# BR-03

> The invoice is missing an Invoice issue date (BT-2). Provide cbc:IssueDate in YYYY-MM-DD format.

Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5

Canonical: https://einvoicecheck.eu/rules/br-03

## Official rule text

An Invoice shall have an Invoice issue date (BT-2).

## Why did my invoice fail BR-03?

The invoice must state an Invoice issue date (BT-2), the date the invoice was formally issued. This date drives payment terms, VAT reporting periods, and archival deadlines. In UBL it is cbc:IssueDate at the document root and must be a valid date in YYYY-MM-DD format.

## Common causes

- cbc:IssueDate is missing from the invoice.
- The date is empty or uses a non-ISO format such as DD/MM/YYYY.
- A time component or timezone was appended, making it an invalid xs:date.
- The field was left blank pending final issuance.

## How do I fix it?

```
<cbc:IssueDate>2026-07-04</cbc:IssueDate>
```