CEN/TC 434 - Project Committee - Electronic Invoicing

The European Commission will in its project “VAT in the digital age” mandate that VAT reporting on intra-EU transactions is performed in near real time and based on EN 16931. This document defines the impact of this legislation on the various deliverables of CEN/TC 434, with a focus on the subset to be sent to tax authorities and how EN 16931-1 will need to be changed.
NOTE 1   The ViDA proposal only applies to EU member states.
This document does not define the subset of the electronic invoice to be sent to the authorities.
NOTE 2   The definition of that subset is a task of the European Commission. As the subset message is not an invoice, but a VAT report, it is not regarded as a Core Invoice Usage Specification (CIUS). The subset therefore needs not to obey the rules for developing a CIUS. For example, not all mandatory elements in the invoice need to be part of the subset.

This document establishes a semantic data model of an e-receipt or a simplified electronic invoice.
NOTE   In the remainder of this document, when “e-receipt” is mentioned, “simplified invoice” is also meant.
The semantic model includes essential information elements that an electronic receipt needs to ensure legal (including fiscal) compliance and to enable interoperability for cross-border, cross sector and domestic trade. The semantic model can be used by organizations in the private and the public sector for documenting by issuing a receipt for the purchase of services and /or goods. It can also be used for documenting a purchase between private sector enterprises. In addition, it has been designed for the use of consumers.

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.

This document specifies the mapping between the semantic model of an electronic invoice, included in EN 16931-1 and the UBL 2.1 syntax (ISO/IEC 19845). For each element in the semantic model (including sub-elements or supplementary components such as Identification scheme identifiers) it is defined which element in the syntax is to be used to contain its information contents. Any mismatches between semantics, format, cardinality or structure are indicated.

This document specifies the mapping between the semantic model of an electronic invoice, included in EN 16931 1 and the Cross Industry Invoice in the UN/CEFACT XML syntax. For each element in the semantic model (including sub-elements or supplementary components such as Identification scheme identifiers) it is defined which element in the syntax is to be used to contain its information contents. Any mismatches between semantics, format, cardinality or structure are indicated.

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.

This documents specifies the mapping between the semantic model of an electronic invoice, included in EN 16931-1 and the ISO 9735 (UN/EDIFACT) syntax. For each element in the semantic model (including sub-elements or supplementary components such as Identification scheme identifiers) it is defined which element in the syntax is to be used to contain its information contents. Any mismatches between semantics, format, cardinality or structure are indicated.

This document applies in case a CIUS is produced as a specification with the objective of registering it in the appropriate registry. This document also establishes requirements for the steps to be taken in the process of creating Core Invoice Usage Specifications (CIUS) as defined in EN 16931-1. Furthermore, this document provides guidance for the creation and implementation of a CIUS.
The following points are the focus:
-   steps that need to be taken in consideration to avoid unnecessary proliferation and fragmentation in the use of CIUSs;
-   guidance on the creation and implementation of CIUSs, with a quality control objective.
It should be noted that it is planned to apply the same principles and processes to extensions that are documented in a separate document.

0.1   Introduction
Directive 2014/55/EU states the following: "The standard shall be tested as to its practical application for an end user. The Commission shall retain overall responsibility for the testing and shall ensure that, during the performance of the test, special account be taken of the respect for the criteria of practicality, user-friendliness and possible implementation costs in accordance with the second subparagraph of paragraph 1.
0.2   In scope
This CEN Technical Report describes the methodology used for testing at a semantic level and at the syntax level, as well as describing the semantic testing, the syntax testing and testing of the validation artefacts that represent EN 16931-1 and the test results. The testing of the validation artefacts will ensure they can be used to automatically check conformance with EN 16931-1.
0.3   Out of scope
During meetings with the European Commission they agreed to supplement the testing activities as the need arises. This included the provision of a hosted GITB (Global eBusiness Interoperability Test Beds) environment for syntax testing and to run separate studies such as assessment of implementation costs. The results of these studies will be published separately by CEF.
It was agreed at earlier meetings that piloting was out of scope i.e. perform live transactions, because resources were unavailable to undertake this in the time allowed. Instead we could simulate scenarios by leveraging on the experience of our experts.
Working Group 3 (hereafter WG3) in CEN/TC 434 has produced the syntax bindings and validation artefacts, and the task of quality assurance of these deliverables has been the responsibility of WG3.
VAT issues are complex and require juridical or legal expertise. VAT is also sometimes very sectoral or even country specific. Certain sections, in the VAT Directive, apply to all trades, others deal with special cases. The model should facilitate, but cannot be seen as an enforcement model. Therefore, VAT compliance would have to be checked on a case by case basis, and is deemed out of scope. The Commission had taken this up and given the draft to their VAT experts. The result was that no issues were discovered.
Article 226(B) of the VAT Directive [2] describes the simplified invoice. There are significantly fewer requirements for this invoice. It can only be used when the value is below a specific total amount. The requirement is to provide a model for low value purchases such as train tickets, receipts etc. The key difference is that it doesn’t require the Buyer to be identified. Due to limited resources the simplified invoice requirements were not checked and so are being considered as an extension to be developed at a future stage.
The changing between form and format was discussed. It was generally agreed, based on the VAT Directive, that an eInvoice cannot change form i.e. transformed to paper, however it can change format i.e. syntax. This is common in EDI systems and for legal reasons the original needs to be clarified. This means if it is in paper form it shall be archived in paper form and if it is electronic it shall stay in electronic form. An electronic invoice may change format, provided this is documented in an audit trail. However, in Norway and France the legislation states that the format received from the Supplier is the original and no other. Also, general practice in Germany requires that the invoice received from the Supplier be archived and considered as the original. There may be other exceptions in some Member States. This was also considered to be out of scope for this document and would be dealt with by the Member State involved.
It was agreed at an initial Plenary session that we should test all four syntaxes as the decision to select syntaxes had not yet been made. However ultimately the group concluded, based on our research, that the ISO 20022 Financial Invoice was not in sufficient use to justify being included.

This Technical Specification (TS) specifies the methodology of the mapping between the semantic model of an electronic invoice, included in EN 16931-1 and a syntax. For each element in the semantic model (including sub-elements or supplementary components such as Identification scheme identifiers) it should be defined which element in the syntax is to be used to contain its information contents. Any mismatches between semantics, format, cardinality or structure are indicated.

This Technical Report describes how trading partners may extend the core invoice model and the related business rules and code lists, in order to support business cases that are specific to their trading environment, while at the same time maintaining semantic interoperability with the core invoice model.
This Technical Report does not define a methodology for creation of core invoice usage specification, nor does it describe the detailed process of syntax binding.

This Technical Report recommends a set of Guidelines to ensure interoperability at the transmission level to be used in conjunction with the European Norm (EN) for the semantic data model of the core elements of an electronic invoice and its other associated deliverables. The Guidelines are by nature non-prescriptive and non-binding.
These Guidelines take into account the following aspects:
1)   recommending best practices for use at the transmission level;
2)   supporting interoperability between all the parties and systems that need to interact and within the various operating models in common use;
3)   ensuring a level playing field for the various operating models and bi-lateral implementations and for the use of existing and future infrastructures, which support e-Invoicing;
4)   promoting a common terminology and non-proprietary standards for transmission and related areas;
5)   ensuring the authenticity of origin and integrity of electronic invoice content;
6)   providing guidance on data protection, on the enablement of format conversion, and on e-invoice legibility, including the use of a readable visual presentations, as required;
7)   providing guidance for identification, addressing and routing;
8)   identifying requirements for robust legal frameworks and governance arrangements;
9)   recognizing the roles of trading parties, solution and service providers and related infrastructure providers.
The Objectives of the Guidelines are:
10)   to support the implementation of the EU Directive 2014/55/EU on e-Invoicing and the core invoice model;
11)   to propose best practices and recommendations for standards to enable electronic exchange of e-Invoices and related data between participants by providing a basis for interoperability at the transmission level, based on common requirements and scenarios;
12)   to facilitate Straight Through Processing (STP) by the key actors in the supply chain (Buyers, Sellers, Tax Authorities, Agents, Banks, Service and Solution Providers, etc.);
13)   to provide a set of non-prescriptive and non-binding Guidelines and recommendations that are applicable to all common operating models for e-invoice exchange and transmission whilst also providing recommendations specific to each of the common operating models.
To accomplish these objectives, the Guidelines are based on the following Requirements and Guiding Principles:
14)   the need to cover the transmission of e-invoices and related documents from the system of the sending trading party to the system of the receiving trading party, including transmission issues for any intermediary platforms;
15)   the need to allow any seller in any European (EU, EEA and Switzerland) country to deliver invoices to any buyer in any location in another European country (EU, EEA and Switzerland);
16)   the need to support all common invoicing processes and modes of operation;
17)   the need to be compatible with the current legislative and regulatory environment for the exchange of e-Invoices and related data;
18)   the need to support the European Norm and other commonly accepted content standards;
19)   the need to ensure that other document exchanges beyond e-Invoicing can be supported;
20)   the need to establish clear boundaries between the collaborative and competitive domains;
21)   the need to enable competition between business models, solutions and service providers and foster innovation;
22)   the need to ensure that European supply chains remain an integrated and competitive part of the global economy;
23)   the need to promote network effects leading to the development of critical mass as e-Invoicing becomes the dominant mode of invoicing (network effects result in a service becoming more valuable as more trading parties use it, thus creating a virtuous circle and further momentum for adoption).
The following items are considered to be in the competitive domain and therefore out of scope of the Recommendations:
(....)

This Technical Specification provides in Clause 7 the list of syntaxes that complies with and allows to express syntactically the core invoice model as specified in EN 16931 1:2017, according to the selection criteria provided by the Standardization Request [1].
The selection of the syntaxes also derived from the Standardization Request [1]. It states that, to limit costs on public authorities, the list should ideally not exceed five syntaxes. Four syntaxes were taken into account and assessed according to criteria provided by the Standardization Request [1].

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.

2018-07-16 SW: The length of the corrigenda does not allow its consolidation.
TC - multiple editorial mistakes to be corrected

This CEN Technical Specification (TS) contains the mapping between the semantic data model of an electronic invoice (EN 16931-1) and the following syntax: UBL 2.1. For each element in the semantic model (including sub-elements or supplementary componentts sucha as Code List identifiers) it is defined which element in the syntax is to be used to contain its information contents. Any mismatches between semantics, format, cardinality or structure are indicated. Any rules to be followed when using the specific syntax are stated informally in this TS. Together with this TS a set of validation artefacts is published, including formalisation of the rules.

This CEN Technical Specification (TS) contains the mapping between the semantic data model of an electronic invoice (EN 16931-1) and the following syntax: UN/CEFACT XML Cross Industry Invoice D16B. For each element in the semantic model (including sub-elements or supplementary componentts sucha as Code List identifiers) it is defined which element in the syntax is to be used to contain its information contents. Any mismatches between semantics, format, cardinality or structure are indicated. Any rules to be followed when using the specific syntax are stated informally in this TS. Together with this TS a set of validation artefacts is published, including formalisation of the rules.

This CEN Technical Specification (TS) contains the mapping between the semantic data model of an electronic invoice (EN 16931-1) and the following syntax: UN/EDIFACT INVOIC D16B. For each element in the semantic model (including sub-elements or supplementary componentts sucha as Code List identifiers) it is defined which element in the syntax is to be used to contain its information contents. Any mismatches between semantics, format, cardinality or structure are indicated. Any rules to be followed when using the specific syntax are stated informally in this TS. Together with this TS a set of validation artefacts is published, including formalisation of the rules.

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.