When companies first hear about the French electronic invoicing reform, the same questions usually come up.
What do we actually need to do? Do we need to choose an e-invoicing provider?
Will our accountant take care of everything? Does our invoicing software need to be updated?
How will we receive supplier invoices? Where do we even start?
In previous articles, we looked at what French electronic invoicing changes for businesses using FileMaker and how to assess whether a FileMaker ERP is operationally ready for the reform. Those are important steps, but they do not answer every practical question a company will face.
Being ready for electronic invoicing is not just a matter of updating an ERP. It also means understanding who does what, which decisions need to be made, how invoices will circulate, and how accounting, software, providers, and internal teams will work together.
Our experience during the introduction of mandatory electronic invoicing in Italy taught us that successful projects rarely started with technology alone. They started with a clear understanding of responsibilities, business processes, and how different systems would work together.
→ Read our Client Wins: When Electronic Invoicing Arrived in Italy: What We Learned from Dozens of FileMaker Integrations.
This article follows the same practical approach. Rather than explaining the regulation or comparing providers, it outlines the key decisions organizations should expect to make as they prepare for French electronic invoicing.
How do you become compliant with French electronic invoicing?
From a regulatory perspective, becoming compliant is relatively straightforward. Every company should follow those 2 steps:
Step 1 – Talk to your accountant and identify your deadline
Your first step should be talking to your accountant or tax advisor.
They can confirm which implementation phase applies to your business and whether any specific rules affect your invoicing processes.
The current implementation timeline is:
- From 1 September 2026 – All businesses established in France and subject to VAT must be able to receive electronic invoices. On the same date, large companies and mid-sized companies (ETI) must also start issuing electronic invoices and comply with e-reporting obligations where applicable.
- From 1 September 2027 – SMEs and micro-enterprises must start issuing electronic invoices and comply with the corresponding e-reporting obligations.
Once you know your deadline, you can start preparing the project with confidence, avoiding unnecessary last-minute decisions.
Step 2 – Choose an accredited e-invoicing platform
Once you know your deadline, the next step is choosing an accredited e-invoicing platform (formerly known as a PDP).
This is the service that allows your business to participate in the French electronic invoicing ecosystem. In practice, the platform becomes your company’s official gateway for sending and receiving electronic invoices.
After subscribing to the service, the platform will guide you through the onboarding process, collecting the information required to identify your company, and registering it in the national directory (Annuaire). This allows other accredited platforms to automatically route electronic invoices to your business.
Most providers charge a subscription fee for this service. They also offer a web portal where you can send, receive, and manage electronic invoices without requiring an ERP integration. For many businesses, especially those with simple invoicing processes, this may be all that’s needed to comply with the reform.
If your only goal is compliance, you could stop here.
Beyond the regulations
However, if you’re reading this article, chances are your business already relies on an ERP to manage customers, orders, invoices, payments, inventory, and day-to-day operations.
In that case, using the provider’s web portal as a separate application may not be the most efficient solution. Entering data twice, switching between systems, or managing part of the invoicing process outside your ERP can quickly become an operational burden.
This is where the project changes perspective. The objective is no longer simply to comply with the regulation. The objective becomes integrating electronic invoicing into your existing business processes, allowing your ERP to remain the central place where your business operates.
Beyond compliance: integrating electronic invoicing into your ERP
Step 3 – Decide how you want to work
Before discussing technology, decide how electronic invoicing should fit into your business.
For example:
- Do you want users to continue working exclusively in your application, or is it acceptable to use the provider’s portal for some activities?
- Who will manage outgoing invoices?
- Who will process supplier invoices?
- Who will monitor invoice statuses and notifications?
These decisions define the future workflow of your business and will guide every technical choice that follows.
Step 4 – Decide which information belongs in your application
Not every company needs the same level of integration. Some organizations only want to archive electronic invoices. Others want to manage customers, invoices, supplier invoices, payments, purchase orders, approvals, and reporting from a single application.
Defining what should remain inside your ERP helps establish the scope of the project.
Step 5 – Work with your technology partner
Once you’ve defined how electronic invoicing should fit into your business, it’s time to involve your technology partner. At this stage, the objective is no longer to understand the regulation, but to implement the business decisions you’ve already made. Your technology partner can assess your existing invoicing application, identify any functional gaps, design the integration with your chosen e-invoicing platform, and implement the workflows required to support your day-to-day operations.
By defining your objectives first, the implementation becomes a technical exercise driven by business requirements, not the other way around.
Need help assessing your invoicing software?
If your company already relies on an invoicing system, the next step is understanding how electronic invoicing fits into your existing processes.
Every application is different. Some require only minor adjustments, while others may benefit from a broader review of data structures, workflows, or integration strategy.
If you’d like to discuss your current application or better understand what an electronic invoicing project would involve for your organization, our team can help you assess the situation and identify the most practical path forward.
