With France’s September 2026 deadline fast approaching, e-invoicing is no longer a matter of choice for buyers and suppliers. Amid the rollout of new e-invoicing standards — specifically, the move to continuous transaction control (CTC) — e-invoicing is a must-have for B2B.
France is actively involved in the transition to electronic invoicing and CTC.
With a voluntary entry into force in 2025, France plans to make e-invoicing compulsory between companies from September 2026, alongside Italy Poland.
At the head of this e-invoicing CTC pack is France. Starting with voluntary participation in 2025, France plans to make B2B e-invoicing mandatory by September 2026, alongside Italy and Romania already in place and, in the near future, Poland.
Other countries in the European Union (EU) are following: Germany, Spain, Belgium, and Latvia, to name a few examples.
France’s e-invoicing mandate offers a lens into what’s coming down the pipeline for other countries and measures to take to ensure compliance.
After all, it’s anticipated that all EU countries will operate under the B2B e-invoicing standard by 2030. At the same time, Europe’s Vat in the Digital Age (ViDA) is anticipated to mandate cross-border e-invoicing by 2027.
The good news: with the right e-invoicing solution partner in your corner, complying with France’s e-invoicing standard is easy.
What the rollout of France’s e-invoicing mandate means on a global scale
The e-invoicing CTC mandate for France gradually requires suppliers and buyers to receive and send electronic invoices. The rollout begins with requiring that companies of all sizes be able to receive electronic invoices.
At first, only large companies need to send electronic invoices. This rule then filters down to mid-size and small companies. Finally, it will be required of all buyers and suppliers.
Eventually, the French e-invoicing standard will be to send and receive all domestic invoices as e-invoices and report them.
How? Through a connection with a partner dematerialization platform (PDP).
Note: The French government had initially planned to offer direct access to its public billing portal (Portail Public de Facturation – PPF), with the option for companies to choose between the PPF or a private PDP, but ultimately abandoned this project at the end of 2024 to entrust the management of electronic invoicing to the PDPs.
The rollout of the French e-invoicing mandate impacts more than just compliance. Equally important is the opportunity for a company to further streamline operations.
You need to know what you need to do to be compliant, but also consider how you can take advantage of this obligation to automate your processes and cut costs.
What are the implications of the reform for CIOs and business units?
The new regulations will have an impact on various departments within your company, not least the CIOs. There are a number of technical factors to take into account to ensure successful implementation of the reform in your company.
First of all, you’ll need to ensure that your IT systems are compatible with the chosen PDP service, so that you can automate connection to your PDP.
Secondly, lifecycle management – i.e. the ability to manage billing statuses – and its integration into your applications will be necessary to ensure synchronization between all your services.
Finally, e-reporting – a flow that aggregates different data sources – must be taken into account. Identify what management capabilities you’ll need, and what your PDP service allows.
From a business point of view, auditing the existing system and how the reform will impact your operations will enable you to be as well prepared as possible for the choice and implementation of an e-invoicing solution.
Data verification will also be an important factor in avoiding billing and payment errors.
Different types of invoicing processes exist (automatic, semi-automatic, manual); take these processes into account and align them.
Leveraging a new tool to manage e-invoicing will also require teams to adapt to this new configuration.
One example of how France’s new e-invoicing mandate affects workflows
In light of the new e-invoicing CTC standard, buyers and suppliers must revisit their operational workflows and adapt to stay compliant.
As an example, after the reform, even a disputed invoice needs to be registered, with a matching credit note or corrected invoice provided to complete the process flow.
When you need a PDP, what’s important to consider?
It’s important to know what to look for in an e-invoicing service provider.
In addition to confirming that the vendor is a State-certified PDP supplier, here are additional questions to consider:
- Are processes and integrations reusable across regions?
- How easy is it to connect multiple back offices to the PDP?
- Can the PDP deal with all the formats you need?
- How easily can the PDP manage exceptions?
- Are updates and correction processes provided as part of the service?
Ideally, the e-invoicing solution partner you select offers global standardization, seamless connections with your back office, flexibility, end-to-end automation and visibility, and relief from dealing with technical details.
That’s exactly the kind of quality and service you’ll find with Axway.
Axway is an enterprise leader in PDP services and interoperability for e-invoicing
As a global solution provider, we’ve been at the forefront of standardization discussions and provide a complete, flexible solution.
Easily integrated with back-office operations, our e-invoicing platform offers a central place to monitor all e-invoicing processes as well as generate and manage lifecycle events.
In 2024, Axway completed its application for PDP status and is listed on the French website of PDPs.
In line with our expertise, we give French buyers and suppliers the e-invoicing compliance they need while streamlining EDI and API operations — two big wins at once.
With over 20 years’ experience in e-invoicing, EDI & B2B, Axway is committed to adapting to the ever-changing standards in this industry and to ensuring the security of your data.
We meet all requirements to ensure your company’s compliance with these new standards.
Download our checklist of 5 things you need to know to prepare for France’s e-invoicing mandate
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