Introduction
France’s e-invoicing reform will take effect from 1 September 2026, introducing mandatory electronic invoicing and e-reporting for VAT-registered businesses. The reform requires companies to issue and receive invoices in structured electronic formats via certified platforms for domestic B2B transactions.
It also introduces e-reporting obligations for transactions not covered by e-invoicing, such as B2C and cross-border activities. The implementation will be phased: all businesses must be able to receive e-invoices from September 2026, while large and medium-sized companies must also issue them at that point. Small and micro businesses will follow in September 2027.
The reform aims to standardize invoice exchange and improve VAT reporting through more frequent and structured data transmission.
Legal information
Retarus strongly recommends consulting a local tax advisor regarding tax law issues. The information provided here is not guaranteed.
Outbound invoices and lifecycle status messages
The outbound transfer of invoices is divided into several steps, which are described below (simplified diagram).
Step 1: Creation
The Retarus customer creates an electronic invoice in their ERP system and sends it to Retarus in an internal (and documented) format (source format). Attachments can be transmitted if this is documented (Base64 encoded). The transmission protocol can be selected from a variety of existing standard protocols (such as tRFC, AS2 or SFTP).
Step 2: Data processing and Transmission
Retarus converts the source format into the required XML target format. The resulting XML document is validated in a further step. The currently valid Schematron of the authorities is used for this purpose. If the check fails, the invoice is not sent. A verification report is generated and sent to the customer via email. If the verification is successful, the following steps follow:
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The E-Invoice is transmitted to the PPF.
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Recipient address is requested at the Annuaire service of the PPF.
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The E-Invoice is transmitted to the recipient.
If all steps are successful or one is failing a status is transmitted via E-Mail to the Retarus customer.
Step 3: Acceptance
The recipient must validate the content of the invoice and must send a reject status message, if the recipient is not accepting the E-Invoice. The status message also contains the reason of the rejection.
Step 4: Payment
If the Retarus Customer detects a payment a payment status message must be transmitted to the authorities. The Retarus customer triggeres the status message while Retarus is transmitting it to the PPF.
Step 4: Archive
Retarus then transfers the source and target documents, as well as the corresponding UPO file (in the original), to a Retarus SFTP server. The customer is given access to this server and can retrieve these documents for further processing within 30 days before they are automatically deleted
Inbound invoices and lifecycle status messages
The inbound transfer of invoices is divided into several steps, which are described below (simplified diagram).
Step 1: Retrieve invoices
Retarus receives the E-Invoices from the senders PA. Retarus supports all supported formats, like UBL, CII or Factor-X. Since the data has already been verified by both the sender and the authorities, no further checks are performed as part of the standard receiving process.
Step 2: Data processing
Retarus converts the XML invoice into the required in-house format and then transmits the document to the customer's system using the agreed protocol.
Step 3: Invoice verification
The customer must now review the contents of the invoice. Depending on the outcome of the review, a status update must or may be sent back. If the review is successful, a positive status message may be sent back; if the review reveals errors, a status message explaining the reason must be sent back to the sender and forwarded to the authorities via Retarus.
Step 3: Archive
Retarus then transfers the source and target documents to a Retarus SFTP server. The customer is given access to this server and can retrieve these documents for further processing within 30 days before they are automatically deleted.