Your supplier is late with an invoice and the accounting team is getting impatient? Here is how to handle a missing invoice effectively, by the book and by good document-management practice. Doing nothing exposes you to delayed VAT deduction and avoidable bookkeeping gaps.
- Why missing invoices are a real problem
- How to spot them early in your accounting process
- The legal procedure to request an invoice from a supplier
- Template and content of a compliant follow-up
- In this dossier: the missing invoice
- Mini-FAQ
Why missing invoices are a real problem
A missing invoice is far more than an administrative oversight. Without that document, the company holds no supporting document to book an expense legally, nor to exercise its right to VAT deduction. That creates a double exposure: financial and fiscal.
From a tax standpoint, Article 289 of the French General Tax Code requires an invoice for every supply of goods or provision of services. In bookkeeping, Article L441-9 of the Commercial Code frames its content and issuance. Without an invoice, you can neither deduct the charge nor record the VAT correctly.
During a French tax audit, the absence of an invoice justifying an expense can lead to a fiscal reinstatement and, in some cases, a penalty for irregular bookkeeping.
How to spot them early in your accounting process
A good invoice-tracking system rests on coherence between purchase orders, deliveries and payments. If an invoice does not arrive, it is often because internal validation or supplier transmission broke somewhere in the cycle.
Automating anomaly detection
E-invoicing platforms like e-invoicing.fr can automatically reconcile your purchases and your supporting documents. They prevent oversights by retrieving documents directly from suppliers under mandate (Article 1984 of the French Civil Code).
Setting up a tracking table
A spreadsheet or an ERP tool should let you cross three pieces of information: what was ordered, what was received, what was paid. Automating that comparison reduces the risk of omission and keeps bookkeeping fluid.
Schedule a monthly review of “pending invoices”. It is a key indicator of the administrative health of the company: a good practice is to put it on the CFO’s or the accountant’s dashboard.
The legal procedure to request an invoice from a supplier
The process is legally framed. If a supplier forgets to send an invoice, the client company is entitled to demand it.
On what legal ground to act
Article L441-9 of the Commercial Code obliges the seller to issue an invoice as soon as the sale or the service is completed. You are therefore legitimate in formally requesting the missing invoice.
The formal notice
The first follow-up can be friendly (email or phone call). But if the supplier does not react, send a written formal notice: it stands as evidence in case of dispute. Mention the subject of the order, the date of the service and the relevant legal provisions.
- Reminder of Article L441-9 of the Commercial Code
- Details of the order concerned (reference, date, net/gross amounts)
- Expected response deadline
- Consequence if no invoice arrives (payment blocking or contract termination, depending on the clause)
Template and content of a compliant follow-up
Here are the principles of a letter (or email) respecting good faith, clarity and traceability:
1. State the subject without ambiguity
Give the order or service reference, and the execution date. The supplier must be able to find the transaction in their system quickly.
2. Quote the relevant legal articles
Recall the texts: “In accordance with Article L441-9 of the Commercial Code and Article 289 of the General Tax Code, we remind you of your obligation to issue an invoice.” It shows your request rests on the law, not on an internal preference.
3. Set a reasonable deadline
Seven calendar days is commonly accepted practice to regularise a late issuance, unless a contract says otherwise.
4. Archive the exchanges
These proofs must be kept. In case of a later audit or a dispute, they demonstrate your company’s diligence. File them with the corresponding supplier record.
Never book an expense on the basis of a quote, a till receipt or a delivery note alone. VAT deduction without an invoice is systematically rejected by the French tax administration.
In this dossier: the missing invoice
- The supplier follow-up email template (FR), three ready-to-copy emails, from the polite request to the final warning.
- The formal notice letter, full template (FR), when follow-ups stay unanswered.
- Till receipt or invoice: recovering the VAT (FR), why a receipt is never enough.
- Requesting an invoice from a merchant: myths and answers (FR), the objections heard at the till and their answers.
- A merchant who refuses: remedies and formal notice (FR), the step-by-step procedure.
- Mandating a third party to request your invoices, the legal framework of delegation.
- What a missing invoice really costs, the lost-VAT calculation, item by item.
Mini-FAQ: your questions
How long must a supplier keep their invoices?
French law requires ten years of retention (Article L123-22 of the Commercial Code). You can therefore request a duplicate within that window, proving the transaction.
Can I deduct VAT without an invoice?
No. The right to deduction under Article 271 of the General Tax Code can only be exercised against a compliant invoice. Any other supporting document is inadmissible.
What if the supplier has ceased trading?
Keep the proofs of order and payment. You may draw up an internal exceptional purchase note, but with no deductible VAT. In case of audit, that transparency proves good faith.
Centralise the recovery of your missing invoices
Discover how e-invoicing.fr automatically retrieves your supplier supporting documents, secures your right to deduction and eliminates invoice delays.