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Warning

UBL-CR-041: The billing reference should not include a debit note reference

In short

Warning: worth checking.

UBL-CR-041 means the invoice or credit note has a debit note reference inside its billing reference block, which EN 16931 does not use. Remove the cac:DebitNoteDocumentReference element.

On this page

What it means

In UBL, the billing reference block (cac:BillingReference) points at an earlier document. The preceding invoice reference (BG-3) uses cac:InvoiceDocumentReference, with BT-25 for the earlier invoice's number and BT-26 for its date. This rule checks that the block does not contain a reference to a debit note (cac:DebitNoteDocumentReference).

Why it matters

EN 16931 does not use a debit note reference inside the billing reference.

How to fix it

Remove the debit note reference from the billing reference. If the reference matters to the buyer, mention it in the invoice note (BT-22). If you are correcting an earlier invoice, use the preceding invoice reference instead. If you build the XML yourself, delete cac:BillingReference/cac:DebitNoteDocumentReference. Then check the 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 DebitNoteDocumentReference

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
Rule text from phive-rules 4.6.4.

Check your file

Drop your e-invoice to see whether UBL-CR-041 still fails, and which other rules do.

Updated 6 November 2026