The one-page summary
France has made B2B e-invoicing mandatory. Four dates frame the reform (official source: impots.gouv.fr, updated 1 September 2026):
| Date | Who | Obligation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sep 2026 | Every VAT-registered company | Receive e-invoices |
| 1 Sep 2026 | Large companies and ETI | Issue e-invoices |
| 1 Sep 2027 | SMEs, micro-businesses | Issue e-invoices |
| 1 Sep 2027 | Most regimes | Full VAT e-reporting |
The three accepted formats
All structured syntaxes must comply with the European EN 16931 semantic standard:
- Factur-X — a hybrid file: a human-readable PDF carrying a structured CII XML, plus XMP metadata declaring the profile. Co-published by the French FNFE-MPE and the German FeRD. It is the pragmatic choice for SMEs because nothing changes for the reader.
- UBL 2.1 — pure XML, the Peppol network's default.
- CII — pure XML, the syntax embedded inside Factur-X.
France also mandates the PPF (Portail Public de Facturation), the free state portal hosted on Chorus Pro, as one of the two routing channels; the other is a private certified platform (PA, formerly PDP) registered with the tax administration.
What a compliant invoice must contain
Beyond the legal invoice mentions, the structured file must carry at minimum (profile BASIC): unique invoice number (BR-02), issue date in YYYYMMDD (BR-03), document type 380 (BR-04), currency EUR (BR-05), named seller and buyer with addresses and ISO country codes (BR-06/07/09), at least one line (BR-16), a coherent monetary chain: sum of lines = net (BR-CO-10), net = Σ lines − discounts + charges (BR-CO-13), gross = net + VAT (BR-CO-15), and at least one seller identifier: VAT ID, SIRET or Global ID (BR-CO-26). Every rejection you'll hear about is one of these.
Choose your channel
- PPF (free) — Chorus Pro becomes the public portal for receiving and issuing simple flows. Good as a fallback; no workflow, no payments, no accounting.
- A PA/PDP — a private operator certified by the DGFiP: receives, checks EN 16931 conformity, routes, archives (optional, check contracts), and connects to billing software. See choosing a certified platform (FR) for the 7 selection criteria.
- All-in-one software — the realistic path for SMEs: billing, payment links, accountant collaboration, archiving, on top of a certified routing partner.
Penalties
Under article 1737-II CGI, issuing an invoice without electronic transmission exposes the seller to €15 per invoice, capped at €15,000 per year (Légifrance). Separate fines exist for e-reporting failures. The practical penalty is worse: a non-compliant invoice from an SME simply won't be processed by large-corporation payables.
5-step action plan
- Now: open your PPF account (free) or confirm your platform notifies you — receiving is already mandatory.
- This quarter: clean your customer master data (VAT/SIRET/country codes). This is where projects slip from weeks to months.
- Before year-end: pick issuing software that emits at least BASIC Factur-X, validated through our free validator.
- Mid-2027: switch issuing for your French corporate clients.
- September 2027: the issuing obligation reaches every company — being early is cheaper than being late.
Sources
impots.gouv.fr · service-public.gouv.fr · fnfe-mpe.org · Légifrance. Facts checked 2026-09-07. This guide is information, not legal advice.