How to Send Your First E-Invoice Before the September Deadline

France's e-invoicing mandate is not a distant regulatory change. It takes effect 1 September 2026. From that date, every company established in France must be able to receive electronic invoices. Large enterprises and mid-sized companies (ETIs) must also issue them. SMEs and micro-enterprises get until September 2027 to issue, but the receiving obligation is universal.

Most coverage of the mandate explains what it is. This guide covers how to actually send a compliant e-invoice: the platform you need, the fields your invoice must contain, the format it must use, and what happens after you hit send.

What the September deadline requires from your business

Two obligations land on different dates, and confusing them is common.

Receiving: All companies, regardless of size, must be able to receive e-invoices from 1 September 2026.

Issuing: Large companies and ETIs must issue e-invoices from 1 September 2026. SMEs (fewer than 250 employees, under €50 million annual sales) and micro-enterprises have until 1 September 2027 to begin issuing.

Even if your company falls into the SME category and does not need to issue yet, you still need a platform in place to receive. That means the technical setup is mandatory for everyone this September.

Determining your size category

France uses four categories: large enterprises, ETIs, SMEs, and micro-enterprises. The thresholds are based on headcount, turnover, and balance sheet total.

One complication: multi-entity groups, recent acquisitions, and shared service centres can create mixed deadlines within the same organisation. A parent company classified as large and a subsidiary classified as SME face different issue dates. Check each entity separately.

What qualifies as a compliant e-invoice

A PDF attached to an email is not a compliant e-invoice. Neither is a scanned document, a JPG, an HTML page, or a fax. A compliant e-invoice is structured, machine-readable data in a defined format that can be validated, transmitted, and reported automatically.

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

• Factur-X, a hybrid format: a PDF for human reading with embedded XML for machine processing
• UBL (Universal Business Language), pure XML, widely used across EU member states
• CII (Cross Industry Invoice), another XML standard from UN/CEFACT

If you use the government's public portal (PPF), your invoice must be in one of these three formats. Certified private platforms (PDPs) can accept other structured formats agreed with their clients, but sticking with one of the three is the safest path.

For a full breakdown of France's regulatory timeline and format requirements, see our guide to e-invoicing requirements in 2026.

Choose your platform: PPF, PDP, or OD

Every company must designate a platform to issue and receive e-invoices. There are three options, and understanding the differences matters for how your invoices actually travel.

PPF (Portail Public de Facturation) is the government's public invoicing portal. It acts as a central directory for invoice exchange and data reporting. It is the default option for businesses without complex integration needs.

PDP (Plateforme de Dématérialisation Partenaire) is a registered, state-certified private platform that can transmit e-invoices directly to recipients and report data to the PPF. PDPs handle the routing themselves, which means tighter ERP integration for businesses with high invoice volumes.

OD (Opérateur de Dématérialisation) is an unregistered provider that can help prepare invoices but cannot transmit them directly between sender and receiver. If you use an OD, your invoices must route through the PPF as an intermediary.

The practical question: how many invoices do you send per month, and does your accounting software already connect to a PDP? If your ERP vendor offers PDP certification, that path removes a manual step. If you send a handful of invoices monthly and do not need deep integration, the PPF works.

Working backward from the go-live date through vendor selection, ERP mapping, data cleanup, and end-to-end testing means preparation should already be underway.

Step by step: sending your first e-invoice

Here is what the process looks like from start to finish.

Step 1: Confirm the transaction is in scope

The mandate covers domestic B2B transactions between VAT-taxable businesses established in France, including advance payments and credit notes. Cross-border transactions and B2C sales fall under e-reporting instead. Transactions involving the following overseas territories are also excluded: French Guiana, Mayotte, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Bartholomew, Saint Martin, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.

Step 2: Add the new mandatory fields

From September 2026, invoices must include four additional data points:

• Customer SIREN number, the nine-digit company identification number of the buyer
• Delivery address, required when it differs from the billing address
• Goods/services classification, whether the invoice covers goods, services, or both
• VAT on debits, if the supplier has opted for VAT payment on debits, this must be indicated

These fields are in addition to the standard invoice data you already capture. If your accounting software does not currently collect the customer's SIREN, you will need to update your customer records before your first send.

Step 3: Generate the invoice in the correct format

Produce the invoice as a Factur-X, UBL, or CII file. Most modern accounting platforms can export in at least one of these formats, sometimes with a plugin or module update. If yours cannot, an OD can convert your output into a compliant format before transmission.

Step 4: Transmit through your designated platform

How the invoice travels depends on your platform choice:

• Using a PDP: The PDP transmits the invoice directly to the recipient's platform and reports data to the PPF.
• Using an OD: The OD prepares the invoice, but it must route through the PPF to reach the recipient.
• Using the PPF directly: You upload the invoice to the portal, which handles routing and reporting.

Step 5: Retain the invoice electronically for six years

Once sent, the e-invoice must be kept in electronic form for six years from the date of issuance. Paper printouts do not satisfy this requirement. Your platform or accounting system should handle archival, but verify that retention is part of your setup.

Optional: Apply a qualified electronic seal

A qualified electronic seal can be used to guarantee the authenticity, integrity, and legibility of your e-invoice. It certifies that the seal creator is the source of the document. This is not mandatory, but it adds a layer of verification for high-value transactions or regulated industries.

E-reporting: the parallel obligation

E-invoicing and e-reporting are two distinct obligations. A transaction outside the scope of e-invoicing is not necessarily exempt from e-reporting.

E-reporting covers the transmission of transaction data to the DGFiP (France's tax authority) for transactions that fall outside mandatory e-invoicing: B2C sales, cross-border B2B transactions, and exports. France also requires reporting data on payment statuses, unlike many other countries with similar mandates.

The reporting frequency is once every 10 days, with exceptions for SMEs.

Two simplifications announced in August 2025 reduce the burden:

• No line-item reporting for international incoming invoices. Previously, purchases from EU and non-EU suppliers required line-item detail. That requirement has been removed.
• No blank reports. If no taxable transactions occurred in a period, you do not need to submit an empty report.

Non-established taxpayers (foreign entities operating in France) have their e-reporting obligations postponed to September 2027.

Why early adoption pays off operationally

The reform changes every stage of the invoicing process: how invoices are created, exchanged, confirmed received, tracked through their life cycle, and reported to the DGFiP. Treating it as a single regulatory deadline misses the scope of what needs to change in your workflow.

The government's stated objectives include combating VAT fraud, reducing payment periods, pre-filling VAT declarations, and improving real-time visibility into business activity. The mandate aligns with the European standard EN 16931, connecting France to a broader EU-wide shift in how invoices move between businesses.

For businesses that get the infrastructure right early, the payoff is operational: cleaner data flowing into your accounting system and fewer manual reconciliation steps. For those who wait, September arrives as a scramble to connect systems that should already be talking to each other.

Questions about your specific obligations? France operates a national helpline at 0 806 807 807 (free service, call price applies) for e-invoicing queries.

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