This article reflects regulations and timelines as understood at the time of writing. E-invoicing rules in France continue to evolve, and the information below is based on the most recent official guidance available. If you are unsure how these rules apply to your specific business situation, consulting a qualified accountant or tax advisor is always a good idea.
France's e-invoicing reform has been talked about for years mostly in the context of large corporations and what they have to do by September 2026. But the mandate is not limited to large companies. It covers every business in France that issues invoices to other French businesses, including SARL and SAS owners with a handful of employees, entrepreneurs individuels, and anyone running a small but properly incorporated company.
If you have been waiting to see whether this actually affects you, it does. This guide covers what you need to know and do, without unnecessary complexity.
Who the Reform Applies To
The e-invoicing mandate applies to all businesses established in France that carry out domestic B2B transactions — meaning sales to other VAT-registered businesses located in France. The legal form of your company does not matter. SARL, SAS, SA, EURL, and entrepreneur individuel (EI) are all covered. Even businesses operating under the VAT exemption regime (franchise en base de TVA) are included. The exemption affects how your invoice looks, not whether you have to issue one compliantly.
France has divided businesses into four size categories for the purposes of rolling out the mandate:
Grandes entreprises are companies with more than 5,000 employees, or with annual turnover above €1.5 billion combined with a balance sheet above €2 billion.
ETI (entreprises de taille intermédiaire) are companies with 250 to 5,000 employees, or turnover between €50 million and €1.5 billion.
PME (petites et moyennes entreprises) have 10 to 249 employees or turnover between €2 million and €50 million.
Micro-enterprises and TPE (très petites entreprises) have fewer than 10 employees and turnover below €2 million.
Most small SARLs and SAS fall into either the PME category or the micro-enterprise/TPE category depending on their headcount and revenue. Both groups share the same September 2027 compliance deadline for issuing invoices, which is covered below. Grandes entreprises and ETI operate on an earlier 2026 timeline.
The Key Dates
There are two dates you need to know.
September 1, 2026 is when the receiving obligation kicks in for every business in France, regardless of size. From this date, your company must be capable of receiving structured e-invoices from suppliers and clients that have already moved to the new system. Large enterprises and ETI begin sending on this date as well, which means some of the invoices arriving in your inbox will already be in the new format. If your accounting software cannot read a Factur-X file, that is a problem you need to solve before September 2026, not after.
September 1, 2027 is the deadline for PME and micro-enterprises to start issuing e-invoices. This is the date that applies to most small companies, including the vast majority of SARLs and SAS structures. From this point forward, every domestic B2B invoice you send must be in a compliant structured format, transmitted through a certified platform.
France has postponed this reform several times since its original 2024 launch date, and it remains possible that the government could adjust these dates again. A parliamentary amendment in March 2025 proposed delaying the deadline for micro-enterprises to 2028, but it was rejected by the National Assembly in April 2025. The September 2027 date currently stands.
What a Compliant E-Invoice Actually Is
This is where a lot of small business owners are surprised. A standard PDF invoice, even one generated by professional accounting software, does not qualify as an e-invoice under the new French rules. Sending that PDF by email does not make it compliant either. France requires invoices to contain structured, machine-readable data in addition to the visual document.
Three formats are accepted:
Factur-X is the practical choice for most small businesses. It is a hybrid document: a normal PDF invoice with an XML data layer embedded inside the file. You can open and read it exactly like any other invoice. At the same time, your client's accounting software can extract the structured data from the XML automatically, without any manual re-entry. Factur-X is also what Germany calls ZUGFeRD — they are the same technical specification under different national names. A single setup that generates Factur-X invoices covers your compliance needs in both France and Germany if you have clients in both countries.
UBL and CII are pure XML formats without a visual PDF layer. These are used more commonly in large enterprises and public sector procurement. For most small company owners, you will not need to generate these formats yourself, though your invoicing software may use CII internally as the foundation for the Factur-X XML layer.
All accepted formats must conform to the EN 16931 European standard. If your invoicing software generates Factur-X at the EN 16931 profile level, you meet the technical requirement. For more detail on the format itself, see our Factur-X and ZUGFeRD compliance guide.
The Platform Requirement: No More Direct Email
This is the part of the French mandate that catches most small business owners off guard, especially those familiar with how Germany handles it. In Germany, you can email a ZUGFeRD invoice directly to your client and it is treated as compliant. France works differently.
Every domestic B2B e-invoice must be transmitted through a certified private platform called a Plateforme Agréée (PA) — previously referred to as a Plateforme de Dématérialisation Partenaire, or PDP. You cannot simply generate a Factur-X PDF and send it by email. The invoice must go through the platform infrastructure.
The French government originally planned to offer a free public option called the PPF (Portail Public de Facturation) that businesses could use for invoice transmission. In October 2024, the government officially abandoned that plan. The PPF still exists, but its role has been reduced to acting as a technical relay between certified platforms and the tax authority. There is no free government portal for sending or receiving invoices anymore.
In practice, this means your invoicing software either needs to hold PA certification or needs to be connected to a certified platform that handles the routing on your behalf. When you generate an invoice, the platform validates it, routes it to your client's platform, and automatically transmits the required data to the French tax authority (DGFiP). From your perspective, this should happen in the background within your invoicing tool. What changes is that generating a PDF and emailing it is no longer the end of the process.
The DGFiP publishes a list of certified platforms on impots.gouv.fr. The number of certified providers has grown steadily as the September 2026 receiving deadline has approached.
What Your Invoices Need to Contain
French invoices have always had mandatory fields, and the reform does not change what information is required. It changes how that information must be structured in the digital file.
Every compliant e-invoice must include:
- Your business name, address, and SIREN or SIRET number
- Your client's business name, address, and SIREN or SIRET number
- A sequential, unique invoice number
- The invoice date and payment due date
- A clear description of the goods or services delivered
- Quantity, unit price, and subtotal for each line item
- The applicable VAT rate and amount for each line, or the VAT exemption mention if you operate under franchise en base de TVA
- Total amount excluding VAT (HT), total VAT, and total including VAT (TTC)
- Payment terms and bank details
One field worth paying close attention to is your client's SIREN or SIRET number. For domestic B2B invoices, the platform uses this to route the invoice to the correct recipient. If you do not already collect this information when onboarding clients, now is a good time to start asking for it. Chasing it after the fact creates delays on both sides.
If you operate under the VAT exemption (franchise en base de TVA), your invoices will not include VAT lines, but they must include the mandatory legal mention such as "TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI" and map to the correct VAT exemption code in the structured data. Your invoicing software should handle this automatically if you select the right VAT treatment.
E-Reporting: The Second Obligation
The reform has two distinct components, and small companies sometimes focus entirely on one while overlooking the other.
E-invoicing covers structured electronic invoices for domestic B2B transactions between French businesses. E-reporting covers everything outside that scope: invoices to private individuals (B2C), invoices to foreign clients, and transactions with non-established parties. For these transactions, you do not transmit the full invoice but instead report a summary of the transaction data to the DGFiP through the same platform infrastructure.
If your SARL or SAS works exclusively with French businesses, e-invoicing is your main concern. But if you also do B2C work or invoice clients outside France, e-reporting applies to those transactions. The timeline follows the same phases as e-invoicing, so September 2027 is the date for both obligations for most small companies.
For more detail on how e-reporting differs from e-invoicing and what exactly needs to be reported, see our dedicated article on e-reporting versus e-invoicing in France.
What To Do Before September 2026
Even with a September 2027 sending deadline, there are a few things worth taking care of well before then. The receiving obligation in September 2026 gives you a firm near-term target.
Check whether your current invoicing software generates Factur-X and is connected to a certified platform. If it does not, evaluating alternatives now gives you time to make the switch without disruption. Many software providers are building or have already obtained PA certification. It is worth confirming this directly with your provider rather than assuming.
Start collecting SIREN and SIRET numbers from your clients. This data is required in the structured invoice. Getting into the habit of asking for it at contract stage means you will not have gaps in your records when the mandate applies.
Verify your own company data. Make sure your SIREN, SIRET, VAT number (or franchise en base mention), legal address, and bank details are all accurate in your invoicing tool. These fields go directly into the structured XML, and errors will cause invoices to fail validation on the platform.
Consider issuing Factur-X invoices before it is legally required. The format looks and works exactly like a normal PDF invoice from the recipient's perspective. If your software supports it, switching now costs you nothing and means you are already compliant when the deadline arrives. Clients who use automated accounting software will also be able to process your invoices more efficiently.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
The penalty for issuing invoices in a non-compliant format is €15 per invoice, capped at €15,000 per calendar year. For missing or late e-reporting submissions, the penalty is €250 per report, also capped at €15,000 per year. Both caps reset at the start of each new calendar year, so sustained non-compliance keeps accumulating across years.
For a small SARL or SAS sending 30 to 40 invoices a month, the per-invoice penalty adds up quickly. There is also a more immediate practical consequence: if your invoice is in the wrong format or missing required data, the recipient's platform may reject it outright, which delays your payment. Beyond the fine structure, that alone is a reason to get ahead of the transition rather than waiting.
For a broader look at penalties across EU countries and how they compare, see our guide to e-invoicing fines in the EU.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the mandate apply to our SARL if we only have three employees?
Yes. Company size determines your timeline, not whether the mandate applies at all. A three-person SARL falls into the micro-enterprise or TPE category and must issue compliant e-invoices from September 2027. The receiving obligation applies to every business from September 2026, regardless of size.
We currently email PDF invoices. Do we just need to switch to Factur-X format?
Partially. You do need Factur-X, but you also need to transmit invoices through a certified platform (PA). Emailing a Factur-X file directly to a client is not enough. Your invoicing software needs to handle the platform routing automatically as part of the invoice generation workflow.
Our SAS invoices a mix of businesses and private individuals. How does that work?
Domestic B2B invoices are subject to e-invoicing, meaning a structured format transmitted via a certified platform. Invoices to private individuals are covered by e-reporting instead. Both obligations follow the same September 2027 timeline for most small companies, so if your client base is mixed, both requirements apply from that date.
What if we invoice clients in other EU countries?
Cross-border invoices fall outside the French e-invoicing mandate. They are covered by the e-reporting obligation instead. You report a summary of the transaction data to the DGFiP through your certified platform, but the invoice does not need to go through the PDP infrastructure. For more on cross-border invoicing with French clients specifically, see our guide to invoicing French clients from outside France.
Is there a free government portal option now that the PPF is no longer available?
The PPF was dropped as an invoicing platform in October 2024 and now only functions as a technical relay. All businesses need a certified private platform (PA). Many invoicing software providers include platform routing as part of their standard subscription, and some offer free plans that cover the technical requirements. There is no longer a standalone free government tool for invoice transmission.
A Note on Getting Started
The e-invoicing reform affects how invoices are created, formatted, and transmitted. But from a practical standpoint, if your invoicing software is updated for compliance, very little changes in your day-to-day workflow. You create an invoice the same way you always have. The structured format and platform routing happen automatically in the background.
The transition is most disruptive for businesses that use basic tools like Word templates, spreadsheets, or accounting software that has not been updated for the mandate. If that describes your current setup, getting onto compliant software sooner rather than later is the most straightforward path forward.
Facturwise generates Factur-X invoices at the EN 16931 profile level on every plan, including the free one. The same invoice format works for both French and German compliance requirements. There is no extra configuration step, no separate export process, and no additional compliance tool needed. Create your first compliant e-invoice for free.
The information in this article is provided for general informational purposes and reflects our understanding of the French e-invoicing reform as of the date of publication. This is not legal or tax advice. Regulations and implementation details can change, and the specifics of how these obligations apply to your business depend on your individual situation. We recommend speaking with a qualified accountant or tax advisor if you have questions about compliance for your company.