Financial XML Glossary
Definitions for SEPA, UBL, Peppol, ISO 20022, and e-invoicing terms used in financial messaging and digital invoicing.
Financial XML glossary
This glossary defines the technical terms used in electronic payment and invoicing formats - SEPA (pain, camt), ISO 20022, UBL, Peppol, EN 16931, Factur-X, IBAN and the US/Canada formats (ACH, ABA, MT940, BAI2). Each entry gives a concise, citable definition to help you read, integrate or debug these files.
Access Point (Peppol)
A certified service provider that connects businesses to the Peppol network. Access Points send and receive electronic documents (invoices, orders) on behalf of their clients, handling the secure four-corner delivery model.
Allowance (discount)
A price reduction applied to an invoice line or to the invoice total. In EN 16931 documents, allowances carry a reason and an amount.
BAI2 (Bank Administration Institute v2)
A cash-management bank statement format published by the Bank Administration Institute, dominant in the US and Canada. BAI2 uses a hierarchy of numeric records (01 file header, 02 group, 03 account, 16 transaction, 88 continuation), integer minor-unit amounts, and numeric type codes (100–399 credits, 400–699 debits). It is the North-American counterpart of SWIFT MT940 and is increasingly converted to the richer ISO 20022 camt.053.
Bank Statement
A structured report of all transactions on a bank account over a given period. In ISO 20022, bank statements are exchanged as camt.053 messages, providing balances and detailed entry information.
Batch booking
Bank processing mode where all transactions in a pain.001 file are grouped into a single entry on the account statement, instead of individual entries.
BBAN (Basic Bank Account Number)
The domestic part of an IBAN that identifies the bank, branch, and account number. The BBAN format varies by country; for example, a Belgian BBAN is 12 digits, while a French BBAN is 23 characters.
BIC (Business Identifier Code)
An 8 or 11-character code (also called a SWIFT code) that uniquely identifies a financial institution. BICs are used in SEPA payment messages to route transactions to the correct bank. Format: 4-letter bank code + 2-letter country code + 2-character location + optional 3-character branch.
BIS Billing 3.0
Peppol BIS (Business Interoperability Specification) Billing 3.0 is the specification for electronic invoicing and credit notes on the Peppol network. It is based on the EN 16931 European standard and defines mandatory fields, code lists, and Schematron business rules.
Business Application Header (BAH)
An ISO 20022 component (AppHdr) that wraps MX messages with metadata about the sender, receiver, and message type. The BAH enables routing and processing of ISO 20022 messages independently of the business payload.
camt.052
An ISO 20022 message (Bank-To-Customer Account Report) providing intraday or real-time account balance and transaction information. Used for cash management and liquidity monitoring before end-of-day settlement.
camt.053
An ISO 20022 message (Bank-To-Customer Statement) delivering end-of-day bank statement data including opening/closing balances and all booked entries. It replaces the legacy MT940 SWIFT message for account statements.
camt.054
An ISO 20022 message (Bank-To-Customer Debit Credit Notification) notifying customers of individual credit or debit entries on their account. Often used for real-time payment notification alongside camt.052.
Category purpose (CtgyPurp)
Code specifying the high-level nature of a payment. Examples: SALA (salaries), SUPP (supplier), TAXS (taxes), TREA (treasury).
CFONB 120 (AFB120)
The French bank-statement format standardised by the Comité Français d’Organisation et de Normalisation Bancaires. Records are fixed-width, 120 characters, identified by their first two: 01 old balance, 04 movement, 05 supplement, 07 new balance. Its notorious trap is the amount, whose sign is overpunched onto the last character (COBOL zoned decimal: "{" and A-I for a credit, "}" and J-R for a debit), and whose number of decimals is declared by the record itself. It is the French counterpart of Belgian CODA and of ISO 20022 camt.053.
ChargBearer (ChrgBr)
An ISO 20022 element (ChrgBr) that specifies who bears the transaction charges. Possible values: DEBT (borne by the debtor), CRED (borne by the creditor), SHAR (shared) and SLEV (following the agreed service level). In SEPA Credit Transfers, the EPC Rulebook requires the value to be SLEV.
Charge
An additional cost added to an invoice line or to the invoice total, such as delivery charges or service fees.
Chorus Pro
The French government's mandatory e-invoicing portal for invoices addressed to public sector entities (B2G). Since 2017, all suppliers to French public administration must submit invoices through Chorus Pro in Factur-X or UBL format.
CII (Cross Industry Invoice)
UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice is an XML syntax for electronic invoices defined in the UN/CEFACT standard. CII is one of the two syntaxes recognized by EN 16931 (the other being UBL). Factur-X and ZUGFeRD use CII for their embedded XML.
CODA (Coded statement of account)
The Belgian bank-statement format published by Febelfin (reference: version 2.8, November 2025). A CODA file is made of fixed-width 128-character records identified by their first character: 0 header, 1 old balance, 2.x movements, 3.x information, 8 new balance, 9 trailer. Amounts carry three implied decimals and an explicit debit/credit sign character, and only movements with detail number 0000 are booked. It is the Belgian counterpart of SWIFT MT940, US BAI2 and ISO 20022 camt.053.
Credit Note
A commercial document issued by a seller to correct or cancel a previously issued invoice. In UBL, a credit note is a distinct document type (UBL CreditNote) with the same structure as an invoice but used to reduce the amount owed by the buyer.
Creditor
In SEPA terminology, the creditor is the party that receives funds (the payee). In a pain.001 credit transfer, the creditor is identified by name, IBAN, and optionally BIC. In a pain.008 direct debit, the creditor is the party initiating the collection.
Creditor reference (ISO 11649)
A standardised reference generated by the creditor to identify an invoice or collection. It includes a check digit for error detection.
CtrlSum (Control Sum)
A SEPA XML element in the GroupHeader that contains the total sum of all transaction amounts in the payment file. The CtrlSum must equal the sum of all individual InstructedAmount values; a mismatch causes file rejection by the bank.
CustomizationID (BT-24)
The invoice field (business term BT-24, "Specification identifier") that states which specification the document follows. In UBL it is the cbc:CustomizationID element; in CII it is the GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter/ID. For Peppol BIS 3.0 its value is urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:3.0. Rule BR-01 makes it mandatory.
Debit note
A document issued by the buyer to request an increase in the amount of an invoice. Less common than a credit note.
Debtor
In SEPA terminology, the debtor is the party that pays (the payer). In a pain.001 credit transfer, the debtor is the account holder initiating the payment. In a pain.008 direct debit, the debtor is the party whose account is debited.
Direct debit mandate
Authorisation given by the debtor to the creditor to debit their bank account. Mandatory for every SEPA direct debit transaction.
DTD (Document Type Definition)
A legacy XML schema language that defines the structure and allowed elements of an XML document. DTDs are blocked in secure XML parsers because they enable XXE (XML External Entity) attacks. Modern XML validation uses XSD (XML Schema Definition) instead.
Due date
The date by which an invoice must be paid. In UBL and EN 16931 documents it is used to derive payment deadlines.
E-Invoicing
The electronic exchange of invoice documents between suppliers and buyers in a structured, machine-readable format. E-invoicing replaces paper or PDF invoices with standards such as UBL, CII, Factur-X, XRechnung, or FatturaPA, enabling automated processing and tax compliance.
EDICOM
A global EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and e-invoicing service provider. EDICOM offers solutions for exchanging business documents in EDIFACT, XML, UBL, and Factur-X formats across different countries and compliance frameworks.
EN 16931
The European standard for electronic invoicing, published by CEN. EN 16931 defines the semantic data model for a core invoice (mandatory and optional fields) and two recognized syntaxes: UBL 2.1 and UN/CEFACT CII. All EU member states must accept invoices conforming to EN 16931.
EndToEndId (End-to-End Identification)
A unique reference assigned by the originating party to identify a SEPA payment transaction from initiation to settlement. The EndToEndId is preserved throughout the payment chain and returned to the debtor in account statements, enabling reconciliation.
Factur-X
A Franco-German hybrid e-invoicing standard that embeds a structured XML file (based on UN/CEFACT CII) inside a PDF/A-3 document. Factur-X has five profiles (Minimum, Basic WL, Basic, EN 16931, Extended) offering varying levels of data richness, and is mandatory for B2G invoicing in France.
Factur-X profiles (MINIMUM, BASIC WL, BASIC, EN 16931, EXTENDED)
Factur-X defines five data profiles, from least to most complete: MINIMUM (header and totals only, not EN 16931-compliant), BASIC WL (basic without lines), BASIC (with invoice lines), EN 16931 (also called Comfort, fully EN 16931-compliant) and EXTENDED (extra business scenarios). ZUGFeRD 2.x uses the same profiles.
FatturaPA
Italy's mandatory electronic invoicing format for all B2B and B2G transactions, managed by the Agenzia delle Entrate (Italian Revenue Agency). FatturaPA files are XML documents submitted through the SDI (Sistema di Interscambio) interchange system.
GroupHeader
The first block of a SEPA XML message (pain.001 or pain.008) containing message-level information: MessageId, CreationDateTime, NumberOfTransactions, ControlSum, and InitiatingParty. There is exactly one GroupHeader per file.
GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter
The CII (UN/CEFACT) XML element that carries the Factur-X / ZUGFeRD profile identifier. Its child ID element holds the profile URN, e.g. <ram:GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter><ram:ID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017</ram:ID>. This is where a validator reads BT-24 to decide which profile rules to apply.
IBAN (International Bank Account Number)
A standardized international numbering system for bank accounts, defined in ISO 13616. An IBAN starts with a 2-letter country code, followed by 2 check digits (validated via mod-97), and then a country-specific BBAN. IBANs are mandatory for all SEPA payment transactions.
InitiatingParty
The party that initiates a SEPA payment instruction, identified in the GroupHeader of pain.001 and pain.008 messages. The InitiatingParty is typically the corporate customer submitting the payment file to their bank, and may differ from the Debtor.
Instruction ID (InstrId)
A unique reference for a payment instruction, assigned by the payment initiator. Unlike the End-to-End ID, it only applies between the initiator and their bank and is not carried end to end.
Invoice (UBL)
An electronic invoice in UBL (Universal Business Language) 2.1 format. A UBL Invoice contains structured information about the seller, buyer, line items, taxes, and payment terms. It is one of the two document types (along with Credit Note) recognized by Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.
Invoice line
An element of an invoice describing a product or service supplied. It carries the description, quantity, unit price, VAT and line total.
ISO 20022
An international standard for financial messaging that defines a common platform for developing message standards. ISO 20022 messages are XML-based and cover payments (pain), account reporting (camt), securities, trade finance, and more. SEPA, SWIFT MX, and major instant payment schemes use ISO 20022.
ISO 20022 .xsd schema file (pain.008.001.02.xsd)
The XSD file that defines the structure of an ISO 20022 message, named after the message version, e.g. pain.008.001.02.xsd (SEPA direct debit) or pain.001.001.09.xsd (credit transfer). A validator checks the XML against this schema for structural conformance before applying business rules. ValidateFin bundles the official XSDs and validates against them in the browser.
ISO 20022 version numbering (pain.001.001.09)
An ISO 20022 identifier like pain.001.001.09 reads as: business area + message number . variant . version. So pain.001.001.09 is credit transfer initiation (pain.001), variant 001, version 09. pain.001.001.03 (2009) and pain.001.001.09 (2019) are two versions of the same message; SEPA is migrating from .03 to .09.
Legal entity
A company or legal person identified by a legal identifier (company number, registration number). Used in business documents to identify sellers and buyers.
Local instrument (LclInstrm)
Code specifying the variant of the payment instrument used. In SEPA direct debits it distinguishes the schemes: CORE and B2B.
Mod-97 (Modulo 97)
The mathematical checksum algorithm used to validate IBANs. The algorithm rearranges the IBAN, converts letters to digits, and verifies that the result modulo 97 equals 1. A failing mod-97 check indicates a transcription error in the IBAN.
MsgId (Message Identification)
A unique identifier assigned by the initiating party to a SEPA payment message (pain.001 or pain.008). The MsgId must be unique within a reasonable time frame (typically 15 days) to prevent duplicate processing by the bank.
MT940
A legacy SWIFT message format for delivering bank account statements, widely used before ISO 20022. MT940 provides balance and transaction information but with limited structured data compared to the ISO 20022 camt.053 replacement. Many banks still support MT940 for backward compatibility.
MX Message (ISO 20022 MX)
An ISO 20022 XML message (as opposed to the legacy MT format). MX messages are richer, more structured, and support more data than MT messages. SWIFT's global migration to ISO 20022 MX is progressing through 2025, replacing MT messages for cross-border payments.
pain.001 (Credit Transfer Initiation)
An ISO 20022 XML message used to initiate one or more SEPA Credit Transfer transactions. A pain.001 file is submitted by a corporate to their bank and contains GroupHeader, PaymentInformation, and CreditTransferTransactionInformation blocks. Common versions: 003, 009, 011.
pain.002
Payment Status Report. The ISO 20022 message a bank returns to confirm acceptance or rejection of a pain.001 or pain.008 file, with a reason code for each rejection.
pain.008 (Direct Debit Initiation)
An ISO 20022 XML message used to initiate SEPA Direct Debit collections. The creditor sends a pain.008 to their bank, which then collects funds from debtors' accounts. Requires a pre-existing mandate signed by the debtor. Common versions: 002, 008, 010.
Payment Information (PmtInf)
The second block in a pain.001 or pain.008 SEPA file, grouping transactions that share common parameters such as payment method, execution date, and debtor account. A single file can contain multiple PaymentInformation blocks.
Payment terms
The conditions agreed between buyer and seller on when and how an invoice is paid. May include an early-payment discount.
PDF/A-3
The ISO 19005-3 archival PDF format, which allows files of any type to be embedded. Factur-X and ZUGFeRD use it to embed the invoice XML inside the PDF.
Peppol
Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line. A network for exchanging electronic business documents, based on UBL, widely used for public procurement across Europe.
Peppol ID
A unique identifier for a participant on the Peppol network, used to route electronic documents to the correct Access Point. A Peppol ID consists of a scheme identifier (e.g., 0208 for Belgian enterprise numbers) followed by the business identifier (e.g., VAT number).
PmtInfId (Payment Information Identification)
A unique identifier for a PaymentInformation block within a SEPA pain.001 or pain.008 file. Multiple PmtInfId blocks can exist in one message, each grouping transactions with shared parameters. Banks use PmtInfId to track and report on individual payment batches.
Purpose (Purp)
An ISO 20022 code giving the specific reason for a payment. It helps the creditor process and reconcile the transaction.
Remittance information
Reference or free text that lets the creditor reconcile a payment with the corresponding invoices. It can be structured (a reference) or unstructured (up to 140 characters of free text).
RequestedExecutionDate (ReqdExctnDt)
The date on which the initiating party requests the payment to be executed by the bank, specified in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD). For SEPA Credit Transfers, this must be a TARGET2 business day. Dates on weekends or holidays are typically shifted to the next business day.
Reverse charge
VAT mechanism where the buyer, not the seller, is liable for declaring and paying the VAT. Common in cross-border B2B transactions.
Schema Validation
The process of checking an XML document against a formal schema (XSD or Schematron) to verify structural correctness and business rule compliance. Schema validation is the first step in processing any SEPA, UBL, or ISO 20022 message.
Schematron
An XML validation language based on XPath rules, used alongside XSD for business rule validation. Peppol BIS Billing and EN 16931 use Schematron to enforce constraints that XSD cannot express, such as cross-field consistency (e.g., tax amount must equal base amount times tax rate).
SCT (SEPA Credit Transfer)
A SEPA payment instrument for sending funds from one bank account to another within the SEPA zone. SCT transactions are initiated via pain.001 XML messages and are processed within one business day. The Instant variant (SCT Inst) settles in under 10 seconds.
SDD (SEPA Direct Debit)
A SEPA payment instrument that allows a creditor to collect funds directly from a debtor's account, based on a mandate. There are two schemes: SDD Core (for consumers) and SDD B2B (for businesses). SDD instructions are transmitted via pain.008 XML messages.
SDI (Sistema di Interscambio)
Italy's national e-invoicing interchange system operated by the Agenzia delle Entrate. All Italian B2B and B2G invoices in FatturaPA format must pass through SDI, which validates, delivers, and archives invoices between businesses and provides tax authority visibility.
SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area)
A payment integration initiative of the European Union that enables cashless euro payments between 36 countries using harmonized standards. SEPA covers credit transfers (SCT), direct debits (SDD), and instant payments (SCT Inst), all based on ISO 20022 XML messaging.
SEPA Zone
The geographic area where SEPA payment standards apply, comprising all 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City - 36 countries in total as of 2025.
Service level (SvcLvl)
The agreed processing level for a payment. The SEPA code indicates the transaction must be handled according to the SEPA scheme rules.
SMP (Service Metadata Publisher)
A Peppol component that publishes the capabilities of a participant: which document types they can receive and which Access Point serves them. When sending a document on Peppol, the sender's Access Point queries the SMP to discover the recipient's endpoint.
SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication)
The global cooperative that operates the international financial messaging network used by banks and financial institutions. SWIFT defines both BIC codes (for institution identification) and the MT/MX message standards for cross-border payments and financial communications.
UBL (Universal Business Language)
An OASIS standard library of XML business documents (invoices, orders, despatch advice, etc.) version 2.1 is the basis for Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 and EN 16931 compliance. UBL invoices and credit notes are the most widely used e-invoicing format in Europe and beyond.
urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017 (EN 16931 CustomizationID)
The base identifier of the EN 16931 semantic model. On its own, urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017 is the Factur-X EN 16931 (Comfort) profile. Combined with #compliant# or #conformant# and a CIUS URN, it forms a CustomizationID such as urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:3.0 (Peppol BIS 3.0) - the value required by rule BR-01 (BT-24).
urn:factur-x.eu:1p0 (Factur-X profile URN)
The URN prefix that identifies a Factur-X / ZUGFeRD profile inside the embedded CII XML. The five profile identifiers are urn:factur-x.eu:1p0:minimum, urn:factur-x.eu:1p0:basicwl, urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:factur-x.eu:1p0:basic, urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017 (the EN 16931 / Comfort profile) and urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#conformant#urn:factur-x.eu:1p0:extended. It appears in the GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter/ID element.
urn:iso:std:iso:20022:tech:xsd (ISO 20022 namespace)
The XML namespace that identifies an ISO 20022 message and its XSD schema, e.g. urn:iso:std:iso:20022:tech:xsd:pain.001.001.09 for a SEPA credit transfer or urn:iso:std:iso:20022:tech:xsd:camt.053.001.08 for a bank statement. It is declared with xmlns on the Document root and must exactly match the message version.
Value date
The date on which funds become available on the payee's account or are debited from the payer's account. It may differ from the booking date.
VAT category
A code classifying the tax treatment of an invoice line. Common categories: S (standard rate), Z (zero-rated), E (exempt), AE (reverse charge).
VAT number
The unique identifier assigned to a business registered for VAT. In UBL and EN 16931 documents it is written with its country prefix (e.g. BE0123456789).
ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age)
A European Commission proposal to modernize VAT rules by introducing real-time digital reporting and mandatory e-invoicing for intra-EU B2B transactions. ViDA aims to reduce the VAT gap and fraud by requiring structured e-invoices for cross-border transactions from 2028.
Well-Formed XML
An XML document that complies with the basic syntactic rules of XML: a single root element, properly nested tags, closed elements, and correct encoding. A well-formed document can be parsed; a valid document is additionally checked against a schema (XSD or DTD).
XML (Extensible Markup Language)
A markup language that encodes documents in a format readable by both humans and machines. XML is the foundation of SEPA payment messages, UBL invoices, ISO 20022 financial messages, and many other financial standards. XML documents are validated against schemas (XSD) and business rules (Schematron).
XML diff
A technique that identifies the structural and semantic differences between two XML documents. Useful for debugging changes to payment files or invoices.
xmlns (XML Namespace)
An attribute that declares a namespace in an XML document, linking element names to a URI that uniquely identifies them. SEPA pain.001 files must declare the correct ISO 20022 namespace (e.g., urn:iso:std:iso:20022:tech:xsd:pain.001.001.03) for schema validation to succeed.
XPath
A query language for navigating and selecting nodes in an XML document. XPath is used extensively in Schematron rules to validate business logic in SEPA and UBL files, and in XSLT stylesheets for transforming XML into reports or other formats.
XRechnung
Germany's national e-invoicing standard based on EN 16931, mandatory for invoices addressed to German federal public authorities since 2020. XRechnung uses either UBL 2.1 or UN/CEFACT CII syntax and is submitted via the ZRE (Zentraler Rechnungseingang) portal.
XSD (XML Schema Definition)
The W3C standard for defining the structure, content, and data types of XML documents. XSD schemas are published by EPC for SEPA pain messages and by OASIS for UBL. An XML file that matches its XSD is called schema-valid; structural errors are caught at this layer before business rule validation.
XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations)
A language for transforming XML documents into other XML, HTML, or text formats using templates and XPath expressions. XSLT is used to generate human-readable reports from SEPA, UBL, and camt.053 files, and to convert between different versions of ISO 20022 messages.
XXE (XML External Entity)
A class of XML security vulnerability where a malicious XML document references external entities to read local files or perform server-side request forgery (SSRF). Secure XML parsers disable DOCTYPE declarations and external entity resolution to prevent XXE attacks. ValidateFin blocks XXE by design.
ZUGFeRD
A German hybrid e-invoicing standard (Zentraler User Guide des Forums elektronische Rechnung Deutschland) that embeds a UN/CEFACT CII XML file inside a PDF/A-3 document. ZUGFeRD is the German equivalent of Factur-X and shares the same technical specification; versions 2.1+ are aligned with EN 16931.