What it means
This rule checks that cac:PaymentMeans/cac:PaymentMandate/cac:PayerFinancialAccount contains no cbc:PaymentNote element. It does not prohibit payment terms (BT-20) or an invoice note (BT-22) elsewhere in the document.
Why it matters
EN 16931 does not use a payment note on the account to be debited in its UBL payment details.
How to fix it
Remove cbc:PaymentNote from cac:PaymentMeans/cac:PaymentMandate/cac:PayerFinancialAccount. If you need to retain the text on the invoice, use payment terms (BT-20) for payment conditions or an invoice note (BT-22) for general information. 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 PaymentMeans PaymentMandate PayerFinancialAccount PaymentNote 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-445 still fails, and which other rules do.