Prerequisites France | Retarus Docs

The following describes the necessary steps that must initially be carried out by the customer. We ask the customer to prepare all points before the project kick-off and to have them ready for the appointment. We recommend consulting tax advisors and ERP experts, particularly for questions relating to tax law, official registrations and the creation of invoices in-house, in order to ensure that the preparations can be implemented in a timely manner.

Owner and responsibilities

Owner	Responsibility
Retarus	Data Transport: Setting up technical infrastructure Data transfer ERP - Retarus Map creation Data validation Transfer from/to authorities (sender/recipient) Error handling Status / Archive data transfer
ERP Expert	ERP integration: Setup of ERP inhouse format Transfer of data from/to Retarus Documentation of ERP inhouse format Integration of any necessary new fields (e.g., Peppol ID, NIP, etc.) Integration of status feedback into ERP / own archive system Connection to own archive (*not required if you use Retarus LTA service)
Tax Advisor / Representive	Local Company / Tax Administration and legal protection: Checking whether internal invoices meet the necessary standards (mandatory fields, etc.), whether the process has been followed correctly (archiving, etc.) Registration with portals, procurement of certificates (legitimation service provider) Legal monitoring (legal changes with an impact on the current invoice)

Introduction

In light of the e-invoicing reform in France, companies must make technical preparations in three key areas:

E-invoicing
Lifecycle messages (status messages)
E-reporting

These three processes are explained in more detail below, along with further information.

Documentation

Documentation, XSD and examples can be found in the following package. The documentation has also been provided in English (automatically translated) as well.

Specification Bundle 3.2.zip

The official specification can be found here: https://www.impots.gouv.fr/specifications-externes-b2b

E-Invoicing

For outgoing invoices, the customer must define which format Retarus should transmit to the recipients. The following formats are available:

UBL (EN-16931)
CII (EN-16931)
Factur-X (EN-16931)

If Retarus is to generate and transmit the Factur-X format, the customer must provide the invoice as a PDF file with identical content in addition to the source data. For this purpose, the PDF can be embedded in the source data (in-house EDI format). As an exchange format, the customer can choose between their own in-house EDI format or the RIF format provided by Retarus. The exchange format applies to both incoming and outgoing transactions. The in-house EDI format must contain all required fields: https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F31808?lang=en

Lifecycle Messages

In addition to the electronic transmission of invoices, France is introducing additional status information. These so-called lifecycle messages are exceptionally comprehensive. Not all lifecycle messages are mandatory to send or receive. Retarus therefore recommends focusing on the mandatory messages.

The following lifecycle messages must be observed:

Outbound:

Legal status code	Name of the legal status	Trigger	Creator
200 (mandatory)	Submitted	The supplier sends their invoice or credit memo to the registered private platform. The status is generated after the checks have been performed.	Retarus
212 (mandatory)	Payment received	The supplier has received payment of the invoice. This status is mandatory for the provision of services (with the exception of VAT on charges and excluding reverse-charge transactions).	Retarus Customer
213 (mandatory)	Rejected	The invoice may be automatically rejected by the platform for technical reasons (e.g., format, non-compliance with standards, ...) If the sending platform rejects the invoice, the invoice must be corrected by the issuer and resubmitted to the platform. If the receiving platform rejects the invoice, the status “Rejected” is transmitted to the sending platform (see 2.12.1.3 Invoice Management in Case of Inadmissibility, Rejection, or Refusal).	Retarus

Inbound:

Legal status code

Name of the legal status

Trigger

Creator

210

(mandatory)

Rejected

The invoice was rejected by the recipient for business reasons

Please note:

A complete list of rejection reasons can be found in the document “Appendix 1 – Semantic Format FE-E-Invoice – Processes 1 & 2” on the “Rejection Reason” tab.

Retarus Customer

Retarus uses the exact “official” lifecycle messages from the French authorities. In the attached “Specification Bundle.zip” file, you will find detailed documentation of the lifecycle messages, as well as examples—including XSD files—for generating the data.

The following lifecycle messages are available in their entirety:

Legal status code	Name of the legal status	Status change	Trigger	Creator
200 (mandatory)	Submitted	Automatically	The supplier sends their invoice or credit memo to the registered private platform. The status is generated after the checks have been performed.	Supplier’s platform PDPE (Issuer)
201	Issued by the platform	Automatically	The invoice was processed on the supplier's platform and issued to the buyer.	Supplier's platform PDPE (Issuer)
202	Received by the platform	Automatic	The invoice was received by the buyer’s registered private platform but has not yet been made available to the buyer.	Buyer’s platform PDPR (Recipient)
203	Made available	Automatically	The invoice has been made available to the buyer on the registered private platform.	Buyer's platform PDPR (Recipient)
204	In stock	Manual	The invoice is accepted by the buyer for processing.	Buyer
205	Approved	Manual	The invoice is accepted in full by the buyer.	Buyer
206	Partially approved	Manual	The invoice is partially accepted by the buyer. This partial processing may result in a credit memo.	Buyer
207	Dispute	Manual	There is a dispute regarding the invoice. This may ultimately result in the buyer rejecting or approving it.	Buyer
208	Paused	Manual	Invoice processing can be suspended if one or more documents are missing. The invoice data remains unchanged.	Buyer
209	Completed	Manual	The invoice is considered closed when the supplier adds an attachment or a comment to an invoice with the status "suspended."	Supplier
210 (mandatory)	Rejected	Manual	The invoice was rejected by the recipient for business reasons A complete list of rejection reasons can be found in the document “Appendix 1 – Semantic Format FE-E-Invoice – Processes 1 & 2” on the “Rejection Reason” tab.	Buyer
211	Payment sent	Manual	The transfer receipt has been sent to the supplier. The refund receipt has been sent to the buyer.	Buyer
212 (mandatory)	Payment received	Manual	The supplier has received payment of the invoice. This status is mandatory for the provision of services (with the exception of VAT on charges and excluding reverse-charge transactions).	Supplier
213 (mandatory)	Rejected	Automatic	The invoice may be automatically rejected by the platform for technical reasons (e.g., format, non-compliance with standards, ...) If the sending platform rejects the invoice, the invoice must be corrected by the issuer and resubmitted to the platform. If the receiving platform rejects the invoice, the status “Rejected” is transmitted to the sending platform (see 2.12.1.3 Invoice Management in Case of Inadmissibility, Rejection, or Refusal).	Supplier or buyer platform

E-Reporting

Most companies are required to submit their regular VAT returns (excluding domestic invoices reported immediately) to the tax authorities every 10 days via a service provider (specific regulations should be confirmed with a tax advisor).

E-Reporting includes the following data:

International B2B Scenario

Cross-border B2B transactions in which at least one party is based outside France.

The following are submitted:

Individual invoice details
Individual payment details for services
Each invoice and each payment is reported separately (therefore, no table)

B2C Scenario

Consumer sales or transactions with non-VAT-registered businesses are reported.

The following are submitted:

daily aggregated transaction data
daily aggregated payment data for services

Data is aggregated by date, currency, and transaction category.

Retarus uses the exact “official” e-reporting messages from the French authorities. In the attached “Specification Bundle.zip,” you will find the detailed documentation of the e-reporting messages, as well as examples including XSD files for generating the data.