What it means
When an invoice or credit note refers to an earlier invoice, EN 16931 carries only that invoice's number (BT-25) and date (BT-26), in cac:BillingReference/cac:InvoiceDocumentReference. This rule checks that the reference does not also contain cac:IssuerParty, a block with the name and details of the party that issued the earlier document.
Why it matters
EN 16931 has no field for issuer details within the reference to an earlier invoice.
How to fix it
Remove only cac:IssuerParty from cac:BillingReference/cac:InvoiceDocumentReference. Keep the earlier invoice number (BT-25) in cbc:ID and any existing invoice date (BT-26) in cbc:IssueDate. Leave the current document's seller (BG-4) and buyer (BG-7) details unchanged for this check. Check the corrected file again.
Once the file is corrected, check it again for free: Validate an invoice against EN 16931
Or fix the invoice in a form and download the corrected file, for 1 credit: Fix a rejected e-invoice
The rule as published
A UBL invoice should not include the BillingReference IssuerParty Where this rule applies
| Rule set | Version |
|---|---|
| EN 16931 (UBL) | 1.3.17 |
| EN 16931 (UBL credit note) | 1.3.17 |
| XRechnung 3.0 (UBL) | 3.0.2 |
| XRechnung 3.0 (UBL credit note) | 3.0.2 |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (invoice) | 2026.5 |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (credit note) | 2026.5 |
| SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (invoice) | 2.0.3.13 |
| SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (credit note) | 2.0.3.13 |
| France CTC (UBL invoice) | 1.4.0-04 |
| France CTC (UBL credit note) | 1.4.0-04 |
| CIUS-RO UBL Invoice 1.0.9 | 1.0.9 |
| CIUS-RO UBL Credit Note 1.0.9 | 1.0.9 |
Check your file
Drop your e-invoice to see whether UBL-CR-036 still fails, and which other rules do.
Related rules
- UBL-CR-037 Do not send a verification result in the earlier invoice reference
- UBL-CR-038 Do not use the self-billed invoice reference
- UBL-CR-039 Do not use the credit note document reference
- UBL-CR-040 Do not use the self-billed credit note reference
- UBL-CR-041 The billing reference should not include a debit note reference
- UBL-CR-042 The billing reference should not include a reminder reference