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Warning

UBL-CR-044: The billing reference should not include billing reference lines

In short

Warning: worth checking.

UBL-CR-044 means the invoice or credit note has billing reference lines inside its billing reference block, which EN 16931 does not use. Remove the cac:BillingReferenceLine element.

On this page

What it means

In UBL, the billing reference block (cac:BillingReference) points at an earlier document. EN 16931 uses it for the preceding invoice reference (BG-3). This rule checks that the block does not contain billing reference lines (cac:BillingReferenceLine), which UBL offers for pointing at individual lines of the earlier document.

Why it matters

EN 16931 does not use billing reference lines inside the billing reference.

How to fix it

Remove the billing reference lines. If the buyer needs to know which lines are affected, say so in the invoice note (BT-22). If you build the XML yourself, delete cac:BillingReference/cac:BillingReferenceLine. 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 BillingReferenceLine

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-044 still fails, and which other rules do.

Updated 6 November 2026