Formats / Guides
Peppol BIS 3.0 vs EN 16931 — what's the difference?
EN 16931 is the European e-invoicing standard: a semantic model listing the business terms (BT-1, BT-5, …) an invoice carries and the business rules it must satisfy. Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 is a CIUS — a Core Invoice Usage Specification — built on EN 16931: the same model, further restricted with Peppol-specific rules and bound to the UBL syntax for exchange over the Peppol network. Every valid BIS 3.0 invoice is a valid EN 16931 invoice; the reverse does not hold.
What is the difference between Peppol BIS 3.0 and EN 16931?
EN 16931 is the European standard that defines the semantic data model of an e-invoice — which information an invoice must carry and the business rules (BR-*) it must satisfy. Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 is a CIUS of EN 16931: it takes the standard, restricts it with additional Peppol-specific rules (PEPPOL-EN16931-*), and specifies how invoices are exchanged over the Peppol network.
Which rule IDs come from which layer?
| Rule family | Defined by | Example |
|---|---|---|
BR-* (integrity) | EN 16931 | BR-01 — an invoice must have a specification identifier |
BR-CO-* (calculations) | EN 16931 | BR-CO-10 — line net amounts must sum correctly |
BR-S-*, BR-E-*, … (VAT categories) | EN 16931 | BR-S-01 — standard-rated VAT breakdown |
PEPPOL-EN16931-R* | Peppol BIS 3.0 | Peppol restrictions, e.g. required endpoint scheme codes |
Does a Peppol BIS 3.0 invoice comply with EN 16931?
Yes. Every valid Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 invoice is by construction a valid EN 16931 invoice, because BIS 3.0 only restricts the standard — it never relaxes it. The reverse is not true: an EN 16931 invoice can fail the extra Peppol rules.
Which rules apply to my invoice?
If you send through the Peppol network you must pass both rule families: the EN 16931 business rules (BR-*, BR-CO-*, BR-S-* and other VAT-category rules) and the Peppol-specific rules (PEPPOL-EN16931-R* plus codelist checks). Validators apply them together in one schematron pass. Browse both families in the rule catalogue or see the Peppol BIS 3.0 format page for versions and layers.
Related: UBL vs CII · What is a CIUS? · validate an invoice free.