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Warning

UBL-CR-228: Leave the timezone offset out of the buyer's address

In short

Warning: worth checking.

UBL-CR-228 means the buyer's postal address in your UBL invoice or credit note contains a timezone offset (TimezoneOffset), which EN 16931 does not use. Remove cbc:TimezoneOffset from the buyer's postal address.

On this page

What it means

This rule checks that the buyer's postal address (BG-8) does not contain a timezone offset, the element cbc:TimezoneOffset. EN 16931 has no field for it in the buyer's postal address. The rule applies to UBL invoices and credit notes.

Why it matters

EN 16931 does not use a TimezoneOffset element in the buyer's postal address.

How to fix it

Check whether your invoicing software can omit cbc:TimezoneOffset from the buyer's postal address in its UBL export. If it cannot, ask your software supplier to change the export. If you build the XML yourself, delete cbc:TimezoneOffset from cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party/cac:PostalAddress. Export or save the file again and recheck it.

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 PostalAddress TimezoneOffset

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-228 still fails, and which other rules do.

Updated 6 November 2026