What formats are authorized for the mandatory electronic invoice in France?

Summary: Electronic invoicing in France is governed by three authorized formats. Two of these formats, UBL and CII, are structured for efficient computerized exchange. The third, Factur-X, is a hybrid, combining structured data in XML and human-readable data in PDF format.

The tax reform of electronic invoicing continues to roll out in France. After the public-sector phase, it's now the turn of private-sector transactions. The French tax authorities will be imposing three authorized formats for the mandatory electronic invoice. We describe them for you.

Structured formats for your electronic invoices: UBL and CII

Of the three formats accepted by the tax authorities for electronic invoicing, two are so-called structured formats. These are files that comply with international Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards. These rules make it easier for the computer to read the information contained in these invoices. The human eye, however, cannot decipher them. The two formats authorized for electronic invoicing are based on XML(Extensible Markup Language). These are :

• UBL format for Universal Business Language;
• CII format for Cross Industry Invoice.

The Factur-X mixed format: the 3rd authorized format for mandatory electronic invoicing

It's the third possible format for companies to comply with their electronic invoicing obligations for tax purposes. Factur-X meets the requirements of the European semantic standard EN 16931. It is a mixed or hybrid format. In fact, this file system includes both :

• Data structured as an XML file to be read by ;
• Unstructured data, i.e. a PDF file in the PDF/A-3 standard, which corresponds to the image of a conventional invoice and is therefore human-readable.

The company can issue invoices in another format and have them converted.

French companies will have an alternative for dematerializing their invoices: have them converted into one of the formats required by the tax authorities, by a dematerialization operator (OD or PDP).

Zeendoc, more than a dematerialization operator (DO), offers several solutions to companies whose invoices are not natively created in one of the required formats:

• We offer invoice conversion to Factur-X format
• Thanks to our privileged partnership with a PDP, we can offer our customers conversion management in all 3 legal formats.