French e-invoicing (facturation électronique) and e-reporting

France's business-to-business e-invoicing reform is in force. The tax administration's hub page, modified on 1 September 2026, calls it "effective depuis le 1er septembre 2026". Its dates page, modified on 16 January 2026, sets the second stage at 1 September 2027. Neither page marks either date provisional, conditional or awaiting a further law. No allowed official page describes the timetables published before these, so treat any earlier date as superseded by the two dates in this Guide. Figures are for tax year 2026. The size definitions come from the administration's fiche 3, updated June 2026; the e-reporting frequency table was updated August 2026; the retention table was last checked by the business portal on 1 July 2024.

Section 1: Quick Reference

Field	Value
Status	In force since 1 September 2026
How invoices move	Only through a plateforme agréée, or a compatible solution connected to one
B2G platform	Chorus Pro
Authority	DGFiP
Legislation	CGI art. 289 bis; penalties under CGI art. 1737 IV bis and CGI art. 1788 D
Receive electronically	All businesses, from 1 September 2026
Issue electronically	Large enterprises and ETI from 1 September 2026; PME and micro from 1 September 2027

There is no free State platform and no single public portal that invoices pass through. Every business in scope chooses its own plateforme agréée. The administration's own FAQ says the market carries free or low cost offers for the simplest needs, so no free State platform does not mean no free option.

Who Must Comply

Dates: À partir de quand suis-je concerné. Scope: Je découvre.

Scope	Requirement
Receive, all sizes	By 1 September 2026 every business must have chosen an approved platform for receiving. From that date it receives electronically whenever its supplier is obliged to issue that way
Issue, stage 1	From 1 September 2026: large enterprises and entreprises de taille intermédiaire, with transaction and payment data
Issue, stage 2	From 1 September 2027: petites et moyennes entreprises and micro-entreprises
In scope	Every business established in France and liable to French VAT, whatever its turnover, legal form or regime: the franchise en base, independents, the professions and micro-entrepreneurs included. A business that issues no invoice must still receive
Outside e-invoicing	Sales to private individuals and to businesses established abroad. Paper or PDF stays lawful, but e-reporting may apply
Outside everything	Operations exempt under CGI articles 261 to 261 E and dispensed from invoicing: health, teaching, property, non-profit, banking, insurance

A paper, PDF or e-mailed invoice received after 1 September 2026 is not void. The startup guide answers the question directly: it must not be set aside for that reason alone, so long as it matches a real operation and carries what is needed to process it. It may then be processed and paid. On the VAT, the guide is narrower: the fact that an invoice did not come through the expected electronic route does not automatically deprive the business of its right to deduct, and the right to deduct is still judged against the ordinary conditions of substance and form. The reform changes how an invoice travels, not the rules on the existence of the operation, the debt, payment, bookkeeping or deduction. Where the supplier was obliged to issue electronically, it may be invited to send or regularise the same invoice through the expected route. That request is not obligatory at the start of the reform and is not a condition of the received invoice's validity, processing, payment or deduction; a regularisation must not create a double payment, a double entry or a double deduction.

Size decides who issues first. The fiche joins the three measures differently in each class, so read the row, not a rule of thumb: headcount alone can make a grande entreprise, while the other classes join headcount to a turnover or balance sheet test.

Size class	Definition on the official fiche
Source	https://www.impots.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/media/1_metier/2_professionnel/EV/2_gestion/290_facturation_electronique/fiche-3_tpe_a-partir-de-quand-mon-entreprise-doit-etre-prete.pdf
Grande entreprise (GE)	Headcount over 5,000, or turnover over EUR 1.5 billion with balance sheet total over EUR 2 billion
Taille intermédiaire (ETI)	Headcount over 250 and under 5,000, and turnover under EUR 1.5 billion or balance sheet total under EUR 2 billion
Petite et moyenne (PME)	Headcount over 10 and under 250, and turnover under EUR 50 million or balance sheet total under EUR 43 million
Microentreprise	Headcount under 10, and turnover under EUR 2 million or balance sheet total under EUR 2 million

The fiche prints these classes as footnotes, with strict inequalities, so a business sitting exactly on 10, 250 or 5,000 employees falls in no class on its face, and the fiche does not say whether the measures are taken at entity or at group level. For the definition itself the dates page points to article 51 de la loi du 4 août 2008 de modernisation de l'économie (LME), which is on legifrance and cannot be read here. A borderline client must be classified on that statute, not on this footnote.

Having to receive does not mean having to issue: the fiche says a small or micro-enterprise invoicing a large customer already inside the reform need not issue electronically before 1 September 2027, and that the supplier, not the customer, must know which duty binds the supplier. Early entry is allowed.

E-Reporting Obligation

Transaction e-reporting covers sales to persons who are not taxable (private individuals, non-profit bodies) and transactions with businesses established abroad, VAT-registered here or not: exports, intra-EU acquisitions and supplies. Payment e-reporting covers operations where VAT falls due on receipt, typically services, unless the business opted for the debits or the operation is reverse-charged. The data are daily totals split by rate for non-taxable customers, invoice data with the SIREN replaced by an intra-EU VAT number for a foreign customer, and the date and amount received for payments.

VAT regime	Transaction data	Payment data
Source	all figures below	https://www.impots.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/media/1_metier/2_professionnel/EV/2_gestion/290_facturation_electronique/japprof_frequences-et-delais-de-transmission.pdf
Réel normal mensuel	Three filings a month (1st to 10th, 11th to 20th, 21st to month end), due the 20th, the 30th (except February) and the 10th of the next month	Monthly, before the 10th of the next month
Réel normal trimestriel, open to businesses paying less than EUR 4,000 of VAT a year	Monthly, before the 10th of the next month	Monthly, before the 10th of the next month
Régime simplifié	Monthly, between the 25th and the 30th of the next month	Same
Franchise en base	Every two calendar months, between the 25th and the 30th of the month after the period	Same

Timeline Summary

Tout savoir sur la facturation, checked 7 August 2026.

Date	Milestone
Since 2020	Payment requests to a public body go through Chorus Pro
1 September 2026	All businesses receive. Large enterprises and ETI also issue, and transmit data
1 September 2027	Issuing and data transmission extend to PME and micro-enterprises

Both dates are stated flatly on the administration's own pages, with no condition and no reservation attached. If a date changes again it will change there first, so read À partir de quand suis-je concerné before quoting either.

Accepted Formats

Source: Je découvre.

Item	What the official page says
Requirement	"respecter un format donné (UBL, CII ou tout format mixte composé d'un fichier de données structurées et d'un fichier image)"
Structured formats	UBL and CII
Mixed (hybrid) format	A structured data file plus an image file. The market calls this Factur-X; the government pages do not use that name
Not an electronic invoice	A PDF sent by e-mail

The specifications page names the standards: formats and lifecycle statuses (XP Z12-012), interfaces (XP Z12-013), use cases (XP Z12-014). AFNOR publishes them for free download.

What	Value	Note
Source	all figures below	https://www.impots.gouv.fr/specifications-externes-b2b
Format versions quoted by vendors	UBL 2.1, and CII D16B	No government page prints a format version. The versions this page prints are its own dossier's, the current one dated 30/04/2026 and the earlier ones listed under "Versions précédentes", among them "Version 2.1 du 29/07/2022". Agree the version with your platform

Factur-X Profiles

This ladder comes from the hybrid-format specification of the Forum National de la Facture Électronique. No allowed official page names these profiles: vendor reference, not law.

Profile	Use case
Minimum	Invoice reference and totals only
Basic WL	No line detail
Basic	With line items
Comfort	Full European-standard compliance
Extended	Data beyond the European standard

The official requirement is simpler: a structured invoice with the mandatory mentions, through an approved platform.

Key Technical Parameters

From the format specifications, not an official French page, so unverified here.

Parameter	Value
Hybrid container	PDF/A-3 with an embedded structured file
Embedded file name	factur-x.xml
Encoding	UTF-8
French profile	A national CIUS of the European standard EN 16931
Lifecycle statuses	Defined by XP Z12-012

Core Invoice Fields (EN 16931 Business Terms)

From the European standard EN 16931, which CEN sells. No allowed official page prints these codes: a mapping aid only.

Term code	Field
BT-1	Invoice number
BT-2	Issue date
BT-3	Invoice type code
BT-5	Currency code
BT-9	Payment due date
BT-10	Buyer reference
BT-24	Specification identifier
BT-27	Seller name
BT-30	Seller SIREN
BT-31	Seller VAT identifier
BT-34	Seller electronic address
BT-44	Buyer name
BT-47	Buyer SIREN
BT-48	Buyer VAT identifier
BT-49	Buyer electronic address

France-Specific Additional Fields

The reform adds four mandatory mentions so the invoice can be routed automatically. Source: J'approfondis mes connaissances sur la réforme, modified 6 January 2026. The count of structured data items and the routing directory come from the administration's Foire aux questions.

Item	What the administration says
New mention 1	The customer's SIREN number
New mention 2	The category of the operation: goods, services, or both as distinct items
New mention 3	That the supplier has opted to pay VAT on the debits, where that applies
New mention 4	The delivery address of the goods, only where it differs from the billing address
Everything else	The mentions required by the Code de commerce and the Code général des impôts are unchanged
Data carried	An electronic invoice carries 34 items of data in structured form
Routing	A directory (annuaire) provided by the administration routes the invoice to the recipient's platform

Mention	When it applies	Note
Source	all figures below	https://entreprendre.service-public.fr/vosdroits/F31808
The seller's VAT identification number, and the business customer's where the customer is liable for the VAT	Except where the invoice total excluding tax is at most EUR 150	"inférieur ou égal à 150 €"
"TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du code général des impôts"	Seller under the franchise en base	Verbatim
"Auto-liquidation"	The customer is liable for the VAT	Verbatim
"Option pour le paiement de la taxe d'après les débits"	Supplier taxed on the debits	Also a new mention
"Auto-facturation"	Where the customer draws up the invoice in the seller's place
Recovery indemnity of EUR 40 and the late-payment penalty rate	Every business-to-business invoice	"indemnité forfaitaire de 40 €"
Eco-participation, copie privée	Electrical, electronic or furniture products; recording media

Architecture Overview

The model is distributed. The State deliberately did not build one portal that all invoices pass through.

1. The seller issues through its own plateforme agréée, or a compatible solution connected to one.
2. That platform sends the invoice to the platform the buyer chose. Platforms must be interoperable.
3. The platforms extract the data the administration needs and transmit it, with the e-reporting data.
4. The State supplies the shared plumbing, not the pipe: the annuaire, the concentrateur and the exchange system, each an "outil mis à disposition par l'État".

The Portail Public de Facturation still exists but is no longer where businesses exchange invoices: it provides directory and declaration services, and platforms must prove interoperability with it. Asked "Pourquoi n'y a-t-il pas de plateforme gratuite de l'État ?", the FAQ answers that France chose not to create a single public portal, to avoid concentrating technical risk on one crossing point. The FAQ also makes Peppol optional, not the official channel.

Platforms

Source: Liste des plateformes agréées.

Platform	Role
Plateforme agréée (PA)	An operator registered by the State. It issues, transmits and receives electronic invoices, extracts the data the administration needs and transmits the e-reporting data. Formerly plateforme de dématérialisation partenaire (PDP)
Registration test	Tax compliance, security of infrastructure and data, interoperability with the PPF and other platforms, then real-condition tests
Two lists	Operators meeting every condition, and operators awaiting final registration. An operator on the second list is not yet approved
Solution compatible	Software that is not a platform but connects to one
Portail Public de Facturation (PPF)	Directory and declaration services, and the counterparty every platform must interoperate with. Not an exchange platform
Chorus Pro	The reference platform for public-sector invoicing

Chorus Pro (B2G) Transmission

Sources: F23208, Spécifications externes.

Item	Detail
Obligation	Public bodies issue and receive through Chorus Pro. Since 2020 a business holding a public contract must request payment through it
Covers	State, local authorities, public establishments
Payment	The buyer then has a set period to pay
Relation to the reform	The specifications treat exchanges with Chorus Pro separately from those with the PPF

No Chorus Pro address is given: it is outside the hosts this Guide may link. The deposit channels below are the legacy content of this Guide. They are documented by the operator of Chorus Pro on its own portal, which is not an allowed host here, so treat them as unverified and confirm them with the platform.

Channel	Legacy note, unverified here
Web portal	Manual deposit by a user signed in to the Chorus Pro portal
Interface	A programmatic interface for systems that submit automatically
Structured exchange	Bulk deposit of structured files for high-volume senders
Peppol	An access point connected to Chorus Pro. The administration's own FAQ says Peppol is optional in France, not the official channel

Invoice Lifecycle Statuses

The startup guide draws one distinction that matters more than the list: a rejection by a platform is not a refusal by the buyer.

Status	What it means
Deposited	Submitted by the seller to its platform
Received	Delivered to the buyer's platform
Rejected by a platform	A technical or control failure: a party wrongly identified, a routing difficulty, a blocking anomaly. Correct and resend
Refused by the buyer	A lifecycle status, not a fault. It must be reasoned, and only for the reasons the standard allows
Accepted	The buyer accepts the invoice
Collected	Used for payment e-reporting: the receipt completes the invoice as a status

If the parties keep an invoice the buyer refused, they must justify it: lifecycle data, pre-filled VAT figures and the return filed have to reconcile.

Pre-Submission Validation

Check	Description
Structured format	Conforms to a format the reform accepts
Identifiers	Both parties identified by SIREN; the customer's is now mandatory
VAT number format	The letters FR, two check characters and the nine-digit SIREN
Mandatory mentions	Present, including the four new ones, in dedicated fields
Internal consistency	Line amounts, VAT per rate and the totals agree
Addressability	The customer appears in the annuaire with a chosen platform

Common Rejection Reasons

Issue	Resolution
The customer has no platform	The invoice cannot be delivered electronically because the customer's address is not in the annuaire, and the sending platform tells the supplier the invoice was rejected or could not be delivered. The FAQ allows the invoice to be sent by e-mail or by post as an exception, which changes nothing about when the debt falls due or about payment. Chase the customer to choose a platform
Party wrongly identified	Correct the SIREN or the electronic address and resend
Missing new mention	Add the customer's SIREN, the operation category, the debits option or the delivery address
Amounts do not reconcile	Make line VAT and document totals agree before sending
Duplicate through two channels	Compare number, supplier, customer, date, net, VAT and total; where they match, designate one
Refusal read as a rejection	A refusal carries a reason and is settled commercially

VAT Rates (2025/2026)

The invoice carries the ordinary French VAT rate; the reform changes none.

Rate	Application	Note
Source	all figures below	https://bofip.impots.gouv.fr/bofip/1013-PGP.html
20%	Standard rate (taux normal), wherever no other rate is provided	"la seconde du taux de 20 %"
10%	Intermediate rate: television subscriptions, improvement work on older dwellings, restaurant meals	"soumet au taux de 10 % de la TVA les abonnements"
5.5%	Reduced rate: most food, books, energy-efficiency work on dwellings	"relevant du taux réduit de 5,5 % de la TVA"

Rate	Application	Note
Source	all figures below	https://bofip.impots.gouv.fr/bofip/1449-PGP.html
2.1%	Special rate: reimbursable medicines, some press, blood products	"Produits imposables au taux particulier de 2,10 %"

Exempt supplies carry no rate, only the legal mention.

Rounding

No allowed official page states a rounding method or tolerance for electronic invoices. What the pages require is consistency: the invoice, the data extracted from it and the VAT return must reconcile. Treat no tolerance as authorised.

Multi-Rate Invoice Handling

Each VAT rate needs its own tax subtotal, and the invoice must distinguish taxable, exempt and reverse-charged amounts. A reverse-charged line carries no VAT and must carry "Auto-liquidation". Day totals for e-reporting are split by rate too.

Discount and Charge Handling

A document-level discount or charge changes the taxable base; a line-level discount changes the line's net amount. Each must state its VAT category, or the subtotals will not reconcile. Where there is no early-payment discount the business portal expects "Escompte pour paiement anticipé : néant".

Section 8: Archiving Requirements

The approved platform keeps the invoice, but the legal duty stays with the business. Periods: Délais de conservation.

Requirement	Detail
Accounting records and vouchers	Books, ledgers and supporting documents, customer and supplier invoices included: 10 years from the close of the financial year
Tax documents	Records open to the administration's rights of communication, enquiry and audit: 6 years
When the tax period runs from	The last operation recorded, or the date the document was drawn up
Commercial correspondence	5 years, paper or electronic
Through what	The business portal says the electronic invoice is issued, transmitted, received and kept through an approved platform, or a compatible solution connected to one. No allowed official page says what the business itself must keep of the structured file and the readable image, so settle that with the platform

Section 9: Penalties for Non-Compliance

No allowed official page prints the amount of an e-invoicing penalty or any cap, so none is stated here. The guide pratique de démarrage says this much.

Failure	Consequence as the official guide states it
Not issuing electronically when required	A fine per invoice, within the limits set by CGI art. 1737
No platform chosen for receiving	A formal notice to comply within three months first; the fine applies only if the failure persists. CGI art. 1737 IV bis, CGI art. 289 bis
Not transmitting the required data	Sanctioned under the transmission provisions; the guide names no amount
Startup period	The administration's FAQ answers "Y aura-t-il des sanctions en 2026 ?" with "Non", while stating that a sanctions regime does exist and that its approach will be educational and proportionate. The guide pratique says sanctions will not apply to a business in difficulty that is on a serious compliance path, and never immediately, automatically and blindly
The limit of that indulgence	It is neither a postponement nor a suspension of the obligation, and it does not cover ignoring the duty for long, taking no step, refusing to enter the system, deliberately keeping parallel routes without regularising, or using startup difficulty as a pretext to block payments
Third-party failure	No sanction for a third party's failure where the business took the steps that were its own

VAT Return Integration

Pre-filling the VAT return is an announced objective, not a rule in force: the administration lists it among the reform's aims, simplifying VAT obligations "à terme". Until then the business still files. What changes now is that the data behind the return reaches the administration through the platforms.

Income Tax Integration

The allowed official pages name VAT pre-filling only, not income tax or professional income returns, so the legacy claim that e-invoicing feeds a micro-entrepreneur's revenue declaration is dropped.

Chorus Pro and Public Accounting

Invoicing a public body stays on its own track through Chorus Pro. The allowed pages do not describe how Chorus Pro connects to internal public accounting systems, so nothing is asserted here.

Cross-Border Considerations

An invoice to a business established abroad is outside e-invoicing and may still be paper or PDF. It is inside transaction e-reporting, as are exports and intra-EU acquisitions and supplies, with the SIREN replaced by an intra-EU VAT number.

The method, step by step

1. Fix the two dates. Measure the client against the fiche 3 size table above, then apply À partir de quand suis-je concerné: everyone receives since 1 September 2026; a grande entreprise or ETI issues since then, a PME or micro-enterprise from 1 September 2027.
2. Choose a platform and check it is registered, on the list of plateformes agréées. An operator awaiting registration is not approved. The platform declares the choice through the annuaire.
3. Map the operations, using J'approfondis mes connaissances sur la réforme. Sales to French businesses are e-invoicing under CGI art. 289 bis; sales to individuals and foreign businesses are transaction e-reporting; services taxed on receipt without the debits option are payment e-reporting.
4. Add the four new mentions, check the standing ones against Mentions obligatoires sur une facture, and set the e-reporting calendar from the frequency table above.
5. Keep the public-sector route on Chorus Pro, per Tout savoir sur la facturation, and agree the archive against the retention page. The platform's copy does not discharge the client's duty.

Ask the client first

• Headcount, turnover and balance sheet total? Together they decide whether the client had to issue from 1 September 2026 or has until 1 September 2027.
• Who are the customers: French businesses, private individuals, public bodies, foreign businesses? Each means a different obligation, and most clients are in more than one.
• Which VAT regime, and is the VAT under EUR 4,000 a year? The regime sets the e-reporting rhythm.
• Has the client opted to pay VAT on the debits? If not, services generate payment e-reporting and the invoice must not carry the debits mention.
• Established in France, or only VAT-registered here? A business without an establishment can still owe e-reporting.
• Which platform has the client chosen? Without one in the annuaire the client cannot receive an invoice at all.

When to refuse or refer

• Any question about the amount of a penalty. No allowed official page prints the figures; CGI art. 1737 and CGI art. 1788 D must be read in the statute.
• Choosing between named commercial platforms, or their contracts and pricing.
• Technical integration: schema mapping, interfaces, profile selection inside the AFNOR standards.
• Exempt activities dispensed from invoicing: they need their own advice.
• Public-sector questions beyond the duty to use Chorus Pro, such as payment delays and contract disputes.
• Any client facing an audit or a formal notice.

Sources

• Hub: la facturation électronique
• Je découvre
• J'approfondis
• À partir de quand suis-je concerné
• Liste des plateformes agréées
• Spécifications externes
• Fiche 3: dates and sizes
• E-reporting frequencies
• Foire aux questions
• Guide pratique
• Tout savoir sur la facturation
• Mentions obligatoires
• Délais de conservation
• VAT rates
• Taux particulier

Disclaimer

This Guide and its outputs are provided for informational and computational purposes only and do not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Open Accountants and its contributors accept no liability for any errors, omissions, or outcomes arising from the use of this Guide. All outputs must be reviewed and signed off by a qualified professional (such as an expert-comptable, commissaire aux comptes, or equivalent licensed practitioner in your jurisdiction) before filing or acting upon.

Contributed by OpenAccountants.