CII-SR-183: Mark line discounts and charges with a true or false indicator

What it means

Each discount or charge on an invoice line (SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge in the XML) has a ChargeIndicator that says which of the two it is. The check fires when that indicator is written with the IndicatorString element. EN 16931 uses the Indicator element, with false for a discount and true for a charge.

Why it matters

The check is a warning, so the invoice is not rejected. Software that follows EN 16931 looks for the Indicator element, so it may not recognise the entry as a discount or a charge. That matters because a discount lowers the line amount and a charge raises it. It is worth fixing if the line has discounts or charges, or if your recipient wants a file without warnings.

How to fix it

This is nearly always written by the software that made the file, so you cannot change it in the invoice itself. Update the software or choose its EN 16931 export, and tell its supplier if the problem stays. If you build the XML yourself, replace udt:IndicatorString inside ChargeIndicator with udt:Indicator, and use false for a discount and true for a charge.

The rule as published

IndicatorString should not be present

Where this rule applies