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BT-25 Preceding invoice reference

Reference to an earlier invoice that this invoice corrects, supplements, or continues.

Quick answer

Invoice basics

Core document identifiers, dates, process identifiers, and high-level invoice context.

Quick actions

In plain language

Reference to an earlier invoice that this invoice corrects, supplements, or continues.

Reference to an earlier invoice that this invoice corrects, supplements, or continues.

This field is important for credit notes, corrections, and chains of invoices such as partial or final invoicing.

What you usually enter here

Referenced invoice number

Typical valid values include: INV-2025-991

Optional according to EN 16931-1, but required by the business scenario when the invoice refers back to another invoice.

What goes wrong often

Avoid values like: , AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Examples in context

This field is important for credit notes, corrections, and chains of invoices such as partial or final invoicing.

Optional according to EN 16931-1, but required by the business scenario when the invoice refers back to another invoice.

Valid Examples

  • INV-2025-991

Invalid Examples

  • AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

XML mapping and field facts

Open the technical reference if you need XML paths, validator rule codes, legal wording, or schema-specific mapping details.

Field ID:

BT-25

Data Type:

text

Cardinality:

0..1

Requirement:

Optional

Max Length:

50 characters

Since Version:

Optional

XML Implementation

UBL 2.1 Syntax
/Invoice/cac:BillingReference/cac:InvoiceDocumentReference/cbc:ID
CII (UN/CEFACT) Syntax
/CrossIndustryInvoice/SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:InvoiceReferencedDocument/ram:IssuerAssignedID

Next step

Create an XRechnung from your PDF

The converter reads the invoice and shows the fields it found before download, so you can check and correct the values. No PDF? Fill in the XRechnung directly in the form.

Download requires an account. Subscriptions from €10/month with annual billing (excl. taxes), or €5 per conversion (excl. taxes) without a subscription.

Why the standard cares about this field

Business Context

This field is important for credit notes, corrections, and chains of invoices such as partial or final invoicing.

Legal Requirement

Optional according to EN 16931-1, but required by the business scenario when the invoice refers back to another invoice.

Official sources and tools