Electronic invoicing: standards to harmonize practices
Will electronic invoicing be tomorrow’s topic? Not really! Let’s take a quick step back in time: since January 2021, companies have already been sending invoices to their public-sector customers electronically, using the Chorus Pro portal. This practice will soon be extended to all transactions between VAT-registered companies established in France. The government’s stated aim is to combat tax fraud. The original deadline was July 2024, but in the summer of 2023, the government announced a postponement. The definitive date of entry into force is set for September 2026, with a staggered timetable.
Initially, all companies will be obliged to receive their invoices electronically, while only medium-sized companies and large corporations will be required to issue electronic invoices. From September 2027, this rule will be extended to SMEs, VSEs and micro-businesses: the whole country will issue electronic invoices, and nothing but electronic invoices. Or, to be more precise, data flows (see box below).
E-reporting: cash register software on the front line
Electronic invoicing is only one of two aspects of the reform sought by Bercy. The second, e-reporting (echoing e-invoicing, the English term for electronic invoicing), covers a broader scope, dealing not only with transactions between professionals within the country, but also transactions with private individuals and transactions with foreign companies. In this case, companies are required to transmit transaction and payment data to the tax authorities that is not contained in an electronic invoice.
As a result,e-reporting is having an impact on the NF certification “Logiciel de gestion d’encaissement” , also known as NF 525, and recognized as the benchmark for tax compliance and inalterability of cash register software. The B2B part of NF 203 is also affected. The reform primarily concerns software publishers,” acknowledges François Warcollier, Managing Director of Infocert, the organization mandated by AFNOR Certification to issue these NF stamps. It will do away with bilateral invoices and replace them with data flows transmitted in an architecture that enables them to be shared with the DGFIP. Pre-existing NF standards are therefore evolving to adapt to the situation. All software publishers need to take an interest in the subject right now,” urges François Warcollier. We’re here to help them adapt, so that they can guarantee continuity of service to all user companies.
The case of PDPs, partner dematerialization platforms
These electronic invoices – not to be confused with an invoice in the form of a PDF file sent by email – will have to be deposited on a platform that will ensure transmission from sender to recipient: the famous PDPs, “partner dematerialization platforms”, accredited by the tax authorities. Each company will have to choose one or more PDPs for issuing and/or receiving its electronic invoices, from a range of 90 PDPs to date (June 2025), applying a variety of criteria: sector specialization, type of services provided, rates, etc. All PDPs are ISO-certified. All PDPs are ISO 27001 certified and audited for data security in particular. And all must be interoperable – standardization has come a long way!
But beware… Don’t rush into choosing a PDP,“advises Sandrine Hilaire, consultant at Bestways Consulting and vice-president of AFNOR’s standardization committee on electronic invoicing, which includes many stakeholders in the field. When it comes to switching from paper to digital, there are always two possible approaches: you can either see it as a constraint, or an opportunity,” she explains. Whatever your temperament, one thing is certain: this shift will require you to re-engineer some of your processes. Do you know how much it currently costs to issue an invoice, including checks and reminders? Do you know how much data is mandatory? (Spoiler: it’s a two-digit number). Do you know how many VAT rates your accountant juggles on a daily basis? The reform will significantly improve your management and reporting.
Standard Z12-014: use cases weighed up one by one
When it comes to invoicing, there are dozens of special cases. With sector-specific characteristics, of course. This is the case, for example, in the building and civil engineering, transport, agriculture, media and real estate sectors. But also a multiplicity of use cases: subcontracting, factoring, expense accounts, multi-delivery, monthly invoices, self-billing, VAT instalments… Or even multi-vendor invoices or gift cards.
And this is where voluntary standardization comes in: to bring all these use cases within the scope of the reform. We provide the general framework to be respected, and invite the ecosystem to co-construct the modalities,” explains Sébastien Rabineau for the DGFIP, a central department of the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, which is spearheading the reform in France. Federated by AFNOR, professionals transcribe existing best practices into voluntary standards. This is an act of trust on the part of the French government.
As always, the standards approach is based on realities in the field, and in particular on the specific French invoicing situation ,” adds Cyrille Sautereau, Chairman of the 260-member Forum National de la Facture Electronique, founder of Admarel and Chairman of the aforementioned AFNOR standards committee. We’ve taken care not to leave anyone by the wayside, while at the same time pulling companies up by their bootstraps. First of all, we’ve explained how the data usually found in invoices can find their place in the standard. But it also sometimes involves enriching the model to address certain specificities. For example, using sub-lines to detail a composite product such as a toy book, or showing sub-totals.
He adds: A large part of our work consists in reviewing specific needs, sharing them so that everyone can see how similar they are, and thus apply the principle of “same problems, same solutions”. In this way, XP Z12-014 remains as close as possible to European standards, while embracing the day-to-day needs of companies. This voluntary standard, currently experimental (hence the prefix “XP , until NF ), has just been published in the AFNOR collection here . It follows on from the first two standards, also XP, published in May 2025, Z12-012 and Z12-13 . These deal respectively with formats and profiles for invoice messages and lifecycle statuses, and with APIs for interfacing corporate information systems with PDPs.
At least three secondary benefits
On average, a VSE issues 125 invoices a year and receives 250. PDP’s service offerings range from freemium offers, i.e. free of charge for a limited scope of services, then chargeable for additional options, to offers that complement an existing service (management solutions, banking services, chartered accountancy). This leads to prices ranging from a few euros per month to several dozen for the most comprehensive service packs, including automation, validation, payment, operational reporting, etc.
Among the secondary benefits of the reform (but they are not incidental!), Cyrille Sautereau also mentions the supplier platforms imposed by large companies on all their small suppliers for submitting invoices, with a user path that can sometimes make you nervous. Electronic invoicing will save companies the hassle of having to go through all the different portals imposed by major accounts, and will reduce their administrative workload ,” confirms Sébastien Rabineau, at the DGFIP. The State, for its part, will benefit from quality data that will enable it to better assess the health of a sector of activity, or a territory. In the same vein, another obligation linked to the reform (e-reporting, see box) is still under discussion, but promises to be much denser than electronic invoicing. Standards working groups are also working on this subject. Also close to the subject, because it involves traceability and interoperability, are the standards specific to the digital product passport(DPP, read here) and those of the universal logistics language, the subject of current discussions at AFNOR with Geodis (SNCF Group).
Last but not least, reducing VAT fraud is the backdrop to the reform. Italy is one step ahead of France: electronic invoicing has been mandatory in Italy since 2019. That year, the measure generated around 3.5 billion euros in additional tax revenue, including around 2 billion euros from voluntary payments by taxpayers. According to the European Commission’s 2023 VAT gap report, Italy recorded a 10.7% (or around €12.7 billion) decrease in the gap between 2020 and 2021.
