E-invoicing reform in France: what measures should be prioritised to ensure compliance?

Although the introduction of e-invoicing has been postponed until 1 September 2026, companies must now define their roadmap to ensure compliance. E-invoicing, which is already mandatory for public contracts in Europe (B2G, for Business to Government), will be extended to all business-to-business transactions in France on this date in order to combat tax fraud. This postponement should be seen by companies as an opportunity to launch their projects and plan for compliance.

The publication of version 2.4 of the external specifications for the Public Billing Portal (“Portail Public de Facturation” or “PPF”) on 21 June gives us the certainty that the government is in a position to meet its commitments. In particular, this version provides details on:

• the directory (clarification of processes, history of changes, use of routing codes)
• the life cycle of the invoices
• the various technical procedures
• topics that are currently being analysed

Although the delivery of the Directory and the availability of the PPF are planned for the end of 2024, followed by a pilot phase in 2025, companies should not wait for the final version and start working now, regardless of future adjustments to the specifications.

The actions to be taken will vary from company to company, but it is important (even if the processes are already digitalised) to take stock of the existing workflows, data, tools, processes and organisation in order to define the roadmap for compliance (mapping of workflows, structuring of data, identification of use cases, choice of solution and interfaces, and adaptation of organisation and processes).

Once compliance is achieved, companies will be able to look at the opportunities that arise from digitalising their processes for invoicing customers and suppliers.

Read the full article (in French) by Partner Caroline-Emilie Schuster and Senior Advisor Philippe Martin at Eight Advisory, published in L’Agefi on 16 July 2024.