E-invoicing in France: the 2026 mandate for developers
France is making business-to-business e-invoicing mandatory in two waves. From 1 September 2026 every business established in France must be able to receive electronic invoices, and large and mid-size companies must issue them; small, medium and micro businesses must issue from 1 September 2027. Invoices are exchanged through certified private platforms called PDPs (plateformes de dématérialisation partenaires) in the Factur-X, UBL, or CII formats — all compliant with the European standard EN 16931.
When is e-invoicing mandatory in France?
From 1 September 2026, all businesses established in France must be able to receive electronic invoices, and large and mid-size companies (ETI) must issue them. Small and medium enterprises and micro-businesses must start issuing electronic invoices from 1 September 2027.
Who has to comply with the French mandate?
Every business established in France and subject to French VAT is in scope for B2B transactions. The receiving obligation applies to everyone from 1 September 2026; the issuing obligation is phased by company size, with large and mid-size companies first (2026) and smaller businesses following in 2027.
What format do I need for a French e-invoice?
France accepts three formats, all compliant with the European standard EN 16931: Factur-X (a hybrid PDF/A-3 with embedded CII XML), pure UBL, and pure CII. Factur-X is popular because it stays human-readable as a PDF while carrying structured data. Whichever you choose, the structured data must pass the EN 16931 business rules.
What is a PDP?
A PDP (plateforme de dématérialisation partenaire) is a private platform certified by the French tax administration to exchange e-invoices and transmit data to the DGFiP. Businesses connect to a PDP to send and receive invoices; the PDPs interoperate so a sender and receiver can use different ones. France's earlier plan for a free public portal (PPF) that would also route invoices was scaled back, so exchange runs through PDPs.
Why was my French e-invoice rejected?
The most common reasons are failures of the EN 16931 business rules that underlie Factur-X, UBL and CII: totals that do not add up, a VAT breakdown inconsistent with the line items, or a missing mandatory identifier such as the seller's SIREN. Because all three French formats share the EN 16931 semantic model, the same rule catalogue applies. Validate your document before sending it to catch these.
Rules French invoices commonly fail
France's formats build on EN 16931, so these core rules apply — each links to a plain-English explanation and fix: BR-CO-10 (line totals), BR-CO-16 (amount due), BR-01 (specification identifier), BR-S-01 (standard-rated VAT). Browse the full rule catalogue or validate an invoice free.
Official sources
- DGFiP — impots.gouv.fr, « Je passe à la facturation électronique »
- economie.gouv.fr — Tout savoir sur la facturation électronique
Related: EU mandate timeline · Peppol BIS 3.0 vs EN 16931 · UBL vs CII · free validator.