prEN 16931-1
(Main)Electronic invoicing - Part 1: Semantic data model of the core elements of an electronic invoice
Electronic invoicing - Part 1: Semantic data model of the core elements of an electronic invoice
This European Standard establishes a semantic data model of the core elements of an electronic invoice. The semantic model includes only the essential information elements that an electronic invoice needs to ensure legal (including fiscal) compliance and to enable interoperability for cross-border, cross sector and for domestic trade. The semantic model may be used by organizations in the private and the public sector for public procurement invoicing. It may also be used for invoicing between private sector enterprises. It has not been specifically designed for invoicing consumers.
This European Standard complies at least with the following criteria:
- it is technologically neutral;
- it is compatible with relevant international standards on electronic invoicing;
- the application of this standard should comply with the requirements for the protection of personal data of Directive 95/46/EC, having due regard to the principles of privacy and data protection by-design, data minimization, purpose limitation, necessity and proportionality;
- it is consistent with the relevant provisions of Directive 2006/112/EC [2];
- it allows for the establishment of practical, user-friendly, flexible and cost-efficient electronic invoicing systems;
- it takes into account the special needs of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as of sub-central contracting authorities and contracting entities;
- it is suitable for use in commercial transactions between enterprises.
Elektronische Rechnungsstellung - Teil 1: Semantisches Datenmodell der Kernelemente einer elektronischen Rechnung
Dieses Dokument führt ein semantisches Datenmodell der Kernelemente einer elektronischen Rechnung ein. Das semantische Datenmodell umfasst nur die wesentlichen Informationselemente, die eine elektronische Rechnung enthalten muss, um die rechtliche (einschließlich steuerrechtliche) Richtigkeit sicherzustellen und die Interoperabilität für den grenzüberschreitenden Handel, den branchenübergreifenden Handel und den Binnenhandel zu ermöglichen. Das semantische Datenmodell kann von Organisationen des privaten und öffentlichen Sektors bei der Rechnungsstellung für öffentliche Aufträge angewendet werden. Es kann auch bei der Rechnungsstellung zwischen Unternehmen des Privatsektors angewendet werden. Es ist nicht speziell für die Rechnungsstellung an Konsumenten ausgelegt.
Dieses Dokument Norm erfüllt mindestens die folgenden Kriterien:
es ist technologieneutral;
es ist mit den einschlägigen internationalen Normen für die elektronische Rechnungsstellung vereinbar;
die Anwendung dieser Norm sollte die Anforderungen an den Schutz von personenbezogenen Daten nach Richtlinie 95/46/EG erfüllen, unter Berücksichtigung der Grundsätze für Privatsphäre und Datenschutz durch Technik („data protection by design“), Datenbegrenzung, Zweckbegrenzung, Notwendigkeit und Verhältnismäßigkeit;
sie steht mit den einschlägigen Bestimmungen der Richtlinie 2006/112/EG [2] in Einklang;
sie ermöglicht die Einrichtung zweckmäßiger, benutzerfreundlicher, flexibler und kosteneffizienter Systeme zur elektronischen Rechnungsstellung;
sie berücksichtigt die speziellen Bedürfnisse von kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen sowie von subzentralen öffentlichen Auftraggebern und anderen Auftraggebern;
sie eignet sich für die Verwendung bei kaufmännischen Transaktionen zwischen Unternehmen.
Facturation électronique - Partie 1 : Modèle sémantique de données des éléments essentiels d'une facture électronique
Elektronsko izdajanje računov - 1. del: Semantični podatkovni model osrednjih elementov za elektronski račun
General Information
Relations
Standards Content (Sample)
SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-oktober-2025
Elektronsko izdajanje računov - 1. del: Semantični podatkovni model osrednjih
elementov za elektronski račun
Electronic invoicing - Part 1: Semantic data model of the core elements of an electronic
invoice
Elektronische Rechnungsstellung - Teil 1: Semantisches Datenmodell der Kernelemente
einer elektronischen Rechnung
Facturation électronique - Partie 1 : Modèle sémantique de données des éléments
essentiels d'une facture électronique
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 16931-1
ICS:
03.100.20 Trgovina. Komercialna Trade. Commercial function.
dejavnost. Trženje Marketing
35.240.20 Uporabniške rešitve IT pri IT applications in office work
pisarniškem delu
35.240.63 Uporabniške rešitve IT v IT applications in trade
trgovini
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.
DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
July 2025
ICS 35.240.20; 35.240.63 Will supersede EN 16931-1:2017+A1:2019
English Version
Electronic invoicing - Part 1: Semantic data model of the
core elements of an electronic invoice
Facturation électronique - Partie 1 : Modèle Elektronische Rechnungsstellung - Teil 1:
sémantique de données des éléments essentiels d'une Semantisches Datenmodell der Kernelemente einer
facture électronique elektronischen Rechnung
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 434.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.
This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.
Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2025 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 16931-1:2025 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.
Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 The concept of a core invoice . 8
4.1 The Core Invoice Model as a response to the challenge of interoperability . 8
4.2 Contents of the Core Invoice Model . 9
4.3 How to use and extend the Core Invoice Model .10
4.4 Conformance .11
5 Business processes and functionality supported by the core invoice .12
5.1 The business parties involved and their roles and relationships .12
5.2 Business process requirements supported .13
5.3 Invoicing functionality supported .22
5.4 The Core Invoice Model in relation to other documents in the procurement process
.................................................................................................................................................................29
6 The Semantic data model of the Core Elements of an Electronic Invoice and credit
note .30
6.1 Introduction .30
6.2 Legend .32
6.3 The Semantic Data Model .34
6.4 Business rules . 102
6.5 Semantic data types . 128
7 Core Invoice Usage Specification . 135
7.1 Introduction . 135
7.2 Conformance . 136
7.3 What may be specified in a CIUS . 136
7.4 Documentation of Core Invoice Usage Specifications . 138
7.5 Mapping to Syntax . 139
7.6 Identification of Core Invoice Usage Specifications . 139
Annex A (Informative) Technical changes with respect to EN 16931-1:2017 . 140
Annex B (informative) How the Semantic Data Model meets legal requirements from
relevant directives . 182
Annex C. (informative) BPMN symbols. 187
Bibliography. 189
European foreword
This document (prEN 16931-1:2025) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 434
“Electronic Invoicing”, the secretariat of which is held by NEN.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
This document has been prepared under a standardization request addressed to CEN by the European
Commission. The Standing Committee of the EFTA States subsequently approves these requests for its
Member States.
This document is part of a set of documents, consisting of:
— EN 16931-1: Electronic invoicing - Part 1: Semantic data model of the Core Elements of an Electronic
Invoice
— CEN/TS 16931-2 Electronic invoicing - Part 2: List of syntaxes that comply with EN 16931-1
— CEN/TS 16931-3-1 Electronic invoicing - Part 3-1: Methodology for syntax bindings of the Core
Elements of an Electronic Invoice
— CEN/TS 16931-3-2Electronic invoicing - Part 3-2: Syntax binding for ISO/IEC 19845 (UBL 2.1)
invoice and credit note
— CEN/TS 16931-3-3 Electronic invoicing - Part 3-3: Syntax binding for UN/CEFACT XML Cross
Industry Invoice D16B
— CEN/TS 16931-3-4 Electronic invoicing - Part 3-4: Syntax binding for UN/EDIFACT INVOIC D16B
— CEN/TR 16931-4 Electronic invoicing - Part 4: Guidelines on interoperability of Electronic Invoices
at the transmission level
— prCEN/TS 16931-5 Electronic invoicing - Part 5: Guidelines on the use of sector or country
extensions in conjunction with EN 16931-1, methodology to be applied in the real environment
— CEN/TR 16931-6 Electronic invoicing - Part 6: Result of the test of EN 16931-1 with respect to its
practical application for an end user - Testing methodology
— CEN/TS 16931-7 Electronic invoicing - Part 7: Methodology for the development and use of EN
16931-1 compliant structured Core Invoice Usage Specifications
— CEN/TS 16931-8: Electronic invoicing - Part 8: Semantic data model of the elements of an e-receipt
or a simplified electronic invoice
— CEN/TR 16931-9 Electronic invoicing - Part 9: VAT reporting and gap analysis with current e-
invoicing standardization deliverables
— FprCEN/TR 16931-10 Electronic invoicing – Part 10: Additional requirements to extend to B2B
Introduction
The European Commission estimates that “The mass adoption of e-invoicing within the EU would lead
to significant economic benefits and it is estimated that moving from paper to Electronic Invoices will
generate savings of around EUR 240 billion over a six-year period” . Based on this recognition “The
Commission wanted to see e-invoicing become the predominant method of invoicing by 2020 in
Europe.”
To achieve this goal, Directive 2014/55/EU [1] on electronic invoicing in public procurement aims at
facilitating the use of Electronic Invoices by economic operators when supplying goods, works and
services to the public administration. The Directive sets out the legal framework for the establishment
and use of a European Standard (EN) for the Semantic data model of the Core Elements of an Electronic
Invoice.
The Semantic data model of the Core Elements of an Electronic Invoice – the Core Invoice Model – as
described in this document is based on the proposition that a quite limited, but sufficient set of
Information Elements can be defined that supports generally applicable invoice-related functionalities.
These functionalities are described in Clause 5. The Core Invoice Model, as described in Clause 6,
contains Information Elements that are commonly used and accepted including those that are legally
required.
It is expected that in most situations, business partners would use the Core Invoice Model exclusively
and the invoices they send or receive would not contain any additional structured Information Elements.
However, in some sectors or situations where there are specific information requirements, the required
information may be conveyed in the form of unstructured text. Unstructured text has the drawback in
that it cannot be processed automatically and therefore requires human intervention. Alternatively, the
specific information requirements can be implemented using Information Elements that extend the Core
Invoice Model. Any such extension needs to respect the semantic descriptions in the Core Invoice Model.
Only business partners that are part of such a sector or supply chain would be expected to be able to
process the extensions. In these circumstances, it should be possible to define a number of required
additional Information Elements whilst still utilizing the Core Invoice Model concept.
In line with Directive 2014/55/EU [1] and after the publication of the reference to this document in the
Official Journal of the European Union, all contracting authorities and contracting entities in the EU will
be obliged to be able to receive and process an Electronic Invoice as long as it contains all of the
(applicable) Core Elements of an invoice defined in this European Standard (and provided that it is
represented in any of the syntaxes identified in the related Technical Specification CEN/TS 16931-2
“List of syntaxes that comply with EN 16931-1” in accordance with the request referred to in paragraph
1 of article 3 of the Directive 2014/55/EU. The inclusion of any additional information which is not
contained in the core model will be at the sender’s discretion and contained in unstructured text or
based on an extension, by agreement with the contracting entity. The inclusion of any extension in an
Electronic Invoice will be optional, and it will not form an integral part of the European Standard. See
Clause 4 below for further detail on extensions.
In 2025, the EC also proposes to amend Council Directive. 2006/112/EC [2] (the VAT directive) in order
to introduce a new method of VAT reporting for intra community trade. This method is based on
electronic invoicing, conformant to this European Norm.
By ensuring semantic interoperability of Electronic Invoices, the European Standard and its ancillary
European standardization deliverables will serve to remove market barriers and obstacles to trade
deriving from the existence of various national rules and standards – and thus contribute to the goals
set by the European Commission.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:0712:FIN:en:PDF.
oSIST prEN 16
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