errorbusinessEN 16931

BR-41:Each Invoice line allowance (BG-27) shall have an Invoice line allowance...

Fix: Add the required `cac:AllowanceCharge` element to your Invoice. Ensure it contains a valid value per EN 16931 (BR-41).

Seller should provide contact details for invoice queries.

Severity
Fatal
Rule set
EN 16931
Country
All EU
Fix type
BLOCKED

Engine Classification

Financial or legal field · Modification blocked by policy

Reason: Contact information requires business verification. Automatic changes could result in compliance issues or communication failures.

What is BR-41?

BR-41 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification. It validates the Contact element under AccountingSupplierParty > Party in the UBL invoice XML.

When this rule fires, the invoice is rejected by Peppol access points and never reaches the buyer.

Target path: XPath: /Invoice/cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact

This error requires manual correction — financial fields are protected by policy.

Why This Error Matters

Invoice rejected. Cannot calculate line total without knowing allowance amount.

BR-41 is a hard failure — the invoice must be corrected and re-sent before it can reach the recipient.

Validator Behavior

  • ·Causes invoice rejection
  • ·Error returned: BR-41
  • ·Specification: EN 16931

How to Fix It

1.

Add contact name

Person or department for queries

2.

Add email

ElectronicMail element

3.

Add phone

Telephone element if available

Before / After

Failing XML
<cac:InvoiceLine>
  <!-- cac:AllowanceCharge is missing -->
</cac:InvoiceLine>
Corrected XML
<cac:InvoiceLine>
  <cac:AllowanceCharge>valid-value</cac:AllowanceCharge>
</cac:InvoiceLine>

Technical Reference

XPathXPath: /Invoice/cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact
SpecEN 16931
StrategyBLOCKED: This is a monetary amount. We cannot determine line discounts - they depend on pricing rules, negotiations, or promotions. Source system must provide.

Code Example

<cac:Contact>
  <cbc:Name>Accounts Department</cbc:Name>
  <cbc:Telephone>+31 20 123 4567</cbc:Telephone>
  <cbc:ElectronicMail>invoices@example.com</cbc:ElectronicMail>
</cac:Contact>

Common Causes

  • ·Line allowance added without amount value
  • ·AllowanceCharge/Amount not mapped at line level
  • ·Percentage line discount without base to calculate
  • ·Line allowance template missing amount field
  • ·Null amount instead of zero for line discount

Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-41 automatically. See the fix response →

Commonly Seen In

All invoicing software

Frequently Asked Questions

Seller should provide contact details for invoice queries.

Add the required `cac:AllowanceCharge` element to your Invoice. Ensure it contains a valid value per EN 16931 (BR-41). This error involves a protected field — Invoice Navigator flags it in your pipeline so your team can correct it at the source.

BR-41 is a warning that may not always cause rejection, but it indicates a potential compliance issue that should be addressed to ensure full compatibility.

BR-41 involves a financial or legal field that cannot be auto-modified by policy. Invoice Navigator detects and flags this error immediately, but the correction must be made manually in your ERP or invoicing software.

BR-41 is commonly seen in exports from All invoicing software. These software packages sometimes generate invoices that need adjustment to meet full compliance standards.

Related Errors

Related Content

Last updated: 3 March 2026

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