CII-SR-279: Do not name a buyer requisitioner in the invoice header

What it means

The invoice header contains a BuyerRequisitionerTradeParty element, which names the person or department at the buyer who requested the purchase. EN 16931 has no such party. It uses references instead: the buyer reference (BT-10) and the purchase order number (BT-13).

Why it matters

This is only a warning, so the file is still accepted. The requisitioner has no field in the EN 16931 data model, so the buyer's software will not read it. The buyer matches the invoice by its references, not by this party.

How to fix it

Look for a requested by, requisitioner or internal contact field on the invoice in your invoicing software and stop it being exported. Ask the buyer which reference they want on the invoice, usually a buyer reference or a purchase order number, and enter it in those fields. This is worth fixing if the buyer uses that name to route the invoice internally.

The rule as published

BuyerRequisitionerTradeParty should not be present

Where this rule applies