France is mandating that all VAT-registered businesses establish and receive domestic B2B invoices in structured electronic format, through a certified Approved Platform (PA).
The reform comes into effect on 1 September 2026. Available on all Spendesk plans at no additional cost.
Key dates
Date | Obligation |
1 September 2026 | ✅ Receiving e-invoices — mandatory for ALL companies |
1 September 2026 | ✅ Issuing e-invoices — mandatory for large companies and ETIs |
1 September 2027 | ✅ Issuing e-invoices — mandatory for SMEs and VSEs |
🔒 The obligation to receive applies to all companies from 1 September 2026, regardless of size.
🏗️ The two pillars of the reform
E-invoicing (domestic B2B invoices)
E-invoicing covers the issuance, transmission, reception, and archiving of invoices between two French VAT-registered businesses, in a structured format, via a certified PA.
Three accepted formats: Factur-X (PDF+XML), UBL 2.1 - Universal Business Language, CII D22B (Cross Industry Invoice, EN 16931 standard)
⚠️ A PDF invoice sent by email is not compliant under this mandate, even if it is well-formatted.
E-reporting (transactions outside e-invoicing)
E-reporting requires periodic data transmission to tax authorities for:
B2C transactions (sales to consumers)
International B2B transactions (cross-border)
Certain payment data for service transactions where VAT is due on receipt.
The "Y" model: how invoices flow
The reform is built on a "Y" architecture connecting suppliers and buyers through certified platforms:
Supplier → Issuing PA (PA-E) → PPF ← Receiving PA (PA-R) → Buyer
Key actors:
Actor | Role |
PA (Plateforme Agréée) | A private certified intermediary, registered with the DGFIP. Required to issue or receive invoices. |
PPF (Portail Public de Facturation) | The central public infrastructure. Manages the national business directory and collects data for the government. Does not process invoice exchanges directly. |
Each PA must be interconnected with the PPF and with at least one other PA (interoperability is guaranteed).
Why the reform exists
For the State
Electronic invoicing gives tax authorities faster, more granular visibility into transactions. The reform enables the government to:
Strengthen VAT fraud prevention
Improve VAT collection and reporting
Access higher-quality economic data (inter-company payments, payment timelines, sector data)
Standardise exchanges at national level
Align with European VAT digitalisation initiatives (VAT in the Digital Age — ViDA)
For businesses
Beyond compliance, e-invoicing is an operational improvement:
Reduce manual work — less data entry, fewer errors, fewer disputes
Accelerate the order-to-payment cycle — faster routing, trackable statuses, shorter approval times
Strengthen VAT compliance — structured data supports accurate and automated VAT declarations
Improve data quality — structured formats integrate cleanly with ERP and accounting systems, eliminating the need for OCR
Simplify archiving and audits — secure, traceable storage makes audit preparation faster
Your obligations
Receiving e-invoices (via a PA-R like Spendesk)
Be able to receive invoices in one of the three structured formats
Manage invoice lifecycle statuses (received, approved, refused, etc.)
Mandatory for all companies from 1 September 2026
2. Issuing e-invoices (via a PA-E)
Issue domestic B2B invoices in one of the three structured formats
Send and receive lifecycle statuses, including mandatory status updates to the PPF
Mandatory for large companies and ETIs from 1 September 2026
Mandatory for SMEs and VSEs from 1 September 2027
⚠️ Spendesk is certified as a PA-R (reception only). If you also need to issue e-invoices, you must use a separate PA-E — for example, your accounting platform.
The two roles can be handled by different platforms simultaneously.
3. Probative archiving
You must retain e-invoices in a way that guarantees integrity, authenticity, readability, and traceability for the full legal retention period (10 years).