- How are discounts shown in an XRechnung?
- Why can’t the unit price on an e-invoice be negative?
- How do I export a credit note line item as an e-invoice?
- ZUGFeRD export of price reductions and returns.
- Avoiding error messages caused by negative prices in e-invoices.
Presentation in accordance with EN 16931Exporting discounts and returns in e-invoices in accordance with EN 16931
In this article, you will learn how TYRIOS automatically converts negative amounts, such as discounts or returns, to ensure they comply with the European standard EN 16931 for e-invoices. This guide helps online retailers prepare their digital invoices for seamless data exchange with business partners and public authorities.
The aim is to ensure EN 16931-compliant presentation in XRechnung or ZUGFeRD files. As the standard prohibits negative unit prices at line item level, the automatic conversion ensures that this rule is strictly adhered to – without altering the underlying accounting data.
Handling special line items correctly for e-invoicesPräzise Anleitung für Sonderpositionen
Imagine your e-invoice is like a digital promise: it must not only be readable by humans, but also perfectly understandable by machines. This is where the wheat is separated from the chaff, particularly when it comes to discounts and returns, as international standards such as EN 16931 do not permit negative unit prices.
With TYRIOS, you can navigate these technical pitfalls with confidence. In the following steps, you’ll learn how to record special items accurately so that your documents are accepted immediately by every business partner and every government agency.
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Add a discount item with a negative price
Use this method for price reductions such as discounts or bonuses (e.g. ‘Payment method: prepayment’). Enter a positive quantity and a negative unit price.
- Note: During export, this line item is automatically displayed asa ‘document-level allowance’.
- The line item title is used as the reason for the discount. This prevents an invalid negative unit price from appearing in the XML code.
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Add a returns item with a negative quantity
Record returned items or returns by entering a negative quantity (e.g. ‘-1’) and the original positive unit price.
- Note: During export, this remains a standard line item with a negative quantity. This is essential to ensure that the stock entry (restocking) is correctly reflected in your system.
- The EN 16931 standard explicitly permits negative quantities, provided that the unit price remains positive.
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Publish e-invoice and generate document
Ensure that, in Invoice Management (BillManagement), the‘E-invoice enabled’ option is selected under the‘Display options’ for the invoice type. Then click on‘Publish’.
- TYRIOS calculates all totals – from the line item total through to discounts and the tax base – fully automatically.
- The result is a document whose line item presentation complies with the rule on negative unit prices, as verified by the KoSIT Validator.
Rules for the correct presentation of discounts and returnsImportant tips on exporting e-invoices
To ensure that your e-invoice is accepted by official portals, certain logical rules must be observed when entering line items. The system automatically adjusts the format in the XML export to comply with the EN 16931 standard.
- Double negation: If you enter both a negative quantity and a negative price (e.g. for a correction), this will be exported as a normal positive line item.
- Avoid zero quantities: An item with a quantity of ‘0’ and a negative price is not permitted and will be rejected as invalid.
- Minimum requirement: Every e-invoice must contain at least one regular line item. An invoice consisting solely of discount lines cannot be exported.
Correct handling of discounts ensures that the total amounts on the invoice remain consistent during automated verification.
- Cash discount calculation: Any cash discount granted is calculated on the total amount, including all discount lines. This prevents rounding discrepancies compared with the XML standard.
- Strict validation: E-invoicing systems (particularly those used by public authorities) strictly enforce these rules. A negative unit price in a line item would result in the immediate rejection of the entire document.
- Discount or surcharge: If a large discount line item causes the cash discount for a tax group to become negative in mathematical terms, the e-invoice correctly reports this amount as a surcharge – not as a further discount.