Rules / PEPPOL-EN16931-R003 · Markdown
PEPPOL-EN16931-R003
PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 layer: peppol
Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5
What does PEPPOL-EN16931-R003 mean? A Buyer reference (BT-10) or a Purchase order reference (BT-13) must be provided. Add cbc:BuyerReference or cac:OrderReference/cbc:ID.
Why did my invoice fail PEPPOL-EN16931-R003?
Peppol requires that either a Buyer reference (BT-10) or a Purchase order reference (BT-13) be provided so the receiver can route and match the invoice. At least one of cbc:BuyerReference or cac:OrderReference/cbc:ID must be present.
Official rule text
A buyer reference or purchase order reference MUST be provided.
Common causes
- Neither cbc:BuyerReference nor cac:OrderReference/cbc:ID is present.
- BuyerReference element included but left empty.
- OrderReference element present but its cbc:ID child is missing or blank.
- The buyer's routing/cost-center reference was not captured during invoice creation.
How do I fix it?
Add a buyer reference: <cbc:BuyerReference>Cost-Center-4711</cbc:BuyerReference>, or an order reference: <cac:OrderReference><cbc:ID>PO-12345</cbc:ID></cac:OrderReference>.
Related rules
PEPPOL-EN16931-R001 · PEPPOL-EN16931-R002 · PEPPOL-EN16931-R004 · PEPPOL-EN16931-R005 · PEPPOL-EN16931-R007 · PEPPOL-EN16931-R008 · PEPPOL-EN16931-R010 · PEPPOL-EN16931-R020
Paste it into the live demo, or call POST /v1/validate. See the quickstart.