France Rolls Out Electronic Billing
- France began rolling out mandatory electronic billing for freelancers and small businesses to digitise invoices. - The 'facturation électronique' system specifically targets self‑employed workers and small firms with new compliance steps. - This administrative digitisation will affect cash collection, supplier processes, and compliance for small vendors across French supply chains (thelocal.fr).
France is starting a mandatory shift to electronic invoicing on September 1, 2026, and even the smallest French businesses will have to plug into it. (economie.gouv.fr) The reform covers businesses established in France that are subject to value-added tax, including firms using the small-business VAT exemption. The tax administration says more than 10 million economic actors fall within scope. (economie.gouv.fr) From September 1, 2026, every business must be able to receive an electronic invoice. Large companies, mid-sized firms and public bodies must also start issuing electronic invoices and sending transaction data to the administration on that date. (economie.gouv.fr) Small, medium and micro-businesses get one extra year to send their own invoices in the new format. Their deadline to issue electronic invoices and transmit transaction data is September 1, 2027. (economie.gouv.fr) In practice, France is not treating a PDF attached to an email as a true electronic invoice. The invoice has to be issued, sent and received in a structured digital format that software can read automatically. (economie.gouv.fr) Businesses will not send these invoices directly to one another by ordinary email. They must use a state-registered invoicing platform, which can route invoices, convert formats and pass invoice, transaction and payment data to the tax authorities. (impots.gouv.fr) France has already opened a public directory to make that routing work. The directory, launched on September 18, 2025, shows which registered platform a business uses and the billing address linked to it; the government said nearly 80 approved platforms were connected when it opened. (economie.gouv.fr) The government says the reform is meant to shorten payment times, secure invoice exchanges and automate data flows that businesses now handle separately. It also says the new system will give the state better visibility into economic activity without changing the underlying value-added tax rules. (economie.gouv.fr; economie.gouv.fr) For freelancers and very small suppliers, the immediate job is simpler but unavoidable: pick a registered platform before September 2026 so they can receive invoices, then be ready to issue them through that system by September 2027. France’s paper-and-PDF billing habits are being replaced in stages, but the compliance clock is already running. (impots.gouv.fr; economie.gouv.fr)
