Tour de Compliance: How to lead the pack before France’s e-invoicing mandate goes live in 2026

From September 2026, France’s e-invoicing and live-reporting mandate will finally come into effect, changing how invoices are issued, received, and reported to the French tax authority, the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP).

Much like the Tour de France, success in this compliance race is less about the sprint and more about preparation, endurance, and strategy.

Businesses that start now by mapping their route, selecting the right compliance partners, and stress-testing their systems will be best placed to cross the finish line with confidence.

Here’s a five-stage journey to help you prepare.

• From September 2026, all businesses operating in France must be able to receive e-invoices, with large and mid-sized businesses also required to issue them. Smaller businesses will follow in September 2027.
• Approved platforms (previously referred to in France as Partner Dematerialisation Platforms) act as certified intermediaries. Early selection and integration help avoid last-minute disruption.
• Strong ERP integrations, clean master data, and cross-functional collaboration between IT, finance, and tax teams are essential to compliance success.

No Tour cyclist sets off without knowing the road ahead. Similarly, businesses will find France’s e-invoicing mandate a huge challenge if they don’t understand the changing rules of the compliance landscape.

In April 2025, the French National Assembly rejected a proposed further postponement of one year to France’s e-invoicing mandate. 1 September 2026 remains the date by which large and medium-sized businesses must be ready to send and receive e-invoices, and smaller businesses must be ready to receive them (then fully comply by September 2027).

Every domestic invoice sent and received will have to flow through an approved platform (replacing the previously used term “Partner Dematerilisation Platform”). Despite the name-change, the core responsibilities remain and refer to state-registered platforms authorised to send, receive, and transmit invoice and transaction data to the DGFiP.

Businesses must also prepare for live reporting of cross-border business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions and payment data. This means transaction-level data will need to be accurate, timely, and compliant with the e-reporting format required by France’s public invoicing portal (PPF).

Getting familiar with the phases of the rollout, the scope of transactions impacted, and the technical requirements is the first crucial step.

Checkpoint: Do you know your go-live date based on your business size? Do you have the data required in the invoices and e-reporting files?

In cycling, choosing the right gear can make or break your performance. When it comes to compliance, the right choices also determine your success.

An approved platform acts as a certified intermediary between your business and the PPF. It handles invoice formatting, validation, transmission, and reporting. Because approved platforms are entrusted with transmitting sensitive financial data, their reliability, scope of services, and ability to integrate with your ERP are paramount. Choosing the right approved platform is critical. Only government-approved platforms can operate, so look for accreditation. Also look for automation and multilingual capabilities, and ensure your approved platform can connect seamlessly with your ERP and other finance systems.

Selecting your approved platform in 2025 — if you haven’t done so already — allows time for testing, onboarding, and smooth integration, reducing last-minute risks and stressful disruption.

Checkpoint: Have you started approved platform evaluation for onboarding? 

Even the best cyclist needs a strong support team. For businesses, success depends on cross-functional collaboration. Finance, tax, and IT teams must work together to align systems and workflows. ERPs must be configured to generate structured invoices in mandated formats. IT teams must prepare for secure data flows and API connections. Tax teams need visibility to ensure reporting aligns with France’s changing compliance rules.

Map out integration touchpoints between ERP, approved platform, and PPF

Think of your ERP system as the rider, your approved platform as the support vehicle, and the PPF as the race checkpoint. To stay ahead of the competition, each handoff must be smooth and precise. Mapping integration touchpoints means identifying exactly where and how data flows:

• Invoice generation: Your ERP produces invoice data. You’ll need to confirm whether it’s already structured in the mandated formats (Factur-X, UBL, CII) or requires transformation.
• Validation and enrichment: The approved platform checks compliance rules, enriches the invoice with additional fields (such as tax codes or buyer identifiers), and then prepares it for submission.
• Transmission to PPF: Once validated, the approved platform passes data to the PPF (and in return, receives acknowledgements and status updates).
• Feedback loop: Those status updates flow back to your ERP for reconciliation, so finance teams always know whether invoices have been accepted, rejected, or are pending.

Without clearly mapping these touchpoints, you risk data black holes where information doesn’t flow back to the right team — like losing contact with your support car mid-race.

Review data quality in existing systems to avoid rejected invoices

Even the strongest cyclist won’t win if the bike chain keeps slipping. In the same way, poor data quality is one of the fastest ways to derail compliance.

Under the French mandate, invoices can be rejected if mandatory fields are missing or incorrect, if customer identifiers don’t match, or if tax amounts are calculated incorrectly. Rejected invoices delay payments, disrupt cash flow, and increase compliance risk. To prepare:

• Audit master data: Ensure customer, supplier, and your own records, VAT IDs, and addresses are complete and up to date.
• Validate tax logic: Check that VAT rates and exemptions are applied consistently across products and services.
• Standardise formats: Confirm your ERP outputs and input structured data in the required schemas.
• Implement data governance: Set up rules and controls so errors are caught before invoices leave the ERP.

Treat this step as a pre-race bike check. The smoother your data runs, the better oiled your bike is, and the fewer breakdowns you’ll face when the French mandate goes live.

Establish clear roles and responsibilities across your teams

In the Tour de France, every rider has a role — the sprinter, the climber, the domestique — and the team only succeeds when everyone knows their job. The same principle can apply to your business when preparing for the French e-invoicing mandate. Multiple departments will need to be ready, and confusion over ownership can lead to delays, errors, or missed deadlines. To avoid this, businesses should establish a clear accountability framework:

• Finance teams should take ownership of invoice accuracy, tax coding, and reconciliation to ensure invoices match contractual and regulatory requirements.
• IT teams should manage system integrations, API connections to approved platforms, and data security to ensure data flows without interruption.
• Compliance and tax teams should interpret DGFiP rules, monitor updates, and ensure reporting processes align with legal requirements.

A steering committee could be appointed to coordinate across departments, set milestones, and monitor progress. When everyone knows their role in the “peloton”, your business is better positioned to move in sync towards the compliance finish line. With reduced chances of a crash.

Checkpoint: Have you identified key integration touchpoints for structured invoicing?

No stage of the Tour is tougher than the mountain climbs. For many businesses, France’s live/real-time reporting requirements represent the steepest challenge. While e-invoicing covers domestic B2B invoices, e-reporting captures additional flows such as B2C transactions, cross-border B2B sales and purchases, and payment data.

This requires businesses to capture and transmit transaction-level details in near real-time — a major shift from periodic reporting. It demands systems capable of continuous data capture, status tracking, and error resolution.

Key considerations:

• Can your ERP and approved platform capture B2C and cross-border data?
• Do you have controls in place to validate data before submission?
• How will you monitor transaction statuses (e.g., accepted, rejected, pending)?

Businesses that prepare now will avoid bottlenecks later.

Checkpoint: Are your processes designed for live status tracking and data capture?

And now for the final sprint to the finish line. This part is all about endurance and fine-tuning. By this stage, businesses should have their approved platform onboarded, systems integrated, and processes aligned. The focus shifts to testing, scaling, and optimisation.

Test and pilot programs can prove vital to simulate real-world conditions before the French mandate goes live. Think of it as practising in a velodrome before you get out onto the road for the real race. Testing structured invoice flows, cross-border reporting, and error resolution scenarios can help to reduce surprises when you’re operating under the mandate from September 2026. Global APIs and unified platforms can also help multinational businesses manage compliance beyond France, ensuring scalability across jurisdictions.

The finish line isn’t just compliance — it’s building a sustainable, future-ready invoicing process.

Checkpoint: Do you have a plan for testing and iterating before go-live?

Like the Tour de France, the road to France’s 2026 e-invoicing and e-reporting mandate requires preparation and teamwork. Businesses that start early — mapping their route, selecting the right approved platform, aligning teams, preparing for real-time reporting, and testing at scale — will be ready to cross the finish line smoothly, while late starters risk falling short or major crashes.

Preparing for France’s e-invoicing and e-reporting mandate doesn’t have to be a solo ride. Avalara is already helping businesses across Europe adapt to new e-invoicing and reporting requirements and can guide you through every stage of your journey.

• Certified readiness: Avalara is an approved platform in France, giving businesses a trusted route to compliance.
• ERP and system integration: With flexible APIs and connectors, Avalara solutions integrate seamlessly with leading ERP and finance systems to automate invoice creation, validation, and submission.
• Global compliance coverage: Beyond France, Avalara supports e-invoicing mandates in multiple regions and markets, providing a unified platform for multinational businesses.
• Testing environments: Our solutions let you simulate live reporting scenarios, so you can identify gaps and fix issues before go-live.
• Ongoing compliance support: Avalara continuously updates its platform in line with changing regulations, so you stay ahead of evolving requirements.

With Avalara as your compliance partner, you can keep pace with France’s mandate and whatever comes next on the global regulatory landscape. Get in touch today to speak with Avalara about a global and scalable e-invoicing solution.

What is France’s 2026 e-invoicing and e-reporting mandate?
From September 2026, businesses in France will be required to issue and receive invoices electronically through the government’s public portal (PPF) or an approved platform (previously known as a PDP). In addition, companies must report certain transactions— like B2C sales and cross-border trade — in real time.

Why should businesses start preparing now if the mandate doesn’t go live until 2026?
Readiness takes time. Choosing an approved platform, adapting ERP systems, and designing real-time reporting processes are complex projects. Early preparation allows time for testing, onboarding, and fixing issues — helping businesses avoid disruption and last-minute penalties.

What role does a PDP/approved platform play in compliance?
A PDP/approved platform is a government-certified intermediary that formats, validates, and transmits invoices and reports to the French tax authority. Partnering with an approved platform ensures data accuracy, smooth integration with your ERP system, and compliance with new requirements.