UBL (Universal Business Language) 2.1 is the OASIS XML standard for business documents, widely used as the base format for e-invoices across Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Universal Business Language (UBL) 2.1 is an OASIS open standard that defines a library of XML schemas for business documents — invoices, credit notes, purchase orders, despatch advice, and more. Each document type has a defined set of fields, data types, and cardinality rules expressed as an XML Schema Definition (XSD), so any two systems that implement UBL can exchange documents without custom integration.
For e-invoicing, the most important UBL document types are Invoice and CreditNote. The EU's EN 16931 invoice standard has a UBL 2.1 syntax binding, meaning a compliant EN 16931 invoice can be serialised as UBL XML. Peppol BIS 3.0 is itself a profile of UBL 2.1 with additional validation rules. Countries including the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore base their national e-invoicing standards on UBL 2.1.
A UBL invoice contains structured data in named XML elements: AccountingSupplierParty, AccountingCustomerParty, InvoiceLine, TaxTotal, and so on. Because the structure is machine-readable and schema-validated, a buyer's ERP can parse an incoming UBL invoice, check it against the purchase order, and post it to accounts payable without manual keying — which is precisely the efficiency that e-invoicing mandates aim to unlock.
Invotify Pro exports UBL 2.1 invoices that conform to the EN 16931 UBL syntax. The exported XML includes seller and buyer details, line items with tax breakdowns, payment terms, and totals. You can deliver the file directly to a trading partner, through a Peppol access point, or via a national e-invoicing portal that accepts UBL.
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