The 24 terms you actually meet while making e-invoicing work, in plain language.
Each one is written from something we had to get right to ship rather than from a specification summary, and where we have a check for the thing being defined, the entry links to it. That is the difference between this and the other Factur-X glossaries: you can go and test the claim on your own file.
ZUGFeRD is the German name for the same hybrid invoice specification as Factur-X. Since 2.1 they are aligned, so a file valid as one is valid as the other.
XRechnung is a German national narrowing of EN 16931. A file can pass EN 16931 and still be rejected as XRechnung, because the CIUS adds rules of its own.
A CIUS narrows EN 16931 for a country or a network. It can make optional fields mandatory, which is why a valid European invoice can still be refused.
The European standard every e-invoicing mandate is built on: which fields an invoice has, what they mean and the 223 rules they must satisfy.
Cross Industry Invoice is the UN/CEFACT XML syntax that Factur-X and ZUGFeRD embed. It is one of the two syntaxes EN 16931 can be expressed in.
Universal Business Language is the OASIS XML syntax used across PEPPOL and much public sector invoicing. It expresses the same EN 16931 model as CII.
PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 is a CIUS on EN 16931 plus a delivery network. It adds rules of its own, so EN 16931 validity does not imply PEPPOL validity.
Factur-X requires PDF/A-3, an archival PDF that permits embedded files. Exporting a normal PDF does not produce one, and the difference is invisible.
Factur-X profiles differ by how much of the invoice reaches the XML. MINIMUM carries almost nothing; EN 16931 is what the mandates expect.
BT-24 is the URN inside an e-invoice declaring which ruleset it follows. It is read first, and it decides which validation rules apply.
A PDF attachment declares its relationship to the document. Factur-X expects Data for the smallest profiles and Alternative for the richer ones.
Every field in an EN 16931 invoice has a BT number and every group has a BG number. Error messages use them, so they are worth decoding.
Every invoice line states its quantity in a coded unit from a fixed list. C62 is a plain count, HUR is hours, KGM is kilograms.
An allowance is a deduction, a charge is an addition. Both need a reason, and both must be reflected in the totals and the VAT breakdown.
Every invoice line declares a VAT category code, and each carries its own conditions. It is the largest single source of EN 16931 failures.
Reverse charge shifts VAT accounting to the buyer. On an EN 16931 invoice it means category AE, a zero rate and a stated exemption reason.
When VAT is not charged, EN 16931 requires the invoice to say why. Exempt, reverse charge, intra-community and export all need a reason.
Schematron is a rule language for XML. EN 16931 publishes its 223 business rules in it, which makes compliance a definite question.
veraPDF is the open source reference checker for PDF/A conformance. It is what answers whether a Factur-X container is really PDF/A-3.
XMP is the metadata block inside a PDF. Factur-X uses an extension schema so a reader knows the file is Factur-X before opening any attachment.
An accredited platform that issues, transmits and receives your invoices under the French mandate. Every business needs one from 1 September 2026.
The Portail Public de Facturation is the French directory that routes invoices to the right platform. It stopped being a free exchange platform in 2024.
E-reporting covers what e-invoicing does not: B2C sales and cross border transactions. Same start date, different obligation.
Chorus Pro is the French portal for invoicing the public sector, mandatory since 2020. It is not the same thing as the B2B mandate.
Factur-X itself and the EN 16931 rule families have their own pages rather than entries here, at /factur-x and the error reference.
