PEPPOL-EN16931-R100: More than one invoiced object identifier on a line

StandardPeppol BIS Billing 3.0 (OpenPeppol)SeverityError: the invoice is rejectedSyntaxUBL, CIIApplies toInvoices and credit notes sent over the Peppol network (UBL) and, because XRechnung embeds the Peppol rule set, every XRechnung as well.

Official rule text

[PEPPOL-EN16931-R100] Only one invoiced object is allowed pr line

Why this error occurs

An invoice line may reference at most one invoiced object (BT-128), such as a meter number, subscription or contract item. The rule counts cac:DocumentReference inside cac:InvoiceLine / cac:CreditNoteLine (UBL) or ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement/ram:AdditionalReferencedDocument with ram:TypeCode 130 (CII) and fails above one. It typically appears when an ERP exports every related document (delivery note, contract, meter) as a line document reference.

How to fix it

Keep only one cac:DocumentReference per line, with cbc:ID (and schemeID if you use a scheme) and cbc:DocumentTypeCode 130. Move other references to their proper fields: order line to cac:OrderLineReference/cbc:LineID (BT-132), delivery note to the header cac:DespatchDocumentReference (BT-16), contract to header cac:ContractDocumentReference (BT-12). Extra descriptive data can go into cac:Item/cac:AdditionalItemProperty. In CII limit ram:AdditionalReferencedDocument[TypeCode=130] to one per line.

Example (valid)

<cac:InvoiceLine>
  <cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID>
  ...
  <cac:DocumentReference>
    <cbc:ID schemeID="AUN">METER-00123</cbc:ID>
    <cbc:DocumentTypeCode>130</cbc:DocumentTypeCode>
  </cac:DocumentReference>
</cac:InvoiceLine>

What the validator checks

Checked element (context):

UBL

cac:InvoiceLine | cac:CreditNoteLine

Test (XPath):

(count(cac:DocumentReference) <= 1)

CII

ram:IncludedSupplyChainTradeLineItem

Test (XPath):

count(ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement/ram:AdditionalReferencedDocument[ram:TypeCode='130']) <=1

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Same check via API:

curl -F file=@invoice.xml https://einvoicechecker.com/v1/validate

Related rules

PEPPOL-EN16931-R001 Business process identifier (BT-23) is missing
PEPPOL-EN16931-R002 No more than one note is allowed on document level, unless both the buyer and seller…
PEPPOL-EN16931-R003 Neither buyer reference nor purchase order reference given
PEPPOL-EN16931-R004 Specification identifier is not the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 identifier
PEPPOL-EN16931-R005 VAT accounting currency equals the invoice currency
PEPPOL-EN16931-R006 Only one invoiced object is allowed on document level
PEPPOL-EN16931-R007 Business process identifier has the wrong format
PEPPOL-EN16931-R008 Document contains empty elements

Frequently asked questions

What does PEPPOL-EN16931-R100 mean?

PEPPOL-EN16931-R100 is a peppol bis billing 3.0 rule: Only one invoiced object is allowed pr line

Will my invoice be rejected because of PEPPOL-EN16931-R100?

Yes. PEPPOL-EN16931-R100 is flagged "fatal"; validators (KoSIT, Peppol access points, the German ZRE/OZG-RE portals) reject the invoice until it is fixed.

Which formats does PEPPOL-EN16931-R100 apply to?

Invoices and credit notes sent over the Peppol network (UBL) and, because XRechnung embeds the Peppol rule set, every XRechnung as well. Syntax: UBL and CII.

Source: Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.20 (November 2025). Catalogue generated from the official schematron on 2026-10-14.