChargeTotalAmount>
  <!-- paid amount, rounding amount and amount due omitted from this fragment -->
</cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>

Fragment of the corrected invoice: the charge total written as 3.50

<cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
  <cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="GBP">66.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount>
  <cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount currencyID="GBP">68.50</cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount>
  <cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount currencyID="GBP">80.20</cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount>
  <cbc:AllowanceTotalAmount currencyID="GBP">1.00</cbc:AllowanceTotalAmount>
  <cbc:ChargeTotalAmount currencyID="GBP">3.50</cbc:ChargeTotalAmount>
  <!-- paid amount, rounding amount and amount due omitted from this fragment -->
</cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>

Only cbc:ChargeTotalAmount differs: 3.500 in the failing invoice, 3.50 in the corrected one. It sums the one document charge of 3.50 in both, so BR-CO-12 and BR-CO-13 are satisfied. The failing document reports BR-DEC-11 at cac:LegalMonetaryTotal and UBL-DT-01 at the charge total. The latter caps the decimals of every amount element other than item prices and the amounts of a price-level allowance, and the charge total is subject to it like any other total, so fixing the format clears both findings.

Where it applies

• Applies to UBL Invoice and CreditNote. When tried, a credit note with a charge total of 3.500 reported the same two findings.
• A zero charge total is held to the same limit. When tried, the minimal invoice, which has no charges, failed this rule with the element written as 0.000.
• The count does not depend on currencyID.

Related rules

• UBL-DT-01 is reported on the charge total whenever this rule fails
• BR-CO-12 checks the value of the charge total against the document charges
• BR-DEC-05 counts the decimals of each document charge
• BR-DEC-09 applies the same limit to the sum of the line net amounts
• Browse every rule in the reference
• Background: Understanding EN 16931 validation errors

Scope and source

Written for Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.21 (May 2026), EN 16931 1.3.16, as applied to UBL 2.1 Invoice and CreditNote documents. Other profiles, syntaxes and releases can define this identifier differently. Guidance version 2026-09-28.1: source checked 2026-09-28, explanation last updated 2026-09-28.

The official definition of BR-DEC-11 carries the normative wording and test. This page is our explanation of it, not a copy.

Guidance does not change the engine verdict. Fixing this finding does not mean the document passes every layer, and validation does not certify legal or tax compliance or transmit a document over Peppol.