EN 16931 · UBL 2.1 · CII D16B
Invoices with a compliant XML behind every PDF
EUInvoice issues EN 16931 compliant e-invoices, tracks what you're owed and what you owe, and keeps a validated XML record behind every document you send or receive.
Conformance
EN 16931 compliance, and where it stops
- Invoices are issued as EN 16931 compliant OASIS UBL 2.1 XML, using the standard's BT- (business term) and BG- (business term group) data model.
- The same invoice is also available as a UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice (CII) D16B XML rendition.
- Every invoice is checked against the EN 16931 business rules before it can be issued. An error stops it being issued. A warning is only a note on the way past.
- The XML is the legal original. It is stored together with its SHA-256 hash.
- The PDF you see and download is a rendition of that XML. It is not the original document.
- Once issued, a document cannot be edited — corrections go through a credit note.
EUInvoice issues the compliant document itself but does not transmit it over the Peppol network, so something else is still needed to meet the Belgian B2B e-invoicing mandate.
- Invoices may be issued to and from any country the standard's code list allows.
- EUR is the only currency documents are issued in.
- VAT identifier check-digit validation covers all four: Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Poland, with none skipped.
- The seller enters the rates that apply to their sale — there's no rate table built in.
- KSeF transmission for Poland isn't included.
- Chorus Pro / PPF transmission for France isn't included.
What it does
Every feature here follows from the document
Credit notes are a document type
Not a workaround. Invoices carry document type code 380, credit notes code 381, and a credit note always names the invoice it corrects.
The buyer has a side
A buyer who receives a document can accept it or dispute it, and you see which.
Receivables and payables, aged
Tracked in ageing buckets, so what is overdue is visible without reading a list.
A mistyped IBAN is caught
Bank details are checked the moment you save them, before a payment ever fails to arrive.
Drop in a PDF you already have
It fills the fields you have left blank on a draft, so you are not retyping an invoice you already wrote. Your document is never sent to anyone else to be read.
Check a customer's VAT number
Enter it once and get the registered business name and address back, instead of copying them across by hand.
Share by link
Send an invoice without knowing the recipient's email address.
Contractor or business
Two modes, depending on whether you mostly send invoices or mostly receive them.
Reference
How this works, written down
Short pieces on the parts of e-invoicing that are easy to get wrong, each citing the documents it relies on. Five of them are below; the rest, including the national mandates, are on the index.
UBL 2.1 and CII D16B
Two syntaxes for one EN 16931 invoice, what differs between them, and who decides which you send.
What gets checked before issuing
The XSD gate and the Schematron gate — what each catches, and what neither can.
VAT categories on a line
What BT-151 means, and what each of the five accepted codes is for.
Correcting an issued invoice
Why an issued document cannot be edited, and what a credit note is for.
EN 16931 business rules, by code
Every rule code the standard defines, with the text CEN publishes for it.
Four things you can use without an account
Check an e-invoicing deadline
What each country requires, when it started or starts, and which part of it this product does not do for you.
Read an e-invoice you were sent
Open an XML invoice and see it as a document. It is read in your own browser and is not uploaded.
Check an e-invoice against EN 16931
See which rules a document fails and which it passes. It runs in your own browser and is not uploaded.
Work through the e-invoicing checklist
The steps in order, from receiving your first e-invoice to issuing your own.
Questions
Asked before signing up
Does this cover the Belgian e-invoicing mandate?
Not on its own. EUInvoice issues an EN 16931 compliant document, but the Belgian mandate also requires sending it over the Peppol network, which is a separate step you would still need to arrange elsewhere.
What does issuing cost?
Five issued invoices per calendar month, per organisation, are free, with no card required. A credit note doesn't count against that limit — it corrects a document this product won't let you edit, not a new invoice you're sending. Receiving is not limited: accepting or disputing a document, and tracking what you owe, has no cap.
Does my customer need an account?
No. They get a link that opens the document and lets them download both the XML and the PDF. An account is only for the buyer side of it — accepting or disputing a document, and tracking what they owe.
Do I need to know what EN 16931 is?
No. You fill in an invoice in plain language, and it is checked before it can be issued. The codes in the specimen above are produced for you. You never type one.
Can I invoice in a currency other than euros?
Not yet. EUR is the only currency documents are issued in.
I sent an invoice with a mistake. Can I edit it?
No. An issued document is final. The correction is a credit note that names the invoice it corrects; see why that is.
What happens to what I upload?
A PDF you drop in to fill a draft is never sent to anyone else to be read. What happens to the rest of your data is written out in the privacy policy.
Start with one invoice
Create an account, add your details once, and issue a document that a receiving system can actually read. There is nothing to install.
Tell us what you need
Need a specific national format, a mandate deadline check, or a missing feature? Tell us what you need from EUInvoice. All feedback is read directly by the operator.