THE 5 KEY POINTS
- On September 1, 2027, issuing becomes mandatory for SMEs, very small businesses and micro-businesses. Large and mid-sized companies have issued e-invoices since September 1, 2026.
- It covers your invoices to businesses established in France and liable for VAT, including if you’re under the VAT exemption threshold.
- The invoice goes out from your accredited platform, directly or through software connected to it. A PDF sent by email is no longer enough.
- It carries four new mandatory fields: the customer’s SIREN, the delivery address if it differs, the nature of the transactions and, where it applies, the option to pay VAT on debits.
- Your sales to consumers or abroad stay outside e-invoicing: their data falls under e-reporting.
Who must issue e-invoices, and from when?
The reform comes in two stages. Since September 1, 2026, every business must be able to receive e-invoices. The obligation to issue them follows the size of the business.
| Your business | Receiving | Issuing and e-reporting |
|---|---|---|
| Large company or mid-sized company (ETI) | September 1, 2026 | September 1, 2026 |
| SME (PME), very small business (TPE) or micro-business | September 1, 2026 | September 1, 2027 |
The reform covers supplies of goods and services made in France between two businesses liable for VAT, when they aren’t exempt, as well as the down payments that relate to them. The rule also applies under the VAT exemption threshold (franchise en base): Service Public Entreprendre, the French government’s website for businesses, gives the example of a micro-entrepreneur who invoices a French communication agency.
To see your own dates in four questions, take our Am I affected? test. Every deadline, text by text, is in the e-invoicing timeline. E-invoicing covers businesses established in France: if yours is established abroad, our page on who is concerned by e-reporting is the one to read.
The six steps to issue e-invoices in 2027
These steps follow the approach that Service Public Entreprendre describes. You can take the first four now.
1. Sort your customers into three groups
Businesses established in France, consumers, customers abroad. The first group will receive e-invoices. For the other two, you invoice as you do today, and it’s the sales data that goes to the tax authority. Also note what you sell (goods, services or both), which the invoice will have to state, and your VAT regime, which sets how often e-reporting is sent.
2. Choose an accredited platform
An accredited platform (plateforme agréée, PA) is the only intermediary the tax authority recognizes to issue, transmit and receive e-invoices. You can keep your invoicing software if it’s a “compatible solution” (solution compatible), meaning it’s connected to an accredited platform: it doesn’t transmit anything itself. If you already have a platform to receive your invoices, check that your plan includes issuing. To compare, read choosing an accredited platform, and look for its name in our copy of the official list (in French).
3. Check your listing in the directory
The e-invoicing directory (annuaire) shows, for each business, the platform that receives its invoices. Your platform registers you there with your consent. Search for your SIREN, then for your customers’: the directory is how your invoices find their platform.
4. Collect your customers’ SIREN numbers
The SIREN, the 9-digit French company number, becomes a mandatory field on the invoice when the customer is a business. Ask for it now, on a purchase order or in your first exchange. Our SIREN and VAT number checker checks each number before you save it.
5. Update your invoice templates
Add the four new mandatory fields, listed below. Your platform or software numbers the invoices and places the fields, but Service Public Entreprendre advises checking each invoice before you validate it: customer, amount, VAT, date and number. The full list is in our article on mandatory information on a French invoice.
6. Follow each invoice once it’s sent
The platform shows where each invoice stands through its statuses: submitted, rejected if it isn’t compliant, refused by the customer, paid (encaissée) once the money is in. For a supply of services, the “paid” status also sends the payment data to the tax authority.
Example: in October 2027, a graphic designer who works as a micro-entrepreneur invoices a communication agency in Lyon for €1,200. She enters the invoice on her accredited platform, with the agency’s SIREN and the nature “prestations de services” (supply of services). The invoice arrives on the agency’s platform. When the agency pays, the designer marks the invoice “paid”.
Nothing stops you from starting before the date: the DGFiP invites businesses to start now.
The formats: Factur-X, UBL or CII
An e-invoice isn’t a PDF sent by email. The DGFiP describes it as “a dematerialized and standardized document that meets European standards” (our translation). Three formats are accepted.
- CII and UBL, two XML files that you can’t read without a tool.
- The mixed format, a readable PDF that contains an XML file: that’s the Factur-X format.
You don’t have to adopt each customer’s format: the recipient’s platform puts the invoice in the form they need. For a small business, Factur-X has one advantage: the invoice stays readable like an ordinary PDF.
To see a Factur-X from the inside, download our Factur-X, UBL and CII example invoices, or create one with our free tool Create a Factur-X invoice. The file has the right format and the new mandatory fields, but it doesn’t replace sending through an accredited platform.
The four new mandatory fields
They come on top of the usual details of an invoice, from the same date as issuing: September 1, 2027 for SMEs and micro-businesses.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| The customer’s SIREN | Its 9 digits, when the customer is a business. |
| The delivery address | The address where the goods are delivered, if it differs from the customer’s address. |
| The nature of the transactions | Supplies of goods, supplies of services, or both. |
| The option on debits | “Option pour le paiement de la taxe d’après les débits” (option to pay VAT on an accrual basis), if you chose this option. |
Under the VAT exemption threshold, the mention “TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI” (VAT not applicable) stays on your invoices.
Your consumer and foreign customers
An invoice to a consumer, or to a business established abroad, stays outside e-invoicing: it can be on paper or a PDF, as it is today. It’s the sales data that goes to the tax authority, through your accredited platform, on the same timeline as issuing. That’s e-reporting. If you have both kinds of customers, both obligations apply.
Frequently asked questions
How do I issue an e-invoice as a micro-entrepreneur?
Through an accredited platform, by September 1, 2027 at the latest for your business customers established in France. You draw up the invoice on the platform, or in invoicing software connected to it, and it goes out in electronic format to your customer’s platform. Under the VAT exemption threshold (franchise en base), the mention “TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI” stays on the invoice.
Can I keep sending my invoices as PDFs by email?
Until your issuing date, yes. After that, between businesses established in France and liable for VAT, no: the invoice goes through an accredited platform. For a consumer or a customer established abroad, a PDF or a paper invoice is still possible, and the sales data falls under e-reporting.
Can I issue e-invoices before September 2027?
Yes. The French tax authority (DGFiP) invites businesses to start now, and every business has had to be able to receive e-invoices since September 1, 2026. Starting before the date gives you time to fix your invoice templates.
Do I have to pay for an accredited platform to issue invoices?
Not necessarily. Several accredited platforms have a free plan for small businesses. Check what the plan includes: issuing, e-reporting, archiving and exporting your data.
Can I change accredited platform?
Yes, at any time. The new platform handles the steps and updates the directory, within 15 working days at most after the former platform agrees. The former platform keeps providing some services for a year, so that your invoices keep arriving.
Can Clivio issue my e-invoices?
No. Clivio isn’t an accredited platform and doesn’t send anything to the tax authority. With Pro, it draws up your invoices as Factur-X and can email them to your customers, as a copy. From your issuing date, your accredited platform must send them.
Who can I call with a question about the reform?
The French administration has opened a national helpline, 0 806 807 807 (free service, plus the cost of the call), for businesses’ questions about their obligations and the timeline.
Official sources (in French), checked on October 24, 2026: Service Public Entreprendre, se mettre en conformité avec la facturation électronique (verified August 7, 2026) · Tout savoir sur la facturation (verified August 7, 2026) · Mentions obligatoires sur une facture (verified August 11, 2026) · Facturation électronique : c’est pour bientôt ! (updated February 27, 2026) · La DGFiP explique en vidéo la réforme (February 6, 2026) · Facturation électronique : les modalités sont précisées, on formats and statuses (updated October 23, 2024)
Updated on October 25, 2026 by the Clivio team. Spotted an error or a new text? contact@clivio.app