UBL-SR-07
EN 16931-1 layer: en16931
Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5
What does UBL-SR-07 mean? If there is a preceding invoice reference, the preceding invoice number shall be present
Why did my invoice fail UBL-SR-07?
If a Preceding invoice reference group (BG-3) is present, it must contain the Preceding Invoice number (BT-25), the identifier of the referenced earlier invoice. In UBL, when cac:BillingReference/cac:InvoiceDocumentReference exists it must carry a non-empty cbc:ID; an empty or missing ID makes the reference meaningless.
Official rule text
If there is a preceding invoice reference, the preceding invoice number shall be present
Common causes
- cac:InvoiceDocumentReference is emitted with only cbc:IssueDate but no cbc:ID.
- Source invoice number field is null yet the billing-reference block is still generated.
- cbc:ID element is present but empty (whitespace only).
How do I fix it?
Populate the preceding invoice number: <cac:InvoiceDocumentReference><cbc:ID>INV-2025-900</cbc:ID></cac:InvoiceDocumentReference> — or omit the entire cac:BillingReference if no prior invoice applies.
Related rules
UBL-SR-01 · UBL-SR-02 · UBL-SR-03 · UBL-SR-04 · UBL-SR-05 · UBL-SR-06 · UBL-SR-08 · UBL-SR-09
Check your invoice against this rule
Paste it into the live demo, or call POST /v1/validate. See the quickstart.