What it means
The rule checks the seller party (cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party) and fails when it holds a cac:PowerOfAttorney, which in the full UBL standard describes who may act for the party. EN 16931 has no field for it, and an invoice does not need one to be valid.
Why it matters
This is only a warning, so the invoice is still accepted. Software that follows EN 16931 does not read a power of attorney, so the recipient ignores it and nothing in it is checked or used.
How to fix it
Remove cac:PowerOfAttorney from cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party and export again. You are unlikely to enter this yourself, so check the export settings or the XML template of your invoicing software, and ask the supplier to stop sending it if you cannot switch it off. It is worth fixing when you want a file with no warnings; otherwise it does no harm.
The rule as published
A UBL invoice should not include the AccountingSupplierParty Party PowerOfAttorney 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-196 still fails, and which other rules do.