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Warning

UBL-CR-129: Leave the file name out of an attachment link

In short

Warning: worth checking.

UBL-CR-129 means a document link in your UBL invoice or credit note gives a file name (FileName), which EN 16931 does not use for links. Remove that element. If you attach the document itself, its file name goes on the attachment.

On this page

What it means

This rule checks that cbc:FileName 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, including supporting documents (BG-24). An embedded document carries its file name as the filename attribute of cbc:EmbeddedDocumentBinaryObject (BT-125). That attribute is outside this check.

Why it matters

EN 16931 does not use a separate file-name element for an external document link.

How to fix it

Remove cbc:FileName from cac:AdditionalDocumentReference/cac:Attachment/cac:ExternalReference. If the name helps the buyer find the document, put it in the supporting document description (BT-123) or attach the file so the name travels with it. 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 FileName

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-129 still fails, and which other rules do.

Updated 6 November 2026