CII-SR-221: Invoice lines should not contain sub-lines

What it means

The line document part of each line (BG-25) must not contain IncludedSubordinateTradeLineItem. EN 16931 has a flat list of lines and no lines inside lines.

Why it matters

This is a warning, so the invoice is still accepted. A recipient that follows the standard reads only the main lines, so the descriptions and amounts of the sub-lines may be missing from what the buyer sees and books. It is worth fixing whenever the sub-lines carry information the buyer needs.

How to fix it

Turn each sub-line into a line of its own, or describe the parts in the item description or line note of the main line. Then check that the line amounts still add up to the invoice total. If your software groups lines into bundles, look for an export option that flattens them.

The rule as published

IncludedSubordinateTradeLineItem should not be present

Where this rule applies