France E-Invoicing 2026: Dates, Platforms, E-Reporting

Quick answer: France e-invoicing became mandatory on 1 September 2026. Since then every VAT-registered business established in France must be able to receive e-invoices through an approved platform (plateforme agréée), and large companies and ETIs must also issue them and e-report. Small businesses and micro-enterprises must issue e-invoices and e-report from 1 September 2027. Accepted base formats are UBL, CII and Factur-X.

The France e-invoicing 2026 reform has been postponed before (it was first planned for 2024), and many articles online still quote old dates or describe a free public platform that was later dropped. This guide uses the timetable confirmed by the French administration as of October 2026. It explains who must do what and when, what an approved platform does, how e-reporting works, and what changes on the invoice. If you sell to French customers from abroad, it also covers how the reform affects you. Where no mandate applies, a clear PDF from our free invoice generator is still fine.

Important: This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Dates and technical rules for this reform have changed several times, and secondary sources often conflict. Check the official guidance on impots.gouv.fr or ask a French expert-comptable before planning around any date.

France e-invoicing timeline

Date	Receiving e-invoices	Issuing e-invoices and e-reporting
1 September 2026	All VAT-registered businesses established in France	Large companies (grandes entreprises) and mid-sized companies (ETI)
1 September 2027	(already required)	Small and medium-sized businesses (PME) and micro-businesses (TPE, micro-entrepreneurs)

A business's size category is based on the economic definitions used by INSEE (headcount, turnover and balance sheet), assessed on the company and, where relevant, its group. Roughly: ETIs have fewer than 5,000 employees and turnover up to €1.5 billion or a balance sheet up to €2 billion; PMEs have fewer than 250 employees and turnover up to €50 million or a balance sheet up to €43 million. Small businesses can opt to issue e-invoices early.

Past finance laws have allowed for limited postponements, and parliament debated another delay in 2025, but as of October 2026 the administration has confirmed the dates above. Do not plan on a delay.

Why sources conflict

You will find articles saying ETIs start in 2027, or that the reform begins in July 2024. Both come from earlier versions of the law. You will also see references to a free public portal (the PPF) that would issue invoices for small businesses. In 2024 the government decided the PPF would not act as a free invoicing platform; it now runs the central directory and collects data, while invoices pass through approved private platforms.

Who is in scope

• E-invoicing (issuing and receiving): domestic B2B transactions between taxable persons established in France and identified for VAT.
• E-reporting: transaction data for B2C sales and for B2B sales to or from businesses not established in France, plus payment data for services where VAT is due on payment.
• Public sector: invoices to public bodies already go through Chorus Pro, which has been mandatory for B2G for several years.

Some exempt transactions, such as certain health, education and financial services, are outside e-invoicing but may still have reporting implications. Foreign businesses with no French establishment are generally outside the issuing obligation but may fall under e-reporting if they are VAT-registered in France, so check carefully if that applies to you.

What is a plateforme agréée (formerly PDP)?

A plateforme agréée (approved platform) is a private service provider approved by the tax administration. It:

• Issues and receives e-invoices on your behalf in the required formats
• Checks invoices against the mandatory data rules
• Looks up the recipient's platform in the central directory (annuaire)
• Transmits the required invoice data and e-reporting data to the administration
• Exchanges invoice status updates (for example received, approved, refused, paid)

You will see the older term PDP (plateforme de dématérialisation partenaire) everywhere; it means the same thing. Ordinary invoicing or accounting software can connect to a platform, but it is not itself an approved platform unless it appears on the official list. The French network is designed to interoperate with Peppol; our Peppol explainer describes that model.

How to choose an approved platform

The administration publishes the official list of approved platforms, and only providers on that list can transmit in-scope invoices. Many accounting software vendors and banks partner with a platform rather than being one, which is fine as long as the chain ends with an approved platform. When comparing options, small businesses usually care about:

• Connection to your current tools. Can your invoicing or accounting software push invoices to the platform automatically, or will you upload files?
• Receiving first. Since September 2026 you need to receive. Check how supplier invoices arrive, how you approve them and how they reach your bookkeeping.
• Price. Some offers bundle a quota of invoices into an accounting subscription; others charge per invoice. Compare on your real volume.
• Directory registration. Your platform registers you in the central annuaire so suppliers can find you. Check your entry is correct, especially if you have several establishments.
• Exit terms. You can change platform later, so ask how your invoice history is exported.

Formats: Factur-X, UBL and CII

Format	What it is	Good for
Factur-X	Hybrid PDF/A-3 with embedded CII XML (the Franco-German format, technically aligned with ZUGFeRD)	Small businesses that want a human-readable PDF plus machine data
UBL	Pure XML, Universal Business Language	ERP-to-ERP and Peppol exchange
CII	Pure XML, UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice	ERP-to-ERP exchange

All three are based on the European standard EN 16931 with French extensions. Every approved platform must support them. A "Factur-X" file has to use an accepted profile; the most minimal profiles do not carry enough data for a full invoice. Germany's mandate uses the same family of formats, which our guide to XRechnung and ZUGFeRD explains.

New mandatory invoice mentions

The reform adds several mentions to the existing French invoice rules:

• The customer's SIREN number
• The delivery address of goods, if different from the customer's address
• The nature of the transaction: supply of goods, supply of services, or both
• Where applicable, the statement that the supplier has opted to pay VAT on debits (option pour le paiement de la taxe d'après les débits)

The usual French VAT invoice content still applies: sequential number, dates, seller and buyer identity and VAT numbers, description, quantities, unit prices, VAT rate and amount per rate, and exemption or reverse charge wording where relevant. Our VAT invoice guide and reverse charge invoice guide cover that wording.

Worked example: a small agency's first e-invoice in 2027

A Lyon design studio (a PME) must receive e-invoices from September 2026 and start issuing them from 1 September 2027. Its first in-scope invoice goes to a Paris retailer, sent as Factur-X through its approved platform.

Description	Qty	Unit price (€)	Net (€)	VAT 20% (€)
Brand identity design (services)	1	4,800.00	4,800.00	960.00
Packaging design, per SKU (services)	6	350.00	2,100.00	420.00
Printed brand guidelines booklet (goods)	20	15.00	300.00	60.00
Totals			7,200.00	1,440.00
Total including VAT				8,640.00

The maths: 4,800 + 2,100 + 300 = €7,200 net; VAT at 20% = €1,440; total €8,640. Because the invoice mixes services and goods, the nature-of-transaction field is "both". The invoice also shows the retailer's SIREN and, because the booklets go to a warehouse, the delivery address.

Penalties

The legislation provides fines for failing to issue an invoice electronically and for failing to e-report, set per invoice or per transmission with annual caps (amounts of €15 per invoice and €250 per missed e-reporting transmission, each capped at €15,000 a year, have been set in the rules published so far). Check the current figures on impots.gouv.fr because penalty provisions have also been amended.

What this means for foreign suppliers and freelancers

If you are a non-French freelancer or business invoicing French clients without a French VAT registration, the domestic e-invoicing obligation generally does not apply to you, and a clear PDF invoice is still acceptable to most clients. Your French customers may, however, ask for structured invoices or give you a portal to upload to, because their own processes are changing. If you are VAT-registered in France, check your e-reporting obligations.

For cross-border clients, our guide to invoicing international clients covers currency and VAT wording, and the Nordic invoice template keeps the layout clean for EU buyers.

Where our generator fits

Our invoice generator is free, runs in your browser, saves drafts in local storage and exports PDFs. It does not produce Factur-X, UBL or CII files and is not an approved platform, so it cannot be used for in-scope French B2B invoices once your issuing date arrives. It remains useful for quotes (devis), proforma invoices, invoices outside the French mandate and businesses not yet issuing e-invoices before September 2027.

Next step

If you are established in France, confirm that you have chosen an approved platform for receiving invoices (this has been required since 1 September 2026), check your size category, and collect your customers' SIREN numbers before your issuing date. For a wider view of mandates across Europe, read the e-invoicing guide and our overview of Belgium and Poland.