PEPPOL-EN16931-R041:Discount or surcharge is missing the base amount
When you specify a percentage for a discount or surcharge, you must also provide the base amount that the percentage applies to. For example, if you give a 10% discount, the invoice must state what the 10% is calculated on.
Engine Classification
Derives base amount from amount and percentage when both are present
Confidence: 90% · Applied automatically in pipeline
What is PEPPOL-EN16931-R041?
PEPPOL-EN16931-R041 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification. It validates the BaseAmount element 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: cac:AllowanceCharge/cbc:BaseAmount
Why This Error Matters
Invoice will be rejected by PEPPOL validation. Percentage without base amount is incomplete and cannot be verified.
PEPPOL-EN16931-R041 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.
Invoice Navigator can automatically correct this error in your pipeline. The fix is applied with full audit evidence, so your compliance trail remains intact.
Validator Behavior
- ·Causes invoice rejection
- ·Error returned: PEPPOL-EN16931-R041
- ·Specification: EN 16931
How to Fix It
Find the discount or surcharge
Look at the document-level or line-level allowances/charges. One of them has a percentage but no base amount.
Calculate the base amount
If the discount amount is 50 and the percentage is 10%, the base amount is 500 (50 ÷ 0.10).
Add the base amount
Add the BaseAmount element next to the MultiplierFactorNumeric and Amount elements.
Before / After
<Invoice> <!-- Issue: Allowance/charge base amount MUST be provided when allowance --> </Invoice>
<Invoice> <!-- Issue resolved per EN 16931 --> </Invoice>
Technical Reference
cac:AllowanceCharge/cbc:BaseAmountCommon Causes
- ·ERP system exports percentage and amount but not the base amount
- ·Manual entry of discount percentage without the calculation base
- ·Template missing the BaseAmount field
Seeing this in production? The API handles PEPPOL-EN16931-R041 automatically. See the fix response →
Commonly Seen In
See Also
Related Errors
Last updated: 27 February 2026
Handle PEPPOL-EN16931-R041 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.