What it means
In a CII file, the seller's contact (BG-6) sits in DefinedTradeContact. This rule warns when that block has a PersonID, an identifier for the contact person. EN 16931 only has room for a contact name (BT-41), phone number (BT-42) and email address (BT-43).
Why it matters
The invoice is still accepted. The standard has no field for a person identifier, so the buyer's software will normally ignore it. It adds nothing for the buyer.
How to fix it
In your invoicing software, look at the seller's contact for an employee number, staff ID or similar and stop it being exported. If you edit the XML by hand, delete the PersonID element inside the seller's DefinedTradeContact. The contact name, phone number and email address stay as they are.
The rule as published
PersonID should not be present Where this rule applies
| Rule set | Version |
|---|---|
| EN 16931 (CII) | 1.3.17 |
| XRechnung 3.0 (CII) | 3.0.2 |
| NLCIUS (CII) | 1.0.3.13 |
| France CTC (CII) | 1.4.0-04 |
Check your file
Drop your e-invoice to see whether CII-SR-231 still fails, and which other rules do.