EN 16931: an overview of the European e-invoicing standard
EN 16931 is the European standard for e-invoices. It defines which information an invoice contains and which rules apply to it. It does not define a file format.
| Publisher | CEN/TC 434, first edition 2017, based on Directive 2014/55/EU |
|---|---|
| Revised edition | EN 16931-1:2026, final version since Mar 18, 2026 |
The building blocks
| Building block | Content |
|---|---|
| Data model | business terms (BT) and groups (BG), e.g. the buyer reference (BT-10) |
| Syntaxes | UBL 2.1 and CII, which map the data model to XML |
| Business rules | mandatory fields, calculation rules and code lists (codes BR, BR-CO, BR-CL) |
| Specializations | XRechnung, Peppol BIS and the ZUGFeRD profiles: they narrow the standard and add their own rules |
Which edition invowerk checks against
In March 2026, CEN published the revised edition EN 16931-1:2026. The validation rules invowerk applies are still based on the 2017 edition (CEN rules 1.3.16). When the rule set changes, the test bench records it with the date.
Check invoices against EN 16931
invowerk checks invoices in UBL and CII against the business rules of EN 16931 and the rules of the respective national specialization.