Reference · EN 16931

EN 16931 business rules, by rule code

A validation failure names a rule code and rarely much else. This page lists every rule by code, with the text the standard states it in, so a code can be looked up rather than guessed at. To check a document against these rules, use the free EN 16931 validator.

These are the 223 business rules of EN 16931, as published by CEN/TC 434 in the validation artefacts that accompany the standard. This page indexes every code. It carries no rule text of its own; each one links to the family page where its wording, and the rest of its family, are stated in full.

The codes in parentheses throughout are business terms (BT-) and business term groups (BG-), the semantic model's names for the fields a rule constrains. A rule that names BT-151 is talking about the same field whatever syntax the invoice is written in.

What this does not cover

These rules are the standard's own. They are not the whole of what an invoice must satisfy in practice. A network or a receiving country may add rules of its own that a document conforming to every rule below can still fail, and national specifications narrow EN 16931 further. The rules here also say nothing about whether the invoice is factually correct. Whether a total adds up is checkable. Whether it is the amount you meant to charge is nothing a rule can reach.

This page lists the rules. To check a document against them, use the free EN 16931 validator.