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Warning

UBL-CR-127: Leave the encoding code out of an attachment link

In short

Warning: worth checking.

UBL-CR-127 means a document link in your UBL invoice or credit note has an encoding code (EncodingCode), which EN 16931 does not use. Remove that element from the link.

On this page

What it means

This rule checks that cbc:EncodingCode is absent from document-level cac:AdditionalDocumentReference/cac:Attachment/cac:ExternalReference in a UBL invoice or credit note. It applies to every additional document reference. For a linked supporting document (BG-24), the web address is BT-124.

Why it matters

EN 16931 does not use a separate encoding code in this document-link element.

How to fix it

Remove cbc:EncodingCode from cac:AdditionalDocumentReference/cac:Attachment/cac:ExternalReference. Leave the web address (cbc:URI) in place if you want to keep the link. Export the corrected file and check it 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 AdditionalDocumentReference Attachment External EncodingCode

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-127 still fails, and which other rules do.

Updated 6 November 2026