France E-Invoicing After Go-Live: What the Mandate Requires Now and Before September 2027

France's e-invoicing reform is no longer a future project. Since 1 September 2026, every VAT-registered business in France must be able to receive structured e-invoices through an approved platform, and large and mid-sized companies must also issue them and file e-reporting data. Small and micro-enterprises follow on 1 September 2027.

This guide sets out what the France e-invoicing mandate requires today, what six weeks of live operation have shown, how the 2026 tolerance period really works, and what finance and compliance teams should finish before the penalty regime starts to bite in 2027.

France e-invoicing mandate at a glance (October 2026)

Company size follows the French statistical categories: an ETI (intermediate-sized enterprise) generally has 250 to 4,999 employees, and a business with fewer than 250 employees and limited turnover or balance sheet is an SME. Members of a VAT group follow the large-company timetable. There is no size exemption from the obligation to receive.

Who must do what under France's e-invoicing reform

Receiving: every business, since September 2026

All taxable persons established in France must have chosen a plateforme agréée and be registered in the central directory (annuaire) so that suppliers' platforms can route invoices to them. A business that has not designated a receiving platform can be fined once the tax administration's formal notice has gone unanswered for three months (see penalties below).

Issuing: large companies and ETIs now, everyone else in 2027

Domestic B2B invoices between French VAT-registered businesses must be issued as structured e-invoices and sent through the issuer's approved platform, which transmits the required tax data to the DGFiP (French tax administration). A PDF sent by email is no longer a compliant invoice for an in-scope transaction once the issuer's obligation applies.

E-reporting: the part many companies underestimate

Transactions that do not go through domestic B2B e-invoicing must still be reported electronically through the platform:

• Domestic B2C sales, usually as aggregated daily totals by VAT rate.
• International B2B transactions: intra-EU supplies, exports and cross-border purchases of services.
• Payment data for supplies of services where VAT becomes due on receipt of payment.

Reporting frequency depends on your VAT regime. Companies on the normal monthly regime report transaction data in ten-day periods, while quarterly and simplified-regime filers report monthly. Imports, OSS/IOSS sales and certain exempt transactions are outside e-reporting. For background on how this fits the wider shift to real-time controls, see our explainer on continuous transaction controls vs periodic e-reporting.

Plateformes agréées: how the French exchange model works

France chose a decentralised model. Instead of sending invoices to a single government hub, businesses connect to a plateforme agréée (approved platform), a private provider accredited by the DGFiP. The issuer's platform validates the invoice, delivers it to the buyer's platform and extracts the tax data for the administration. This is often described as a five-corner model, with the tax authority as the fifth corner.

The DGFiP publishes the official list of plateformes agréées, first released in January 2026. By the end of September 2026, around 149 platforms had received final accreditation, with more still in the process. The public invoicing portal (PPF) no longer offers free invoice exchange. Its role is now limited to the central directory, routing information and passing tax data to the DGFiP.

Because your platform decides whether invoices are delivered, validated and reported correctly, choosing one is a compliance decision, not just a procurement one. Check accreditation status, Peppol and interoperability support, status handling, ERP connectors and how the provider handles e-reporting, not only invoice exchange.

Formats and new mandatory invoice mentions

France accepts three structured formats, all aligned with the European standard EN 16931:

French specifications add national rules on top of EN 16931 (including an extended CTC profile for French business cases). Our EN 16931 explainer covers the semantic model behind all three formats.

Beyond the usual VAT particulars, French e-invoices must now carry four additional mentions:

1. The customer's SIREN number.
2. The category of transaction: goods, services or both.
3. Where applicable, the option to pay VAT on debits.
4. The delivery address, if it differs from the billing address.

Missing master data, especially SIREN numbers and directory addresses, is one of the most common causes of rejection.

Lessons from the first weeks of go-live

The DGFiP's first figures, presented on 1 October 2026 and summarised by market participants, give a clear picture of the launch:

• About 5 million businesses had registered in the directory, but roughly a quarter of the 4 million core target companies had still not enrolled.
• More than 12 million e-invoices, worth around EUR 37 billion, were exchanged between 1 and 27 September.
• Around 140,000 businesses were already issuing e-invoices, most of them not yet obliged to.

Rejections were the main pain point. One industry tracker reported daily rejection rates climbing from about 7% at launch to over 30% in the first week. The causes were practical rather than legal: ERPs still producing PDFs or CSV files, receiving addresses registered but never tested with real invoices, and directory entries that did not match the data in other networks such as Peppol. If your organisation also trades over Peppol, our article on the Peppol Lookup Service explains why consistent participant data matters.

The 2026 tolerance period: a soft landing, not a delay

France did not postpone the mandate. Instead, in July 2026 the DGFiP published a start-up guide describing how it will treat businesses in difficulty until the end of 2026:

• Invoices received by email, PDF or paper after 1 September remain valid, payable and deductible.
• Large companies and ETIs may temporarily fall back to PDF or email when the electronic channel genuinely cannot be used, but those invoices must be regularised electronically.
• E-reporting gaps can be corrected period by period, not through an uncontrolled bulk catch-up.

The tolerance only covers difficulties that are genuine, documented and followed by corrective action. Evidence includes a signed platform contract with a connection schedule, support tickets and error logs, and internal instructions to billing and accounts payable teams. Inertia or deliberate avoidance is not covered.

Penalties under the 2026 Finance Law

The 2026 Finance Law raised the sanctions for non-compliance. Based on the amended French Tax Code (CGI) as reported by French advisers:

A first-offence waiver can apply when the error is corrected spontaneously or within 30 days of the administration's request. Always confirm the exact amounts against the current CGI text with your tax adviser.

Checklist: what to finish before September 2027

1. Large companies and ETIs: close the gaps in your tolerance file now. Move remaining PDF flows to structured formats and fix e-reporting before the end of 2026.
2. SMEs and micro-enterprises: confirm your receiving platform works with real invoices, then plan issuing and e-reporting for 1 September 2027.
3. Master data: collect customer SIREN numbers, delivery addresses and transaction categories in your ERP.
4. Lifecycle statuses: make sure invoice statuses (received, rejected, refused, paid) flow back into accounts payable and receivable.
5. Multi-country groups: avoid building a France-only silo. Germany, Belgium, Poland and others run different models, so one hub that serves all of them reduces cost. Our Complete Guide to Global E-Invoicing Compliance sets out a framework, and the Compliance Tracker follows mandate changes country by country.

The European Commission's eInvoicing in France country page is a useful reference for the EU-level context.

FAQ: France e-invoicing

Is e-invoicing mandatory in France?

Yes. Since 1 September 2026, all VAT-registered businesses in France must be able to receive e-invoices through an approved platform, and large companies and ETIs must issue them. SMEs and micro-enterprises must start issuing e-invoices on 1 September 2027.

What is a plateforme agréée?

A plateforme agréée is a private e-invoicing platform accredited by the French tax administration to exchange e-invoices and transmit invoice and e-reporting data to the DGFiP. These platforms were previously called PDPs (plateformes de dématérialisation partenaires).

Which e-invoice formats are accepted in France?

France accepts UBL, UN/CEFACT CII and Factur-X, a hybrid PDF/A-3 with embedded XML. A plain PDF, scan or spreadsheet is not a compliant e-invoice for in-scope domestic B2B transactions.

Are there penalties for non-compliance in 2026?

Penalties exist in law, but the DGFiP has said it will not sanction businesses with genuine, documented difficulties that are actively working towards compliance until the end of 2026. This tolerance does not cover inertia or deliberate avoidance.

Conclusion: use the tolerance window to get compliant, not to wait

France is live, and the administration is already measuring who has enrolled, who is issuing and whose invoices are being rejected. The tolerance period gives large companies and ETIs until the end of 2026 to fix their flows, and it gives SMEs a few months to prepare for 1 September 2027. Companies that use that time to clean master data, test real invoice flows and connect e-reporting will avoid both penalties and payment delays.

Infinite IT Solutions connects ERPs to e-invoicing networks across the EU and MEA, so France can run on the same integration as your other countries. Contact our team to review your French e-invoicing and e-reporting setup and build a roadmap for September 2027.