What it means
The rule warns if cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party in a UBL invoice or credit note contains cbc:MarkCareIndicator. In UBL this is a true or false flag that marks the buyer as a 'care of' party. EN 16931 has no business term for it. The check applies regardless of the flag's value.
Why it matters
The rule checks for the flag itself, not its value. Setting it to false does not clear the warning.
How to fix it
If you need a c/o line in the buyer's postal address, put it in the second address line (BT-51), at cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party/cac:PostalAddress/cbc:AdditionalStreetName. Preserve any address text already there. Delete cbc:MarkCareIndicator from cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party, export again and recheck the file.
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 AccountingCustomerParty Party MarkCareIndicator 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-204 still fails, and which other rules do.
Related rules
- UBL-CR-205 The buyer should not carry an 'attention' flag
- UBL-CR-206 The buyer's website field should be left out
- UBL-CR-207 The buyer should not have a logo reference
- UBL-CR-208 The buyer should not have an industry classification code
- UBL-CR-209 The buyer should not have a language element
- UBL-CR-210 The buyer's address should not have an address ID