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UBL Invoice Integration Guide for Partners

Haima Ambily
  • Updated

Introduction

This article describes the minimum requirements for sending UBL invoices to the Semine DocFlow system. Use this as a starting point for your integration. 

SEMINE supports receiving and processing electronic invoices and credit notes that comply with PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 (UBL 2.1). This includes all valid EHF invoices, which represent the Norwegian implementation of PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0.

Note: In SEMINE, all PEPPOL-compliant UBL invoices and credit notes are supported, including but not limited to the Norwegian EHF format.

The PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 and EHF invoices received by SEMINE include a Standard Business Document (SBD) envelope that wraps the UBL XML content. For more details, refer to the Standard Business Document (SBD).

Minimal valid UBL invoice example

<h2 id="h_01K8SX2YBV0366H94B94Y83B40">Minimal valid UBL invoice example</h2>
<pre><code class="language-auto"><Invoice xmlns:cbc="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CommonBasicComponents-2"
        xmlns:cac="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CommonAggregateComponents-2"
        xmlns="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2>

    <cbc:CustomizationID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017</cbc:CustomizationID>
    <cbc:ProfileID>urn:generic:billing:1.0</cbc:ProfileID>
    <cbc:ID>INV-10001</cbc:ID>
    <cbc:IssueDate>2025-10-27</cbc:IssueDate>
    <cbc:DueDate>2025-11-26</cbc:DueDate>
    <cbc:InvoiceTypeCode>380</cbc:InvoiceTypeCode>
    <cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>EUR</cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>

    <cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
        <cac:Party>
            <cac:PartyName>
                <cbc:Name>Example Supplier Ltd.</cbc:Name>
            </cac:PartyName>
            <cac:PartyLegalEntity>
                <cbc:CompanyID>123456789</cbc:CompanyID>
            </cac:PartyLegalEntity>
            <cac:Contact>
                <cbc:ElectronicMail>info@example-supplier.eu</cbc:ElectronicMail>
            </cac:Contact>
        </cac:Party>
    </cac:AccountingSupplierParty>

    <cac:AccountingCustomerParty>
        <cac:Party>
            <cac:PartyName>
                <cbc:Name>Example Customer Corp.</cbc:Name>
            </cac:PartyName>
            <cac:PartyLegalEntity>
                <cbc:CompanyID>987654321</cbc:CompanyID>
            </cac:PartyLegalEntity>
        </cac:Party>
    </cac:AccountingCustomerParty>

    <cac:TaxTotal>
        <cbc:TaxAmount currencyID="EUR">337.50</cbc:TaxAmount>
    </cac:TaxTotal>

    <cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
        <cbc:PayableAmount currencyID="EUR">1688.00</cbc:PayableAmount>
    </cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>

    <cac:InvoiceLine>
        <cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:InvoicedQuantity unitCode="EA">1.00</cbc:InvoicedQuantity>
        <cac:Item>
            <cbc:Name>Generic Service Description</cbc:Name>
        </cac:Item>
        <cac:Price>
            <cbc:PriceAmount currencyID="EUR">1350.00</cbc:PriceAmount>
        </cac:Price>
    </cac:InvoiceLine>

</Invoice>
</code></pre>

Field requirements and structure

Document header fields

UBL / EHF Field SEMINE Field Description Example
<cbc:ID> Invoice Number Unique invoice identifier used as the primary reference in SEMINE. INV-10001
<cbc:IssueDate> Invoice Date Date when the invoice was issued. 2025-10-27
<cbc:DueDate> Due Date Date when the payment is due. 2025-11-26
<cbc:InvoiceTypeCode> Invoice Type Defines document type (380 = Invoice, 381 = Credit Note). 380
<cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode> Currency Currency applied to the invoice totals. EUR

Supplier information (sender)

UBL / EHF Field SEMINE Field Description Example
<cac:AccountingSupplierParty>/<cac:Party>/<cac:PartyName>/<cbc:Name> Supplier Name Displayed as supplier in the invoice header. Example Supplier Ltd.
<cac:PartyLegalEntity>/<cbc:CompanyID> Organization Number Used for supplier matching in the SEMINE supplier register. 1234567890
<cac:Contact>/<cbc:ElectronicMail> Supplier Contact Email Stored as metadata; not used for matching. info@example-supplier.eu

Customer information (receiver)

UBL / EHF Field SEMINE Field Description Example
<cac:AccountingCustomerParty>/<cac:Party>/<cac:PartyName>/<cbc:Name> Client Name Displayed as client name in the invoice header. Example Customer Corp.
<cac:PartyLegalEntity>/<cbc:CompanyID> Client Organization Number Used to identify the receiving company in SEMINE. 0987654321

Invoice lines (at least one required)

UBL / EHF Field SEMINE Field Description Example
<cac:InvoiceLine>/<cbc:ID> Line ID Unique line identifier within the invoice. 1
<cbc:InvoicedQuantity> Quantity Number of units or services billed. 1.00
<cac:Item>/<cbc:Name> Line Description Description of goods or services. Generic Service Description
<cac:Price>/<cbc:PriceAmount> Unit Price Price per unit or service line. 1350.00

Total amounts

UBL / EHF Field SEMINE Field Description Example
<cac:TaxTotal>/<cbc:TaxAmount> VAT Total Displays VAT total used in validation. 337.50
<cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>/<cbc:PayableAmount> Invoice Total Total amount payable (including VAT and rounding). 1688.00
Tip: Ensure that the supplier organization number and currency match the records in SEMINE for successful classification.

Common unit codes

Code Description
EA Each (unit)
HUR Hour
DAY Day

Common currency codes

Code Currency
NOK Norwegian Krone
SEK Swedish Krona
EUR Euro

Common validation errors

Error message What is wrong How to fix
Missing invoice number No ID element Add <ID> with a unique invoice number
Missing issue date No IssueDate element Add <IssueDate> in YYYY-MM-DD format
Invalid currency code Currency not recognized Use valid ISO 4217 code (NOK, EUR, USD)
Supplier organization number required Missing or invalid CompanyID Add numeric-only organization number (8–11 digits)
Customer organization number required Missing or invalid CompanyID Add numeric-only organization number (8–11 digits)
Invalid organization number format Contains letters or wrong length Remove country codes; use only digits
No invoice lines found No InvoiceLine elements Add at least one invoice line
Missing line amount No LineExtensionAmount Add line total amount
Missing total amount No PayableAmount Add total payable amount

Organization number format by country

Country Length Format Valid example Invalid example
Norway 🇳🇴 9 digits Numeric only 123456789 NO123456789MVA
Sweden 🇸🇪 10 digits Numeric only 1234567890 SE123456789001
Denmark 🇩🇰 8 digits Numeric only 12345678 DK12345678
Finland 🇫🇮 8 digits Format: 1234567-8 1234567-8 FI12345678

See Also: Peppol Code Lists - Participant identifier schemes

Optional but recommended fields

Payment information

<PaymentMeans>
  <PaymentMeansCode>31</PaymentMeansCode>
  <PayeeFinancialAccount>
    <ID schemeID="BBAN">12345678901</ID>
  </PayeeFinancialAccount>
</PaymentMeans>

Due date

<PaymentTerms>
  <PaymentDueDate>2024-04-15</PaymentDueDate>
</PaymentTerms>

Tax details

<TaxTotal>
  <TaxAmount currencyID="NOK">250.00</TaxAmount>
  <TaxSubtotal>
    <TaxableAmount currencyID="NOK">1000.00</TaxableAmount>
    <TaxAmount currencyID="NOK">250.00</TaxAmount>
    <TaxCategory>
      <ID>S</ID>
      <Percent>25.0</Percent>
      <TaxScheme>
        <ID>VAT</ID>
      </TaxScheme>
    </TaxCategory>
  </TaxSubtotal>
</TaxTotal>

Purchase order reference

<OrderReference>
  <ID>PO-2024-001</ID>
</OrderReference>

Need more information?

For detailed technical documentation, see the related articles below:

Related articles

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