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Financewolf / Rule guidance

The XML could not be read safely

FW-XML-001 - The document has malformed XML, an unsupported encoding or a prohibited XML construct. No later validation layer can run until this is fixed.

How to fix it

Export uncompressed XML in UTF-8, or UTF-16 with a byte-order mark. Fix unclosed tags and malformed declarations. Remove DOCTYPE, external entities and XInclude.

Example

Accepted opening: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
The complete document must contain one well-formed Invoice or CreditNote root.

Examples are illustrative fragments, not complete invoices. Validate the complete document after applying a fix.

Scope and source

Reviewed for Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.21 (May 2026), EN 16931 1.3.16. Guidance version 2026-09-06.1, checked 2026-09-06. Applies to the Invoice and CreditNote rulesets named by the validator.

Ironfang validation contract

Guidance does not change the engine verdict. Other findings may need separate fixes. Validation does not certify legal or tax compliance or transmit a document over Peppol.

Validate your corrected invoiceValidation guide