Mandatory e-invoice fields compared

Which field is mandatory in XRechnung, conditional in Peppol BIS and optional in ZUGFeRD? Every business term of EN 16931 side by side, checked against XRechnung 3.0.2, Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.21 and ZUGFeRD 2.5.2.

All 164 BT fields of EN 16931 in one table

Three formats side by side: mandatory, conditional or optional

Search and filter down to the fields you actually need

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XRechnung 3.0.2 · Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.21 · ZUGFeRD 2.5.2 (EN 16931 and XRechnung profile)

The basics

One data model, three specifications

The table below shows, for every field of EN 16931, how the three common formats treat it.

What a BT field is

EN 16931 describes what an electronic invoice contains. Every piece of data has its own identifier, the business term: BT-1 is the invoice number, BT-112 the total with VAT. All three formats carry the same model; only the syntax differs.

Why the columns differ

EN 16931 leaves room, and the national specifications use it differently. XRechnung requires fields that Peppol BIS only demands for purely German invoices, and that stay optional in the EN 16931 profile of ZUGFeRD.

Which versions were checked

Column 1: XRechnung 3.0.2, identical to the XRechnung profile of ZUGFeRD 2.5.2. Column 2: Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.21. Column 3: ZUGFeRD 2.5.2 in the EN 16931 profile.

Mandatory field

Must be filled in every invoice of this format.

Conditionally mandatory field

Mandatory if the condition specified in the footnote applies.

–

Optional

May be filled in but is not required.

The small markers next to a tick point to the footnotes below the table. Hover or tap one to read the condition.

The table

All 164 BT fields compared

All 164 fields in one list. Tick the box to keep only what at least one of the formats requires. The format switches hide individual columns, and the list then shows only what the selected formats ask for.

Only mandatory and conditional fields

164 of 164 fields

Formats

BT

Field

XRechnung

Peppol BIS

ZUGFeRD

Invoice header and references

BT-1

Invoice number

BT-2

Invoice issue date

BT-3

Invoice type code

BT-5

Invoice currency code

BT-6

VAT accounting currency code

–

BT-7

Value added tax point date

–

BT-8

Value added tax point date code

–

BT-9

Payment due date

–

BT-10

Buyer reference (Leitweg-ID)

BT-11

Project reference

–

BT-12

Contract reference

–

BT-13

Purchase order reference

BT-14

Sales order reference

–

BT-15

Receiving advice reference

–

BT-16

Despatch advice reference

–

BT-17

Tender or lot reference

–

BT-18

Invoiced object identifier

–

BT-19

Buyer accounting reference

–

BT-20

Payment terms

–

BT-21

Invoice note subject code

–

BT-22

Invoice note

–

BT-23

Business process type

–

BT-24

Specification identifier

–

BT-25

Preceding invoice reference

–

BT-26

Preceding invoice issue date

–

Seller

BT-27

Seller name

BT-28

Seller trading name

–

BT-29

Seller identifier

BT-30

Seller legal registration identifier

BT-31

Seller VAT identifier

BT-32

Seller tax registration identifier

BT-33

Seller additional legal information

–

BT-34

Seller electronic address

–

BT-35

Seller address line 1

–

BT-36

Seller address line 2

–

BT-37

Seller city

–

BT-38

Seller post code

–

BT-39

Seller country subdivision

–

BT-40

Seller country code

BT-41

Seller contact point

–

BT-42

Seller contact telephone number

–

BT-43

Seller contact email address

–

BT-162

Seller address line 3

–

Buyer

BT-44

Buyer name

BT-45

Buyer trading name

–

BT-46

Buyer identifier

–

BT-47

Buyer legal registration identifier

–

BT-48

Buyer VAT identifier

–

BT-49

Buyer electronic address

–

BT-50

Buyer address line 1

–

BT-51

Buyer address line 2

–

BT-52

Buyer city

–

BT-53

Buyer post code

–

BT-54

Buyer country subdivision

–

BT-55

Buyer country code

BT-56

Buyer contact point

–

BT-57

Buyer contact telephone number

–

BT-58

Buyer contact email address

–

BT-163

Buyer address line 3

–

Payee

BT-59

Payee name

–

BT-60

Payee identifier

–

BT-61

Payee legal registration identifier

–

Seller tax representative

BT-62

Seller tax representative name

–

BT-63

Seller tax representative VAT identifier

–

BT-64

Tax representative address line 1

–

BT-65

Tax representative address line 2

–

BT-66

Tax representative city

–

BT-67

Tax representative post code

–

BT-68

Tax representative country subdivision

–

BT-69

Tax representative country code

–

BT-164

Tax representative address line 3

–

Delivery and invoicing period

BT-70

Deliver to party name

–

BT-71

Deliver to location identifier

–

BT-72

Actual delivery date

–

BT-73

Invoicing period start date

–

BT-74

Invoicing period end date

–

BT-75

Deliver to address line 1

–

BT-76

Deliver to address line 2

–

BT-77

Deliver to city

–

BT-78

Deliver to post code

–

BT-79

Deliver to country subdivision

–

BT-80

Deliver to country code

–

BT-165

Deliver to address line 3

–

Payment

BT-81

Payment means type code

–

BT-82

Payment means text

–

BT-83

Remittance information

–

BT-84

Payment account identifier

–

BT-85

Payment account name

–

BT-86

Payment service provider identifier

–

BT-87

Payment card primary account number

–

BT-88

Payment card holder name

–

BT-89

Mandate reference identifier

–

BT-90

Bank assigned creditor identifier

–

BT-91

Debited account identifier

–

Document level allowances and charges

BT-92

Document level allowance amount

–

BT-93

Document level allowance base amount

–

BT-94

Document level allowance percentage

–

BT-95

Document level allowance VAT category code

–

BT-96

Document level allowance VAT rate

–

BT-97

Document level allowance reason

–

BT-98

Document level allowance reason code

–

BT-99

Document level charge amount

–

BT-100

Document level charge base amount

–

BT-101

Document level charge percentage

–

BT-102

Document level charge VAT category code

–

BT-103

Document level charge VAT rate

–

BT-104

Document level charge reason

–

BT-105

Document level charge reason code

–

Totals and amounts

BT-106

Sum of invoice line net amount

BT-107

Sum of allowances on document level

–

BT-108

Sum of charges on document level

–

BT-109

Invoice total amount without VAT

BT-110

Invoice total VAT amount

BT-111

Invoice total VAT amount in accounting currency

–

BT-112

Invoice total amount with VAT

BT-113

Paid amount

–

BT-114

Rounding amount

–

BT-115

Amount due for payment

VAT breakdown

BT-116

VAT category taxable amount

BT-117

VAT category tax amount

BT-118

VAT category code

BT-119

VAT category rate

BT-120

VAT exemption reason text

–

BT-121

VAT exemption reason code

–

Supporting documents

BT-122

Supporting document reference

–

BT-123

Supporting document description

–

BT-124

External document location

–

BT-125

Attached document

–

Invoice line

BT-126

Invoice line identifier

BT-127

Invoice line note

–

BT-128

Invoice line object identifier

–

BT-129

Invoiced quantity

BT-130

Invoiced quantity unit of measure code

BT-131

Invoice line net amount

BT-132

Referenced purchase order line reference

–

BT-133

Invoice line buyer accounting reference

–

BT-134

Invoice line period start date

–

BT-135

Invoice line period end date

–

BT-136

Invoice line allowance amount

–

BT-137

Invoice line allowance base amount

–

BT-138

Invoice line allowance percentage

–

BT-139

Invoice line allowance reason

–

BT-140

Invoice line allowance reason code

–

BT-141

Invoice line charge amount

–

BT-142

Invoice line charge base amount

–

BT-143

Invoice line charge percentage

–

BT-144

Invoice line charge reason

–

BT-145

Invoice line charge reason code

–

Item price and line VAT

BT-146

Item net price

BT-147

Item price discount

–

BT-148

Item gross price

–

BT-149

Item price base quantity

–

BT-150

Item price base quantity unit of measure code

–

BT-151

Invoiced item VAT category code

BT-152

Invoiced item VAT rate

–

Item details

BT-153

Item name

BT-154

Item description

–

BT-155

Item Seller's identifier

–

BT-156

Item Buyer's identifier

–

BT-157

Item standard identifier

–

BT-158

Item classification identifier

–

BT-159

Item country of origin

–

BT-160

Item attribute name

–

BT-161

Item attribute value

–

No field found. Try another spelling or a BT number.

Footnotes

*1At least one of the two fields must be filled in.

*2To identify the seller, at least one of the three fields must be filled in. BT-31 satisfies both identification requirements at once.

*3Details for one of the two types of tax registration must be provided: tax number or VAT identifier.

*4Mandatory with one exception: VAT category „O“ (not subject to VAT) in BT-118 or BT-151.

DEIn Peppol BIS Billing mandatory only for purely German invoices (German seller to German buyer).

Based on EN 16931 and the specifications XRechnung 3.0.2, Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.21 and ZUGFeRD 2.5.2. Without warranty. The applicable specification always takes precedence.

In practice

What happens when not all mandatory fields are filled in?

The invoice comes back

If a mandatory field is missing, the recipient rejects the invoice. You start again, and the payment term only restarts with the corrected document.

The network checks too

A Peppol access point will not even deliver a document that fails validation. The error shows up when you send, not in your accounting.

National rules come on top

EN 16931 is only the base. XRechnung tightens it: buyer reference, payment means, seller contact details.

While building an integration

If your ERP produces the file, a validation report shows exactly which field the mapping leaves empty, long before the first invoice goes out.

Validate your file against these rules

The e-invoice validator reports every missing mandatory field, specifying the rule and its location.

Go to Validator

From checking to sending

Invoices that pass the check

This table tells you which fields are required. The platform makes sure they are filled: conversion, validation and delivery over Peppol, e-mail or API, straight from your own system.

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Conversion between XRechnung, ZUGFeRD, Peppol BIS and PDF

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