E-invoicing compliance and regulatory updates - France

Electronic Invoicing in France

Is e-invoicing mandatory in France ?

Currently France adopts a post-audit invoicing model with strong enforcement towards electronic invoicing.

For Business-to-Business (B2B) invoicing, true electronic invoicing will—at the earliest—become mandatory in France from 2026. France will move towards a clearance model in B2B, introducing e-invoices and e-reporting for companies gradually. Timeframes will vary depending on the size of each company.

The acceptable format for e-invoices will be UBL, CII, and FacturX.

On January 2022, the European Commission granted France permission to mandate e-invoicing, derogating Articles 218 and 232 of Directive 2006/112/EC, and allowing to impose electronic invoicing in the country.

E-reporting will follow the same schedule as the e-invoice obligation and cover B2B, Business-to-Consumer (B2C) purchases from foreign operators, and the payment status of invoices regarding services.

Basware aims to provide compliant solutions for the upcoming e-invoicing mandate from day one as a PDP.

NOTE: In late July 2023, the French Government revealed its decision to defer the implementation date of the e-invoicing mandate.

On 13 December 2023, the French National Assembly reinstated the launch date for e-invoicing and e-reporting. The Amendment to the 2024 Budget finalized the date as September 1, 2026. Here's the approved implementation schedule:

• 2024: Development of the PPF (Public Platform)
• 2025: Pilot program
• September 2026: Roll out for all businesses mandated to accept e-invoices. B2B e-invoicing and e-reporting for large and medium companies
• September 2027: B2B e-invoicing and e-reporting for small businesses

Regarding Business-to-Government (B2G), France imposed electronic invoicing in 2017, using the Chorus platform.

The most common electronic formats in France today are EDIFACT, Universal Business Language (UBL) 2.1 and UNCEFACT XML CII 16B.

Want to learn more about e-Invoicing compliance?

Download our Global e-invoicing and Tax Compliance fact sheet here for more information.

Why choose Basware as your premier PDP partner?

Read our guide to discover the key questions every business should ask when choosing between a Partner Dematerialization Platform (PDP) and Dematerialization Operators (ODs).

Archiving

Digital invoice archiving is allowed in France, and the default retention period is 10 years. The readability, integrity and authenticity need to be guaranteed for stored invoices. Basware provides compliant invoice archiving in France through the Basware Vault service.

Since 30 March 2017, all paper invoices issued or received can be destroyed after being scanned and stored digitally, provided regulations are followed. Basware supports this effort through the combination of the Basware Scan & Capture and the Basware Vault services.

Want to know more about Basware’s archiving services?

Download our Basware Vault fact sheet here to learn more about our flexible and scalable solution.

Basware Services

Basware supports all methods to receive invoices, including, paper, portal, PDF, and true e-invoicing. We operate multiple local scan centres to scan and capture (OCR) data from paper invoices. France historically has many point-to-point EDI connections established. These connections can be supported by Basware as well.

All invoice delivery methods are also available, including the delivery to the Chorus platform and Peppol. We can deliver invoices as true invoices, via email with attached PDF, on our portal or printed locally.

As a localised software solution, we can capture data from French invoices, provide our UI in French for both suppliers and buyers, and provide French-speaking customer support.

Basware aims to provide compliant solutions for the upcoming e-invoicing mandate from day one as a PDP.

Want to find out how we can help in your specific case?

Speak to a member of our team to learn more.

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Interoperability

At Basware, we are passionate about delivering the benefits of open interoperability to our customers. That is why we have partnered with more than 220 e-invoicing networks around the world to ensure the Basware Network remains the largest open commerce network of buyers and suppliers.

In France, we have developed connections to:

• @GP
• Cegedim
• EDICS
• EDT
• Generix Group
• Orange Solutions
• Seres
• Tessi
• TX2
• Qweeby

These connections, among others, allow us to deliver invoices over the Basware Network to customers across the globe.

Our advice

France currently allows various invoicing methods, including paper, PDF, electronic, and portal key-in invoices.

High levels of true electronic invoices can be obtained with adequate enablement campaigns. We advise both invoice receivers and invoice senders to reach out to their customer/supplier base and discuss the possibility to deliver invoices electronically. This will drive cost reduction, increased automation and improved collaboration.

France provides 3 methods to support compliant e-invoicing:

• Audit trail-based (piste audit fiable)
• Fiscal EDI; or
• Electronic signature.

Basware can support all 3 methods, but we generally recommend the audit trail-based method, as this encompasses all available invoicing methods.

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