Updated 25 September 2026. France's e-invoicing reform went live on 1 September 2026. Every business must now be able to receive electronic invoices through an approved platform, and large and mid-sized companies must issue them. Small businesses have one more year. For cabinets d'expertise comptable the change is real but partial: foreign suppliers, receipts and notes de frais still arrive as they always did.
Is e-invoicing mandatory in France in 2026?
Yes, from 1 September 2026. All businesses, whatever their size, must be able to receive e-invoices, and grandes entreprises and entreprises de taille intermédiaire must issue all their invoices electronically. The Ministry of the Economy states that more than seven million businesses are affected by the generalisation of e-invoicing.
When does the B2B mandate reach small businesses?
On 1 September 2027. Petites entreprises and micro-entreprises must be able to issue e-invoices from that date, twelve months after the reception obligation that already applies to them. Between now and then a small supplier may still send a PDF, which a mid-sized client must still process, so both flows coexist until at least September 2027.
Which format and platform does France use?
Three formats are accepted, Factur-X, UBL and UN/CEFACT CII, all conforming to EN 16931. Exchange runs through plateformes agréées: article 289 bis of the CGI provides that "l'émission, la transmission et la réception des factures électroniques s'effectuent en recourant à une plateforme agréée". The public portal keeps the annuaire but does not exchange invoices, per the DGFiP's guide for 1 September 2026.
Do I still need to read Factur-X PDFs by eye?
Not by eye, but the PDF layer still matters. Factur-X embeds XML inside a PDF/A-3, and the two can differ after a manual correction. Invoreg reads the XML and the page together and flags any mismatch before posting. With over ten million economic actors in scope according to economie.gouv.fr, hybrid invoices will dominate French inboxes for years.
Which VAT rates apply in France and how does Invoreg map them?
20 % standard, with reduced rates of 10 %, 5.5 % and 2.1 %, plus exempt and reverse-charge lines. Invoreg reads the rate on each line, so a restaurant bill at 10 % with 20 % alcohol is split correctly into your accounting software. France's VAT compliance gap was 5.6 % in 2023, well below the EU average of 9.5 %.
What should an accounting firm in France do now?
Confirm every client has chosen a plateforme agréée and can receive, then deal with what the PA does not carry: foreign supplier invoices, receipts, and invoices from small suppliers who are not yet issuing. Route those to Invoreg by email intake, and use the twelve months before 1 September 2027 to get line-level posting into your accounting software working across the client base.
What Invoreg handles in France today
- French VAT numbers (FR + 2-character key + 9-digit SIREN) and SIRET on vendor records
- 20 %, 10 %, 5.5 % and 2.1 % VAT per line, plus exempt and autoliquidation lines, mapped to the tax codes in your accounting software
- Factur-X hybrid PDFs, with embedded CII XML reconciled against the printed page
- French-language invoices, tickets de caisse and notes de frais photographed by clients
- Approval workflows so an expert-comptable can review before a bill is posted to the client's organisation
Related
Sources
- B2B e-invoicing: European deadlines 2026–2027 — Symtrax, accessed September 2026
- Tout savoir sur la facturation électronique pour les entreprises — Ministère de l'Économie, accessed September 2026
- Facturation électronique : guide pratique de démarrage au 1er septembre 2026 — DGFiP, impots.gouv.fr, 2026
- The EU's Questionable VAT Policy — Tax Foundation, 2 February 2026