As of 1 September 2026, France started moving B2B invoicing onto a mandatory digital system. It’s a big change for the way French businesses handle finance. But many are still unclear on who the new rules actually affect.
In this article we’ll outline what's changing, who it reaches, and where Moss fits in.
What's changing
France is putting B2B invoicing onto a controlled digital model, watched over by the DGFiP, the French tax authority. As part of this change, two things are happening as part of this update:
- Changes to e-invoicing
A PDF attached to an email will no longer be considered an in-scope invoice. It now has to be a structured electronic file, sent and received through a government-certified platform – a Plateforme Agréée (PA), or Approved Platform.
The approved formats for e-invoices are Factur-X, UBL 2.1 and CII, and a national directory (the annuaire) routes invoices between platforms.
- Changes to e-reporting
For certain transactions, the underlying data is sent to the DGFiP directly. This is a separate obligation from e-invoicing that we will touch upon lightly as it sits outside what Moss handles.
When are the new rules coming into place?
There are two key dates to keep in mind.
1 September 2026: Every business established in France must be able to receive e-invoices; large and mid-sized ones must also issue them.
1 September 2027: Smaller French-established businesses must start issuing, and buyer-side e-reporting begins for reverse-charge purchases and intra-community acquisitions.
France has signalled a soft landing, meaning that until 31 December 2026, penalties won't be applied automatically to businesses that can show genuine progress toward compliance. Standard penalties will apply from 2027.
Who it actually affects
Whether the rules apply to you comes down to whether your business is established in France, meaning it has a subsidiary, a branch, or a fixed place of business there.
Holding a French VAT number does not count as being established, and simply selling to French companies does not put you in scope.
Most businesses fall into one of four groups:
- Established in France. The full regime applies, meaning you must be able to receive and issue on the timeline for your company size, and be able to do e-reporting.
- French VAT-registered, but not established. You're outside e-invoicing, but you may still owe e-reporting where you're liable for French VAT.
- No French registration, selling B2B to French customers. Nothing applies to you directly, but your French customers must now report those purchases, so they may ask you for cleaner, structured invoice data.
- Selling to the French public sector. This already runs through Chorus Pro and is unchanged.
Some businesses fall into more than one group, so check each type of transaction rather than assuming a single answer covers everything you do.
What you need to do if you're in scope
For a French-established business, being ready means being able to receive structured e-invoices through an Approved Platform, issue them in an approved format on your timeline, and handle the mandatory invoice statuses, including formally refusing an invoice that's incorrect or non-compliant.
You'll also need the newly required fields on your invoices, such as your customer's SIREN (France's unique nine-digit company identifier) and the nature of the transaction, and electronic archiving for the six years French law requires.
The cost of non-compliance
Once the tolerance period ends, the penalties bite. An invoice that should have been electronic but wasn't can carry a fine of up to €50, and may not be valid for VAT deduction.
Missing e-reporting data draws €500 per transmission, and using a non-accredited platform €500 a quarter. All are capped at €15,000 a year. (Penalties are set out in Articles 1737 and 1788 D of the Code général des impôts.)
Where Moss comes in
Moss takes on the receiving-and-processing half of this, the part that sits inside your accounts-payable workflow.
Once it's enabled, Moss connects to Invopop, our certified Approved Platform partner of choice. The structured e-invoices your French suppliers send land straight in your Moss inbox, ready to code and approve, rather than arriving in a format your team has to rekey by hand.
Switching it on takes a short verification step with the platform partner; after that, incoming invoices route in automatically.
And because refusing a non-compliant invoice is itself a compliance action under the new rules, Moss gives you the ability to record the right status when you reject one, so it passes back to the supplier and the tax authority through the platform.
Note that Moss doesn't handle e-reporting itself. That stays with you, usually through your VAT or tax-reporting software.
What to do next
If your business has any presence or VAT activity in France, work out which of the groups above applies to you.
If Moss already runs your accounts payable and French suppliers are in the mix, talk to us about turning on e-invoice reception.
