What it means
Every Peppol invoice must contain at least one of the buyer reference (BT-10) and the purchase order reference (BT-13). The buyer uses them to route the invoice to the right person or to match it to an order.
Why it matters
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 adds this rule to EN 16931 so that every access point and receiver can process the invoice the same way. The sending or receiving access point rejects an invoice that fails it, so it never reaches the buyer.
How to fix it
Ask your customer which reference they want: an order number, a cost centre, a contact name or, for public bodies, a routing code. Enter it as the buyer reference or the order number on the invoice and export again. In the XML these are cbc:BuyerReference and cac:OrderReference/cbc:ID.
The rule as published
Read the rule on the publisher's site
Where this rule applies
| Rule set | Version |
|---|---|
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (invoice) | 2026.5 |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (credit note) | 2026.5 |
Check your file
Drop your e-invoice to see whether PEPPOL-EN16931-R003 still fails, and which other rules do.
Related rules
- PEPPOL-EN16931-R004 The specification identifier must be the Peppol BIS one
- PEPPOL-EN16931-R005 The VAT accounting currency must differ from the invoice currency
- PEPPOL-EN16931-R007 The business process must be an approved Peppol process
- PEPPOL-EN16931-R008 The invoice must not contain empty elements
- PEPPOL-EN16931-R010 The buyer's electronic address is required
- PEPPOL-EN16931-R020 The seller's electronic address is required