This page picks up where our guide Receiving e-invoices leaves off. Your platform is chosen, you are registered in the national directory, and a first invoice has just arrived. What’s left is to process it, from the first glance to filing it away for ten years.
The journey of a received invoice, in seven steps
Step 1 of 7
Where an e-invoice arrives
An e-invoice doesn’t land in your mailbox. It is delivered to your space at the accredited platform (plateforme agréée) listed in the national directory next to your SIREN, the French company number. During the transition it has company, since many suppliers will only issue e-invoices from September 1, 2027.
An invoice received by email or on paper can still be processed and paid if it matches a real transaction, and the VAT on it stays deductible. The DGFiP, the French tax authority, says so in its practical getting-started guide, which we quote in Receiving e-invoices.
The same invoice can arrive twice, through the platform and by email “just in case”. Before paying, match the two by invoice number and supplier. Keep the version received on the platform as the original, and ask the supplier to stop sending copies.
Step 2 of 7
Read the invoice, whatever its format
Your platform displays the three formats of the reform. Yet you’ll often have the file itself in hand, downloaded from the platform or received as an attachment, and it doesn’t always read the same way.
- A Factur-X opens like any PDF. The page you read is its visible part, and the data meant for software is in an XML file tucked inside.
- A UBL or CII is an .xml file. Opened in a browser or a text editor, it shows nothing but a string of tags. Yet it is the invoice, so don’t throw it away.
- A PDF with no XML is an ordinary invoice, or a photo of one. You can read it by eye, and nothing more.
For an XML file, our free XML invoice viewer shows the invoice in plain view, in your browser, without sending the file anywhere. It detects the format, shows the seller, the buyer, the totals, the due date and the IBAN, then the invoice lines. Values appear exactly as they are written in the file, such as “2100.00 EUR” or “2026-09-30”. To tell whether a PDF carries data, read what a Factur-X is.
EN 16931 checklist
- Invoice numberpresent
- Issue datepresent
- Sellerpresent
- Total excl. VATpresent
- Total VATpresent
- Total incl. VATpresent
- Currencypresent
Step 3 of 7
Check before you approve
Platforms check the form of invoices, and a non-compliant invoice can be rejected along the way. The substance is yours to check, because nobody knows better than you what you ordered.
What only you can check
- The invoice is addressed to your company, under its name and SIREN.
- It matches an order, a quote or a subscription, and what was actually delivered or carried out.
- The quantities, prices and VAT rate are the ones that were agreed.
- You haven’t already received or paid it, under another number or through another channel.
- The IBAN is the one you know. A change of bank details announced by email is confirmed by phone, with a contact you already know.
The mandatory details to look for on the invoice
An invoice between businesses carries mandatory details (mentions obligatoires). The reform adds four, required as soon as your supplier is subject to e-invoicing, so since September 1, 2026 for a large or mid-sized company, and from September 1, 2027 for the others.
The usual details
- A unique number and the issue date
- The supplier’s name and address, and yours
- The supplier’s identifiers, including its SIREN and its EU VAT number
- The description, quantity and unit price excluding VAT of each product or service
- The VAT rate and amount, the totals excluding and including VAT, or the exemption wording “TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI” (VAT not applicable)
- The date of delivery or of the service
- The due date, the late payment interest rate and the fixed recovery fee
The reform’s four new details
- Your SIREN, as the customer
- The delivery address of the goods, if it differs from yours
- The nature of the transactions: goods, services, or both
- “Option pour le paiement de la taxe d’après les débits” (VAT paid on invoicing), if the supplier chose this option
If a detail is missing, ask the supplier for a corrected invoice, and never correct the document yourself. For a first pass, our e-invoice checker shows whether seven basic fields are present in the XML (number, issue date, seller, totals excluding VAT, VAT and including VAT, currency). This check is in no way official. It only looks at whether the fields exist, and it doesn’t replace your platform’s checks.
Step 4 of 7
Approve, refuse or flag a dispute
On the platform, your answer takes the form of a status. It is passed on to your supplier’s platform and follows the invoice through the network. Start from what you found when checking it.
| What you find | What you do | The status |
|---|---|---|
| Everything matches the order | You schedule the payment and file the invoice. | Approved |
| One line is disputed, the rest is due | You approve the rest and settle the disagreement with the supplier, often with a credit note. | Partially approved |
| A delivery is missing, a point is still open | You contact the supplier. The invoice stays due until the point is settled. | Disputed or Suspended |
| It isn’t for you, is a duplicate or matches no order | You refuse it with a reason, and ask for a credit note or a new invoice. | Refusedmandatory |
Two statuses don’t come from you. A “Rejected” invoice was turned down by a platform because it wasn’t compliant. “Cashed” is sent by the supplier once it has received your payment.
Answer in the platform rather than by a simple email, so that the status travels. The table of all statuses, with what each one means, is in our guide Receiving e-invoices.
Step 5 of 7
Pay on the right date
The reform changes nothing about how you pay. You pay by transfer, direct debit or card, as before, on the due date written on the invoice. In a Factur-X or an XML file, the due date and the IBAN are separate fields, and you don’t have to hunt for them on the page.
Without a date agreed between you, the French Commercial Code sets payment at the thirtieth day after delivery or the service. An agreed period can’t exceed 60 days after the invoice’s issue date, or 45 days end of month if the contract expressly provides for it (article L. 441-10).
Some platforms let you send the status “Payment sent” once the transfer has gone. It’s recommended but not mandatory, and it helps your supplier match its incoming payment. On your side, note the payment date next to the invoice, since that’s what your accountant will ask you for at the end of the month.
Step 6 of 7
Pass the invoice on to your accountant
If your accounting firm has been given access to your platform, or works with the same one, it may already see your invoices. Ask once and for all, it’s the best way to avoid sending things twice.
Otherwise, send the original file, Factur-X or XML, rather than a screenshot or a printout. Add what your accountant can’t guess, namely whether the invoice is paid, on what date, and whether it led to a refusal or a credit note.
Step 7 of 7
Keep it for 10 years, as it arrived
A received invoice is kept for 10 years, in the format it arrived in. For a Factur-X, that’s the PDF with its XML, and for a UBL or a CII, the .xml file. Your platform isn’t required to keep them for you, and if you leave it, it only has to keep them for 12 months.
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Download the original file from the platform | Keeping only a printed version, or one “saved as PDF” |
| Give it a name you can find again, such as 2026-09-30_Studio-Bastide_2100.00.xml | Opening the Factur-X in a PDF editor and saving over it |
| Export your invoices regularly, with their status | Counting on the platform to keep them for ten years |
Renaming the file doesn’t touch its content, and our free renamer suggests this name from the XML. Retention periods, the original format and the safeguards to keep are explained in our page on archiving e-invoices.
When invoices arrive through several channels
The journey gets harder when invoices come from three directions at once. The platform keeps its own, your mailbox gets the others, and the paper piles up in a drawer. The day your accountant asks for the one from March, you have to search in all three places.
Frequently asked questions
I can’t find the invoice in my mailbox. Where is it?
In your space on your accredited platform. An e-invoice is delivered to the platform registered in the directory for your SIREN, and your mailbox gets at most a notification, depending on the platform’s settings. Turn these notifications on to know when an invoice arrives.
Can I pay an invoice received as a PDF by email?
Yes. During the transition, an invoice that didn’t go through the electronic network can still be paid if it matches a real transaction, and the VAT stays deductible. If the supplier is already subject to e-invoicing, remind them afterwards which channel to use.
How do I open an invoice in XML format?
With your accredited platform, or with our free tool Open an XML invoice, which shows a UBL or a CII in plain view without sending it to a server. Then keep the .xml as it is, since it is the invoice.
What’s the difference between a refused invoice and a rejected one?
You refuse an invoice, for a reason of substance, a price error or an order that doesn’t exist. An invoice is rejected by a platform when it isn’t compliant. Both statuses are among the four mandatory statuses of the network.
What should I do with an invoice that’s missing a mandatory detail?
Ask the supplier to correct it, and don’t change it yourself. On the platform, an inaccurate invoice can be refused with a reason. The supplier then issues a credit note or a new invoice.
Do e-invoices need to be printed?
No. You can print one to read or annotate it, but the printout doesn’t replace the original. The one that counts is the file you received, to be kept for 10 years in its format.
I got the same invoice through the platform and by email. Which one do I keep?
The one from the platform, as the original. Pay only once, file the copy received by email with the original or delete it, and ask the supplier to stop sending duplicates.
How long should I keep a received invoice?
10 years, like an issued invoice, in its original format. Law no. 2026-534 of June 25, 2026 aligned the tax retention period with the 10-year commercial one, for documents whose retention period ends after January 1, 2027.
Official sources (in French), checked on October 13, 2026: impots.gouv.fr, Je découvre la facturation électronique · DGFiP, practical getting-started guide as of September 1, 2026 (PDF) · impots.gouv.fr FAQ, J’approfondis la facturation électronique · Légifrance, Commercial Code art. L. 441-10 (payment periods) · Légifrance, Commercial Code art. L. 123-22 · Légifrance, Tax Procedures Code (LPF) art. L. 102 B
Updated October 13, 2026 by the Clivio team. Spotted an error or a new text? contact@clivio.app