PEPPOL-EN16931-R003 A buyer reference (BT-10) or a purchase order reference (BT-13) must be provided, and this invoice carries neither
A buyer reference (BT-10) or a purchase order reference (BT-13) must be provided, and this invoice carries neither. Core EN 16931 leaves both optional; Peppol makes the pair conditionally mandatory because the network delivers straight into the buyer's accounts payable system, and that system needs one handle to match the invoice against — a cost centre, a requisition, a purchase order. Without one, an invoice that arrives in seconds waits weeks for a human to work out who ordered it. This is a Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile rule: it applies because profile is "peppol-bis-3". It does not apply to the en16931, xrechnung-ubl or xrechnung-cii profiles, whose validators will accept the same document.
This rule is implemented and its error payload below is real, but the long-form write-up — normative text, worked example, divergence note — is not written yet. Everything the library knows about this rule is on this page. Ask and we will prioritise it.
- Business term
BT-10 / BT-13- Severity
fatal
What the library returns
The exact object in result.errors when this rule fires.
Generated by running @attestwire/en16931, not transcribed:
{
"rule": "PEPPOL-EN16931-R003",
"field": [
"BT-10",
"BT-13"
],
"severity": "fatal",
"message": "A buyer reference (BT-10) or a purchase order reference (BT-13) must be provided, and this invoice carries neither. Core EN 16931 leaves both optional; Peppol makes the pair conditionally mandatory because the network delivers straight into the buyer's accounts payable system, and that system needs one handle to match the invoice against — a cost centre, a requisition, a purchase order. Without one, an invoice that arrives in seconds waits weeks for a human to work out who ordered it. This is a Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile rule: it applies because profile is \"peppol-bis-3\". It does not apply to the en16931, xrechnung-ubl or xrechnung-cii profiles, whose validators will accept the same document.",
"fix": "Set buyerReference to whatever reference your customer gave you when they ordered (in Germany this is the Leitweg-ID; elsewhere it is often a cost centre or contact code), or set orderReference to their purchase order number. Either satisfies the rule; supply both if you have both.",
"example": "\"buyerReference\": \"04011000-1234512345-06\"",
"xpath": "/ubl:Invoice/cbc:BuyerReference",
"docsUrl": "https://attestwire.com/rules/PEPPOL-EN16931-R003"
}
xpath locates the element in the generated UBL document,
which is where a KoSIT or Peppol validator will report the same problem.
A passing value
"buyerReference": "04011000-1234512345-06"The fix
Set buyerReference to whatever reference your customer gave you when they ordered (in Germany this is the Leitweg-ID; elsewhere it is often a cost centre or contact code), or set orderReference to their purchase order number. Either satisfies the rule; supply both if you have both.