Mandatory electronic invoicing

Understanding the reform :

What is an "Electronic Invoice"?

According to paragraph VI of article 289 of the CGI, "an electronic invoice is an invoice or a stream of invoices created, transmitted, received and archived in electronic form, whatever it may be". Thus, for an invoice to be an electronic invoice, the entire invoicing process must be electronic. This implies that:

• A simple PDF invoice sent by email is not necessarily an electronic invoice
• An electronic invoice is not a scanned invoice

The law lays down several requirements for an electronic invoice to be valid

• Authenticity of origin: the electronic invoice must guarantee the identity of its issuer
• Integrity of its content: it must not be modifiable.
• Readability: the invoice must be easily readable.

Mandatory electronic invoicing :
Evolve with the legal context

The 3 accepted formats

The General Directorate of Public Finances has defined 3 electronic invoice formats to be respected for reception and emission:

• CII (Cross Industry Invoice): Open standard developed by the United Nations Center. This XML data format, based on the EN16931 standard, has already been adopted as the Factur-X data format,
• UBL (Universal Business Language): XML-based open standard for the exchange of electronic data between different business partners and organizations,
• Factur-X: This standard, developed jointly by the Directorate General of Taxes (DGFiP), the Interdepartmental Union for Electronic Invoicing (UIEE) and experts from various industries in France, is a so-called 'hybrid' format which consists of the readable part of the invoice (PDF) and the structured data (XML) of the invoice.

Zeendoc will be a major player in e-invoicing.

In addition to offering other value-added services concerning electronic invoicing, we will also comply with the regulations on mandatory electronic invoicing between companies :

• As a service provider of Compatible Solutions (e.g. Dematerialization Operator ("OD"))

• As well as Partner of Approved Platforms (ex-PDP ("Partner Dematerialization Platform")) through our partner Doxallia, certified ISO 27001 and Secnum Cloud.

 Mandatory electronic invoicing deployment schedule

Here are the dates for the implementation of the new regulations:

▶️ Obligation de réception: Pour toutes les entreprises au 1er septembre 2026 (au plus tard le 1er decembre 2026)
▶️ Obligation d'émission: Grandes entreprises et ETI le 1er septembre 2026 (au plus tard le 1er decembre 2026). VSEs/SMEs: September 1, 2027 (by December 1, 2027 at the latest).

In September 2021,Ordinance no. 2021-1190 led to the generalization of electronic invoicing between companies subject to VAT. This measure aims to improve the competitiveness of companies in the marketplace. This new legislation puts forward 4 objectives:

1. Strengthen the competitiveness of companies,
2. Simplify, in the long term, the declarative obligations with regard to VAT,
3. Improve fraud detection,
4. Improve real-time knowledge of company activity.