About compliance in France
France's e-invoicing ecosystem is built around five distinct actors known as the five-corner model, each with a defined role in invoice exchange and tax reporting.
This document covers only the Business-to-Business scope of the France e-invoicing mandate. Business-to-Government invoicing is planned for a future phase and is not currently supported.
The official external specifications (Dossier de spécifications externes) published by the French tax authority describe this model.
Data sovereignty and security
Data sovereignty and security are key principles for the French VAT reform. Plateformes Agréées (PAs) must uphold these principles as absolute requirements. One requirement is that PAs allow only IP addresses located in the EU to access PA software.
The Sovos solution complies with this requirement. There are two effects for customers:
- Portal access
- The Sovos PA portal connects directly to the Sovos PA and is accessible only from EU member state IP addresses. This applies to taxpayer access and technology partner support access.
- API access
- Sovos established an EU-located Dematerialization Operator (Opérateur de Dématérialisation) between the Sovos PA and the Sovos API. Because of this, servers from any location can access the Sovos API.
France 5-corner model
The five corners are:
- Supplier
- The issuing party, submitting invoices through their approved platform.
- PA-E (Plateforme Agréée — Émission)
- The supplier's approved platform, responsible for sending the invoice and extracting regulatory data (Flow 1) for the PPF.
- PA-R (Plateforme Agréée — Réception)
- The buyer's approved platform, responsible for getting and delivering the invoice, and sending mandatory lifecycle statuses to the PPF.
- Buyer
- The receiving party, getting the invoice through their approved platform.
- PPF and Administration fiscale
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The government infrastructure consists of the Portail Public de Facturation (PPF), which administers the central Annuaire and operates the Data Concentrator (CdD). The CdD receives the following data from Plateformes Agréées (PAs) and transmits it to the tax authority:
- Invoice regulatory data
- Transaction and payment data
- Lifecycle statuses
The PPF does not function as an invoicing platform. All invoice transmission must go through a PA.
Note:"PA" stands for Plateforme Agréée (Approved Platform), the official term as of October 2024. Older documentation may reference "PDP (Plateforme de Dématerialisation Partenaire)," but PA is now the standard term.
How it works
The supplier submits an invoice (Flow 2) to their PA-E. The PA-E then:
- Extracts regulatory invoice data and sends it to the PPF, which validates it and forwards it to the tax authority (Flow 1).
- Routes the invoice to the buyer's PA-R using addressing information from the Annuaire (Flow 2).
The PA-R makes the invoice available to the buyer. Throughout the exchange, both platforms transmit mandatory lifecycle status updates to the PPF, which forwards them to the tax authority (Flow 6).
Invoice delivery and regulatory reporting occur as part of a single, integrated process.
Critical concepts unique to France
France's e-invoicing mandate introduces several concepts that distinguish it from other markets, including the Annuaire, lifecycle management, e-reporting, and formal agreements.
Annuaire (central directory)
The Annuaire is France's national registry that solves a fundamental problem: How does your invoice find the buyer's platform when dozens of PAs exist?
Every company has an electronic address in the Annuaire based on their SIREN or SIRET. When you send an invoice, you specify the buyer's electronic address. Sovos queries the Annuaire to find which PA serves that buyer, then routes the invoice accordingly.
Address formats:
Simple SIREN:
123456789SIREN with suffix:
123456789_PURCHASINGSIREN with SIRET and CODE_ROUTAGE:
123456789_12345678954321_ROUTE_A
See Choose the right address format for more information.
Lifecycle management
France tracks invoices through a broader set of lifecycle events than most other e-invoicing mandates, covering platform processing, buyer actions, disputes, and payment. Each status has its own defined purpose and applicability within the ecosystem. See Lifecycle and use cases for full details.
E-invoicing compared to e-reporting
E-invoicing is the primary method for domestic B2B transactions between VAT-registered entities, exchanged through the PA ecosystem. E-reporting is a separate obligation covering transactions outside that scope, such as B2C and certain international B2B transactions, where you must still report data to the tax authority. For more information, see Send e-reports.
Formal agreement (Accord Formel)
Buyers must provide written consent to designate their receiving PA (PLF 2026 Article 28). Sovos can't register your receiving addresses without this signed agreement.
Legal archiving
France's e-invoicing mandate requires long-term legal archiving of invoices and associated compliance documents. Sovos provides a built-in legal archive hosted on certified infrastructure in France. Archiving is automatic when you have the Legal Archive product enabled. See Legal archiving for details.
Key terminology
The following terms are essential for understanding France's e-invoicing ecosystem and how Sovos operates within it.
- PA (Plateforme Agréée)
- Approved Platform — certified providers like Sovos. PA-E handles emission (supplier side); PA-R handles reception (buyer side).
- Portail Public de Facturation (PPF)
- Government platform that maintains the Annuaire and runs the Data Concentrator, which gets regulatory and lifecycle data from PAs and sends it to the tax authority.
- SIREN
- Nine-digit company identifier from INSEE.
- SIRET
- 14-digit establishment identifier (SIREN + five digits).
- Electronic address
- A structured identifier used to register a company in the Annuaire and route invoices to the correct receiving platform. It is based on the company's SIREN or SIRET, and optionally includes a suffix to distinguish specific receiving contexts (for example, a business unit or department). All electronic addresses use schemeID
0225. - AFNOR XP Z12-012
- Invoice formats and lifecycle standard.
- AFNOR XP Z12-014
- Business use cases standard (36+ scenarios).
Key concepts
Four foundational concepts form the basis of France's e-invoicing ecosystem. Although distinct, they are interdependent, and understanding them is essential to meeting France's e-invoicing requirements.
| Concept | Role |
|---|---|
| Flow | Technical envelope for data exchange. For example, Flow 1 sends fiscal data to the PPF and Flow 10 is for e-reporting. |
| Lifecycle | The sequence of statuses tracking an invoice through its complete journey, from initial deposit through transmission, processing, and payment or collection. |
| CDAR | The UN/CEFACT structured message format used to encode and send lifecycle statuses. It is the syntax of Flow 6 (and optionally Flow 7), enabling interoperability between platforms, businesses, the PPF, and the tax authority. |
| Use cases (Cas d'usage) | Business scenarios that outline the flows, data, and lifecycle statuses. A use case can require multiple flows. |
Mandate timeline and technical standards
France's e-invoicing mandate rolls out in two waves starting September 2026, governed by AFNOR technical standards.
Mandate timeline
- September 1, 2026
- All businesses must receive e-invoices. Wave 1 (large enterprises, ETI, VAT groups) must issue e-invoices.
- September 1, 2027
- Wave 2 (all remaining businesses) must issue e-invoices.
For the latest updates, see the official mandate page.
Technical standards
AFNOR specifications are available on the AFNOR store:
XP Z12-012: Invoice formats and lifecycle.
XP Z12-014: Business use cases (45 scenarios).
These are paid documents available through the AFNOR store.