EN 16931 is the European standard for the semantic data model of the core elements of an electronic invoice. It defines business terms and rules so that compliant invoices can be interpreted consistently across systems and countries.
EU Directive 2014/55/EU requires covered public authorities to be able to receive and process electronic invoices that comply with the European standard. The directive does not require a particular delivery network.
What EN 16931 defines
- A semantic model for core invoice information
- Mandatory and optional business terms for parties, invoice lines, taxes, totals, references and payment information
- Business rules for calculating and validating invoice content
- Syntax bindings that show how the model is represented in supported syntaxes, including UBL 2.1 and UN/CEFACT CII
The relationship with Peppol BIS Billing
Peppol BIS Billing 3 is a Core Invoice Usage Specification (CIUS) of EN 16931. It applies additional Peppol rules and uses OASIS UBL 2.1 for invoices and credit notes exchanged through the Peppol network.
An EN 16931 implementation may use an approved UBL or CII syntax binding. A Peppol BIS Billing message, however, uses the Peppol UBL implementation. A supplier cannot choose CII as the payload for a Peppol BIS Billing document simply because CII is an EN 16931 syntax.
Validation and legal compliance
A Peppol BIS Billing document must contain the correct CustomizationID and ProfileID and pass the applicable syntax, EN 16931 and Peppol validation rules. Passing these rules confirms technical conformance to the tested specification; it does not by itself prove that every tax, accounting or sector-specific legal requirement in a jurisdiction has been met.
For valid XML examples and the current rules, use the official Peppol BIS Billing documentation. The previous example on this page was removed because it was incomplete and could not be used as a valid invoice.
Qvalia supports validation and exchange of Peppol BIS Billing documents based on EN 16931. Confirm any additional country-specific requirements against the relevant authority or applicable Peppol localisation.
