Create a Standard Business Document

Learn about the Standard Business Document (SBD) wrapper and SBDH configuration required for submitting invoices, e-reports, and lifecycle status updates to Sovos.

Every document you submit to Sovos, including invoices, e-reports, and lifecycle status updates, must be wrapped in a Standard Business Document (SBD). The SBD provides the routing metadata that tells Sovos what you are sending and how to deliver it.

SBD components include the following:

Standard Business Document Header (SBDH): Routing metadata, such as sender, receiver, and France-specific scope values
SovosDocument: The document body, Base64-encoded and embedded inside the wrapper. The format and structure of the body depends on what you are submitting:

SBD structure

The outer structure is the same for all document types. Only the content inside <enc:EmbeddedDocument> changes.

For SCI format invoices, the invoice XML is placed directly in <svs:SovosCanonicalInvoice> rather than Base64-encoded. For all other formats (UBL, CII, Factur-X, CDAR, Flow 10), the document is Base64-encoded and placed in <svs:SovosLegalDocument>:

<StandardBusinessDocument>
  <StandardBusinessDocumentHeader>
    <!-- Routing metadata — see SBDH Configuration below -->
  </StandardBusinessDocumentHeader>

  <!-- For SCI format invoices: -->
  <svs:SovosDocument>
    <svs:SovosCanonicalInvoice>
      <Invoice>...</Invoice>
    </svs:SovosCanonicalInvoice>
  </svs:SovosDocument>

  <!-- For all other formats (UBL, CII, Factur-X, CDAR, Flow 10): -->
  <svs:SovosDocument>
    <svs:SovosLegalDocument>
      <enc:Base64Document>
        <enc:EmbeddedDocument id="[Your_DocumentID]"
                             fileName="[document.xml]"
                             mimeCode="application/xml">
          [Base64-encoded document body]
        </enc:EmbeddedDocument>
      </enc:Base64Document>
    </svs:SovosLegalDocument>
  </svs:SovosDocument>
</StandardBusinessDocument>

SBDH configuration

Most SBDH elements are fixed for all France submissions. The BusinessCategory scope value identifies the document format and varies by what you are submitting — see the table below.

Required SBDH elements


Element	Value
`Sender.Identifier`	Your SIREN (9-digit company registration number). Set `Authority="FR"` on the element.
`DocumentIdentification.Standard`	Varies by document type — see each body article.
`DocumentIdentification.TypeVersion`	Varies by document type — see each body article.
`DocumentIdentification.InstanceIdentifier`	A unique identifier for this submission, e.g. your invoice number or report ID.
`DocumentIdentification.Type`	Varies by document type — see each body article.
`DocumentIdentification.CreationDateAndTime`	Submission timestamp in ISO 8601 format, e.g. `2026-05-01T10:43:09+00:00`.
`DocumentIdentification.MultipleType`	`false`
`Scope: Country`	`FR`
`Scope: CompanyCode`	Your SIREN.
`Scope: ProcessType`	`Outbound`
`Scope: BusinessService.BusinessServiceName`	Varies by document type — see each body article.
`Scope: SenderDocumentId`	Your document reference. Recommend matching `InstanceIdentifier`.
`Scope: SenderSystemId`	Your ERP system ID, defined during setup. If not configured, defaults to `DefaultSystemERP`.

Complete SBDH example

Values in [square brackets] must be replaced with your own data. All other values should be used exactly as shown.

<StandardBusinessDocumentHeader>
  <HeaderVersion>1.0</HeaderVersion>
  <Sender>
    <Identifier Authority="FR">[Your_SIREN]</Identifier>
  </Sender>
  <Receiver>
    <Identifier Authority="FR">[Buyer_Electronic_Billing_Address]</Identifier>
  </Receiver>
  <DocumentIdentification>
    <Standard>urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2</Standard>
    <TypeVersion>2.1</TypeVersion>
    <InstanceIdentifier>[INV-2026-001]</InstanceIdentifier>
    <Type>Invoice</Type>
    <MultipleType>false</MultipleType> 
    <CreationDateAndTime>[2026-05-01T10:43:09+00:00]</CreationDateAndTime>
  </DocumentIdentification>
  <BusinessScope>
    <Scope>
      <Type>Country</Type>
      <InstanceIdentifier>FR</InstanceIdentifier>
    </Scope>
    <Scope>
      <Type>CompanyCode</Type>
      <InstanceIdentifier>[Your_SIREN]</InstanceIdentifier>
    </Scope>
    <Scope>
      <Type>ProcessType</Type>
      <InstanceIdentifier>Outbound</InstanceIdentifier>
    </Scope>
    <Scope>
      <Type>BusinessProcess</Type>
      <BusinessService>
        <BusinessServiceName>Default</BusinessServiceName>
      </BusinessService>
    </Scope>
    <Scope>
      <Type>SenderDocumentId</Type>
      <InstanceIdentifier>[INV-2026-001]</InstanceIdentifier>
    </Scope>
    <Scope>
      <Type>SenderSystemId</Type>
      <InstanceIdentifier>[Your_ERPSystemID]</InstanceIdentifier>
    </Scope>
  </BusinessScope>
</StandardBusinessDocumentHeader>

This example shows the SBDH for an SCI invoice. For e-report SBDH values, see E-report body. For lifecycle status SBDH values, see Lifecycle status body.

Sovos Docs

Create a Standard Business Document

SBD structure

SBDH configuration

Required SBDH elements

Complete SBDH example

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