CII-SR-408: Leave structured early-payment discount terms out of the invoice

What it means

The payment terms contain an ApplicableTradePaymentDiscountTerms element, a structured block describing a discount for paying early. This is not a discount on the lines or on the whole invoice. EN 16931 does not use the block and gives the payment terms as free text (BT-20).

Why it matters

This is a warning, so the invoice is still accepted. The buyer's software does not read the block, so the early-payment offer is not visible to them. It is worth fixing if you want the buyer to see the offer, since they may then pay late and lose the discount.

How to fix it

Remove the ApplicableTradePaymentDiscountTerms element. Write the offer in the payment terms text (BT-20), for example 2 % off if paid within 10 days. The invoice totals stay as they are, because the discount only applies if the buyer pays early. XRechnung prescribes its own layout for this text, so use the early-payment discount (Skonto) option of your software if it has one.

The rule as published

ApplicableTradePaymentDiscountTerms should not be present

Where this rule applies