ES-R-004:Digital signature required
Spanish FacturaE invoices require XAdES digital signature.
Engine Classification
Financial or legal field · Modification blocked by policy
Reason: Spanish FacturaE invoices require XAdES digital signature with a valid Spanish digital certificate from an accredited Certification Authority. This requires: 1) Obtaining a valid certificate, 2) Using invoicing software that supports XAdES signing.
What is ES-R-004?
ES-R-004 is a fatal validation rule defined in the facturae specification (ESP national rules). It validates the ds:Signature element under fe:Facturae in the UBL invoice XML.
When this rule fires, the invoice is non-compliant and will be rejected by Peppol access points and national validation services. The sending system receives a rejection response and the invoice does not reach the buyer.
Target path: XPath: /fe:Facturae/ds:Signature
Why This Error Matters
Spanish law requires digital signature on e-invoices.
ES-R-004 is a hard failure. Invoices that trigger this rule are rejected at the access point and never reach the recipient. In Peppol networks, this means your sending system receives an MLR (Message Level Response) with a rejection status. The invoice must be corrected and re-sent, adding delay to your payment cycle.
Validator Behavior
- ·Causes invoice rejection
- ·Error returned: ES-R-004
- ·Specification: facturae
How to Fix It
Get certificate
Spanish recognized certificate
Apply XAdES
Sign with XAdES-EPES minimum
XML Example
Generic example based on the rule's target XPath. Your actual XML structure may differ.
<!-- Triggers validation error --> <ds:Signature></ds:Signature>
<!-- Corrected --> <ds:Signature>VALID_VALUE</ds:Signature>
Technical Reference
XPath: /fe:Facturae/ds:SignatureCommon Causes
- ·Missing signature
- ·Invalid certificate
- ·Wrong signature type
Seeing this in production? The API handles ES-R-004 automatically. See the fix response →
Frequently Asked Questions
Spanish FacturaE invoices require XAdES digital signature.
Sign invoice with valid XAdES-EPES or XAdES-T signature. You can also use Invoice Navigator's automatic Fixer tool to correct this instantly.
Yes, ES-R-004 is a critical error that will cause invoice rejection. It must be fixed before submission.
Related Errors
Last updated: 27 February 2026
Handle ES-R-004 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.