French e-invoicing reform created two obligations, not one, and companies keep confusing them. E-invoicing is about invoices between businesses. E-reporting is about transaction data sent to the tax administration for operations that do not produce such an invoice. Both are now live: since 1 September 2026, every French business must be able to receive electronic invoices, and large and mid-cap companies must issue them. Here is the clean distinction, and what it means for your systems.
- Where the two regimes come from
- E-invoicing: the invoice itself, structured and routed
- E-reporting: the data behind the transactions without an e-invoice
- Side-by-side comparison
- Who is concerned, and when
- Mini FAQ
Where the two regimes come from
Both obligations come from the same text, but sit in two different articles. Ordinance no. 2021-1190 of 15 September 2021 wrote into the French Tax Code (CGI) Article 289 bis, the generalisation of electronic invoicing between VAT-registered businesses, and Article 290, the transmission of transaction and payment data known as e-reporting.
The goal is the same on both sides: give the administration a near-real-time view of VAT, pre-fill returns, and shrink the gap between VAT declared and VAT collected. E-invoicing achieves it through the invoice itself. E-reporting achieves it through the data trail of what the invoice does not cover.
E-invoicing: the invoice itself, structured and routed
E-invoicing covers domestic B2B invoices between VAT-registered businesses established in France. Two things change at once.
First, the format: the invoice is structured, in Factur-X, UBL or CII, machine-readable end to end. The administration’s FAQ is blunt on this point: a plain PDF sent by email is not an electronic invoice under the scheme. Our structured invoice primer details the formats.
Second, the routing: invoices travel through an accredited platform (plateforme agréée, called PDP in the register), the issuer’s platform handing over to the receiver’s platform. Since 1 September 2026 this routing is the mandatory channel, and the public portal (PPF) acts as the directory of recipients where each business registers its receiving platform.
E-reporting: the data behind the transactions without an e-invoice
E-reporting captures the operations that e-invoicing does not: sales to private individuals (B2C), international transactions such as exports and intra-EU supplies, and payment data on customer invoices. Instead of an invoice flowing between platforms, the business transmits transaction data to the DGFiP, typically through its accredited platform.
One way to remember the split: e-invoicing is the document, e-reporting is the declaration of what falls outside the document. A furniture maker selling to another business issues an e-invoice. The same maker selling to a walk-in customer in its showroom reports that sale.
Side-by-side comparison
| E-invoicing | E-reporting | |
|---|---|---|
| What flows | The B2B invoice itself, structured | Transaction and payment data |
| Scope | Domestic B2B between VAT-registered businesses | B2C sales, exports, intra-EU supplies, payment data |
| Channel | Accredited platform to accredited platform | Business to DGFiP, usually via its platform |
| Formats | Factur-X, UBL, CII | Dedicated transaction-data schemas |
| Started | 1 September 2026 (reception for all, issuing for large and mid-caps) | 1 September 2026, phased by size |
Who is concerned, and when
Every business VAT-registered in France is concerned by one regime or the other, most by both. Reception of e-invoices: every business, since 1 September 2026. Issuing: large companies and ETI since the same date, SMEs and micro-enterprises on 1 September 2027. E-reporting follows the same size-based calendar. Our France 2026 guide in English has the full timeline.
Companies established abroad operate under specific rules: their cross-border sales to French customers are generally covered by e-reporting rather than French e-invoicing, and the official FAQ details the edge cases, including foreign companies registered for French VAT.
Mini FAQ
Do micro-entrepreneurs have to comply?
Yes, on the same calendar as other SMEs: reception since September 2026, issuing from September 2027, and e-reporting for their B2C sales. Below the VAT franchise threshold, the e-reporting obligations are limited accordingly.
Can these obligations be delegated?
Yes. Article 1984 of the French Civil Code allows a business to mandate a third party to request and collect its supplier invoices. That is precisely the mandate model e-invoicing.fr operates for its clients, as described in our guide on mandating a third party.
What are the legal references?
Articles 289 bis (e-invoicing) and 290 (e-reporting) of the CGI, both from Ordinance 2021-1190 of 15 September 2021, and Article L441-9 of the Commercial Code for mandatory invoice mentions. Our glossary entry on e-reporting (in French) breaks down the schemas.