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Warning

UBL-CR-556: A line discount or charge should not have accounting cost text

In short

Warning: worth checking.

UBL-CR-556 means a discount or charge on an invoice line has an accounting cost written as text (cbc:AccountingCost), which EN 16931 does not use. Remove it and give the buyer's accounting reference for the line or the invoice instead.

On this page

What it means

The rule checks every discount or charge on a line (cac:AllowanceCharge) for an accounting cost, the buyer's cost centre or account written as free text. It is the text version of the accounting cost code.

Why it matters

This is a warning. It is worth fixing if the buyer expects this reference on the invoice.

How to fix it

Remove cbc:AccountingCost from the discount or charge. Enter the buyer's accounting reference on the line (BT-133) or on the invoice (BT-19) instead. If you build the XML yourself, the element sits under cac:AllowanceCharge in cac:InvoiceLine or cac:CreditNoteLine.

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 InvoiceLine AllowanceCharge AccountingCost

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-556 still fails, and which other rules do.

Updated 6 November 2026