E‑invoicing: an unmissable appointment
From September 1, 2026, the French Finance Act will progressively require companies to receive and issue electronic invoices for transactions within France.
How to turn the regulatory obligation into an opportunity for the company?
The regulatory requirement for E-Invoicing applies to all businesses subject to French VAT. It is also an opportunity to automate and digitize financial management processes.
All companies operating in France are subject to this legal obligation (domestic B2B transactions), with the gradual implementation set to begin in September 2026. The dematerialization of invoices will occur through two modalities :
E-invoicing : the invoice must be issued, sent, received, and archived in electronic format, using one of the formats authorized by the administration.
E-reporting : the company must periodically submit to the government a report containing its billing and payment information on transactions :
- B2B for non-French clients,
- B2C for taxable operations in France,
- with foreign operators (excluding imports)
The billing flows will be completely revised with a mandatory checkpoint, the Public Invoicing Portal (PPF), and the option to use the services of Partner Dematerialization Platforms (PDP) and Dematerialization Operators (OD).
With E-Invoicing, the tax administration aims to combat VAT fraud. For businesses, achieving compliance is a project whose difficulty and required level of investment should not be underestimated.
And even though implementation of the law has just been postponed until September 2026, anticipation will be a key success factor: identify the IT projects and processes to be carried out (IT architecture, governance of repositories including those of customers/suppliers, identification of use cases and functional changes, etc.) and take advantage of these transformations to automate and rationalise the CFO’s internal processes.
STAKES
- Adhering to the regulatory schedule,
- Deadling with evolving regulations and practical details yet to be specified,
- Choosing the appropriate flow model and partnering with the right stakeholders (Editors, PDP…),
- Rethinking the organization, roles, and processes to gain efficiency,
- Ensuring zero impact on the business.
RISKS
- Financial : fines for non-compliance, delays in invoicing / payment, detoriation of financial management,
- Business: deterioration of the client-supplier relationship,
- IT: malfunctions, loss/error of data,
- Social: obsolescence of certain activities (invoice scanning, sending…) and challenges in retaining for teams
OPPORTUNITES
- Automate and dematerialise: issue and reconciliation of documents (purchase orders, invoices, delivery notes, etc.), stock monitoring, reminders, etc.
- Protect against fraud: better identity checks / supplier reliability
- Optimise the performance of the finance function: pay/collect more quickly, refocus on activities with higher added value for the Finance Department
How we can help
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Evaluate the gaps to be addressed
Clarify business ambitions and opportunities. Review processes, tools and organisation. Map internal and external players. Analyse workflows and identify deviations from regulatory requirements and technical specifications.
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Designing and steering the implementation of transformations
Defining the target technical and functional architecture. Design the transformation path and schedule. Forecast the associated budget. Manage the implementation of the projects