Electronic Invoicing in France is part of the broader context of the accession of European Union countries to the adoption of e-invoicing.
As of 1 September 2026, the transalpine country will be obliged to receive electronic invoices for all enterprises, and to issue electronic invoices and electronic reporting for Large Enterprises and ETIs (intermediate cut). By 1 September 2027, this obligation will be extended to all other enterprises (i.e. SMEs and micro-enterprises).
As regards the format of invoices, they may be issued in UBL, CII and Factur-X formats.
The duration of preservation depends on two ‘purposes’: fiscal and commercial (equivalent to the Italian civil term). As regards the fiscal term, documents (including invoices) drawn up or received in electronic form must be retained in that form for a period of six years. This period starts from the date of issue of the invoice as defined by the Finance Act for 2023. As far as the commercial term is concerned, the retention period is 10 years.
In addition to businesses as ‘buyers’ (in the Italian system, they would be the transferees/ purchasers of the invoice) and ‘suppliers’ of goods and services (the transferors/providers), technological intermediaries play an important role, among which the Platforms partner de dematerialisation ( plateforme de dématérialisation partenaire , PDP) stand out. These are providers registered with the tax administration, who offer dematerialisation services and who can send and receive e-invoices directly and transmit the data to the Public Invoicing Portal ( portail public de facturation , PPF).
Electronic invoicing France: the service
Indicom, as a Plateforme de Dématérialisation Partenaire (PDP) registered under reservation in France, offers a complete service for electronic invoice management, guaranteeing full compliance with local regulations. Our service covers both the active and passive cycles.
Invoices are validated and transmitted via the PEPPOL network or SFTP connections, while invoices destined for the public administration are routed directly to ChorusPro , the official platform for communications with public bodies. In addition to transmission, Indicom takes care of the generation and sending of the tax reports required by the Direction générale des Finances publiques (DGFiP) , minimising customer interaction, which is only necessary in the event of missing data.
A dedicated portal allows customers easy access to invoices and notifications sent and received, in an intuitive and multilingual environment.
The main activities include:
- Receiving invoices in UBL, CII or Factur-X formats and making them available to the customer
- Management of the active cycle by receiving the flow of invoices to be issued in UBL format, validation and forwarding to the correct PDP after consultation of the Annuaire.
- Secure transmission of B2B invoices via PEPPOL or SFTP connections
- Secure transmission of B2G invoices to ChorusPro.
- Monitoring of invoice statuses
- Notification of any errors to the customer.
- Management of Customer records on the Annuaire (Management of Siren, Siret and possible Code Routage)
- Making invoices and outcomes available through a secure, centralised portal.
- Generating tax reports and sending them to DGFiP.
- Digital storage of invoices for at least 6 years.
Why rely on e-Invoicing in France in outsourcing?
Unique point of contact
Standard management and single supplier to interface with.
Compliance with regulations
Full compliance with the regulations currently in force.
Scalability
Scalability and reproducibility of the international e-Invoicing model across multiple countries.
Improving relations
Improving relations with customers and suppliers.