What it means
The despatch advice reference (BT-16) points at the despatch advice, the document that lists what was sent. In a UBL invoice or credit note it is cac:DespatchDocumentReference. This rule checks that the block does not contain the date the despatch advice was issued (cbc:IssueDate).
Why it matters
EN 16931 does not use an issue date inside the despatch advice reference.
How to fix it
Remove the date from the despatch advice reference. If the date matters to the buyer, mention it in the invoice note (BT-22). If you build the XML yourself, delete cbc:IssueDate from cac:DespatchDocumentReference. 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 DespatchDocumentReference IssueDate 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-047 still fails, and which other rules do.
Related rules
- UBL-CR-048 The despatch reference should not include an issue time
- UBL-CR-049 The despatch reference should not include a document type code
- UBL-CR-050 The despatch reference should not include document type text
- UBL-CR-051 The despatch reference should not include an XPath
- UBL-CR-052 The despatch reference should not include a language
- UBL-CR-053 The despatch reference should not include a locale code