THE ESSENTIALS IN 5 POINTS
- 10 years for all your invoices, issued and received alike. That’s the period set by the French Commercial Code (art. L. 123-22) and, since law no. 2026-534 of June 25, 2026, by the Book of Tax Procedures (LPF, art. L. 102 B).
- They are kept in their original format. A Factur-X is kept with its embedded XML, a UBL or CII file as XML.
- Authenticity of origin, integrity of content and legibility must be ensured for the whole period.
- Google Drive, Dropbox or a mailbox store your invoices without archiving them in the evidential sense.
- Your accredited platform transmits your invoices but isn’t required to archive them. The responsibility stays with you.
6 years or 10 years?
For years, two periods coexisted. On the tax side, article L. 102 B of the Book of Tax Procedures (livre des procédures fiscales, LPF) required 6 years, the time during which the tax authority can carry out an audit. On the commercial side, article L. 123-22 of the Commercial Code required 10 years from the end of the financial year. To be safe, people kept the longer one.
Article 36 of law no. 2026-534 of June 25, 2026, on fighting social and tax fraud, raised the LPF period from 6 to 10 years, to align it with the ten-year period during which the tax authority can reassess. The measure applies to documents whose retention period ends after January 1, 2027.
If a website still tells you 6 years, its information dates from before June 2026. Keep all your invoices for 10 years. If your financial year follows the calendar year, an invoice from 2026 is kept at least until the end of 2036. For your other documents, our document retention tool gives the period and the date to keep them until.
Why a plain PDF isn’t enough
With the reform, the invoice that counts is no longer the image you read on screen. It’s the structured data. A “flattened” PDF, printed then scanned or exported without its data, loses the XML file that gives it its legal value.
- A Factur-X is a PDF/A-3 that embeds an XML file. Keep the file exactly as it arrived, with its XML.
- A UBL or CII invoice is a pure XML file. That file is the original document, even if it’s unreadable as is.
The rule is written in article L. 102 B of the LPF. Documents “drawn up or received in electronic form” are “kept in that form” for the whole period. This is called retention in the original format.
Three guarantees to uphold for ten years
Article 289 of the French General Tax Code (CGI) also requires three things to be ensured, from the moment the invoice is issued until the end of its retention period.
- Authenticity of originIt must be possible to establish who issued the invoice.
- Integrity of contentIt must be possible to prove the document hasn’t been altered.
- LegibilityA person must be able to read the invoice, today as in ten years. Factur-X has the advantage of being readable without any special tool.
Storing an invoice isn’t archiving it
Dropping a PDF into Google Drive or leaving an invoice in your mailbox is filing a file. Nothing stops it from being edited, deleted then restored, or having its content replaced without a trace. That’s precisely what the tax authority wants to be able to rule out during an audit.
| Guarantee | Drive, Dropbox, mailbox | Archiving with evidential value |
|---|---|---|
| Integrity | The file can be edited at any time, with no log | Any change is prevented or detected |
| Traceability | No legally binding timestamp or access history | Timestamping and a log of operations |
| Durability | Depends on an account, a subscription or a mailbox that ends up being purged | Retention organized over the full legal period |
That doesn’t mean Drive or your email are forbidden. They can serve as a workspace and a filing system, but on their own they don’t make an archive with evidential value. Evidential archiving in the strict sense, with a digital vault certified to the NF Z42-013 or ISO 14641 standards, is a specialist service. Some accredited platforms offer it as an option, and so do dedicated providers.
Does your accredited platform archive your invoices?
Not necessarily, and it’s probably the costliest misunderstanding of the reform. To be registered, an accredited platform (in French, plateforme agréée) must meet specifications for transmitting and processing invoice flows. Archiving with evidential value isn’t one of the registration requirements.
- Some platforms include evidential archiving, sometimes as a paid option.
- Others keep the flows for their own operations, with no commitment to you on how long.
- What you get back if you leave depends on your contract, and in particular on its reversibility clause.
The scenario to avoid. You switch platforms in three years. The old one only keeps your invoices for as long as your contract says, and on the day of an audit, you no longer have the original files.
Three habits protect you from it.
- Read your contract. Is 10-year archiving with evidential value included, and at what price? Is handing your archives over to another platform provided for?
- Export regularly your invoices in their original format. Some professionals advise doing it every six months.
- Keep your own organized copy, independent of any platform.
Organized archiving, sized for a small business
Between the Drive folder, which isn’t enough, and the certified vault, sometimes oversized, there’s a reasonable middle way. It means organizing your invoices so that, on the day of an audit, you can find each one quickly, in its original format.
- One single place where all your invoices arrive, whether they come from your platform, your email or scanned post
- The original file preserved, Factur-X or XML untouched
- For each invoice, the useful details noted, from supplier to amount
- Full-text search, to pull out a document in under a minute when you’re asked for it
- Regular exports, and one simple rule: nothing gets deleted before ten years
This organization doesn’t replace certified evidential archiving when you need it. It complements it, and it makes your records usable day to day, for bookkeeping, a dispute with a supplier or justifying VAT you’ve deducted.
Where Clivio fits
Clivio takes care of the organizing part. Your invoices arrive through your inbox address, by drag and drop or from Google Drive, and you can drop in the exports from your accredited platform too.
Clivio keeps the file exactly as you dropped it. A Factur-X stays a PDF with its XML, a UBL or CII stays an XML file, and you can keep its original name rather than the suggested title. The amounts and due date are picked up, and the full text is transcribed, so you can find an invoice by a phrase from its content. Files are encrypted in transit and at rest, on Google Cloud. From Settings › My data, you can download a ZIP archive of all your files and their data whenever you like.
That said, Clivio isn’t archiving with evidential value. No qualified timestamp is applied, the service isn’t NF Z42-013 certified, and you can delete a document at any time. Your documents are kept for as long as your account is active, within the limits of your plan. Our terms ask you to keep a copy of your important documents, and the legal retention obligation stays yours. If your business requires evidential archiving, entrust it to your platform or a specialist provider, and use Clivio to find your invoices day to day.
Frequently asked questions
How long must e-invoices be kept in France?
10 years, issued and received alike. The Commercial Code (art. L. 123-22) requires 10 years, and law no. 2026-534 of June 25, 2026 aligned the tax period (LPF art. L. 102 B, formerly 6 years) on 10 years for documents whose period ends after January 1, 2027.
Can I archive only the PDF of my invoices?
No. The legal document includes the structured data. Keep the complete Factur-X, PDF and embedded XML, or the original XML file for a UBL or CII invoice. A flattened PDF without XML doesn’t count as retention in the original format.
Do Google Drive or Dropbox count as archiving?
As a filing space, yes. As archiving with evidential value, no, because nothing there guarantees the integrity and traceability required. A file can be edited or deleted without a trace. They can complement a setup, not make one on their own.
Does my accredited platform keep my invoices for 10 years?
Not automatically. Evidential archiving isn’t a registration requirement for platforms. Some offer it, included or as an option, others don’t, and what happens when you leave depends on your contract. Check it, and export your invoices regularly.
What’s the risk in an audit if an invoice is missing?
Deductions being challenged. Without supporting documents, the tax authority can reconstruct your tax base and refuse VAT or expense deductions. It’s then up to you to provide proof, which is why it pays to file everything as soon as it arrives.
Should invoice statuses be kept too?
It’s advisable. The four mandatory lifecycle statuses (submitted, rejected, refused, paid) are transmitted by the platforms. Keeping track of each invoice’s state, approved, paid or refused, will help you in a dispute with a supplier or with the tax authority.
Is certified archiving mandatory for a small business?
Not necessarily. The law requires authenticity, integrity and legibility to be guaranteed for 10 years, without requiring an NF Z42-013 certified vault. Many small businesses use their accredited platform’s archiving option, where there is one, or a dedicated provider. What matters is that the solution upholds those guarantees over time.
How many invoices can I keep in Clivio?
50 documents in total on the free plan (500 MB), 1,000 documents and 10 GB on Pro. Over ten years of business, a company can go beyond that volume. In that case, keep your exports in their original format alongside, or archiving with your platform.
What happens to my invoices if I go back to the free plan?
Nothing is deleted straight away. Above 50 documents, you keep full access for 7 days, then the space becomes read-only and you can still view, export and delete. At 90 days, after several notice emails, the oldest documents beyond 50 are deleted, except supporting documents linked to a transaction and archived documents. Going back under 50 documents restores access.
Official sources (in French): Légifrance, LPF art. L. 102 B · Légifrance, Commercial Code art. L. 123-22 · impots.gouv.fr, je découvre la facturation électronique · vie-publique.fr, law of June 25, 2026
Updated on October 13, 2026 by the Clivio team. Spotted an error or a new text? contact@clivio.app