What it means
This rule checks the buyer's party block in a UBL invoice or credit note (cac:AccountingCustomerParty, cac:Party). It must not contain cac:Person, a block describing an individual, for example with a first name, family name or job title. If the person is the buyer's contact, their name can go in cac:Contact/cbc:Name as the contact point (BT-56).
Why it matters
The rule checks for a separate Person block, not whether the buyer is an individual. The buyer's name and the name of a person to contact have different purposes.
How to fix it
Configure your UBL export to omit the Person block from the buyer's party details. If you edit or generate the XML, remove cac:Person from cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party. Keep the buyer's name in the buyer's name field. Only put the person's name in cac:Contact/cbc:Name if they are a contact. Recheck the file in Klarbon.
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 Person 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-257 still fails, and which other rules do.
Related rules
- UBL-CR-258 Leave the buyer's agent party out
- UBL-CR-259 Leave the buyer's service provider party out
- UBL-CR-260 Leave the buyer's power of attorney out
- UBL-CR-261 Leave the buyer's bank account details out
- UBL-CR-262 The invoice should not include a delivery contact for the buyer
- UBL-CR-263 The invoice should not include an accounting contact for the buyer