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French e-invoicing deadlines

Two dates carry this entire reform. Everything else is detail about who each one applies to — so if you only remember two things, remember these. The counters below are worked out in your browser from today's date, so they are never stale.

The timeline

1 September 2026

Everybody has to be able to receive.

Every VAT-registered business established in France must be able to receive electronic invoices, through an approved platform — a Plateforme Agréée (PA), the term that replaced "PDP". No size threshold, no phasing: a one-person business and a CAC 40 group are both in scope on exactly the same day.

Large and mid-size companies also start issuing.

Grandes entreprises and entreprises de taille intermédiaire (ETI) have to start issuing structured electronic invoices for their domestic B2B sales from the same date.

1 September 2027

Everyone else starts issuing.

Small and medium enterprises, micro-businesses and the self-employed start issuing structured electronic invoices. One thing people get wrong here: their duty to receive did not wait for this date. That began on 1 September 2026, with everybody else's.

One nuance worth knowing, because it trips people up. Which wave a company falls into is decided per legal entity, on the headcount and turnover thresholds of the loi de modernisation de l'économie (décret n° 2008-1354), using that entity's own last closed accounts — not its group's. The size class published in the French company register is computed at enterprise level instead, so treat it as a strong indicator rather than the legal answer. Where the difference matters commercially, look the company up and then ask them to confirm.

What each date means in practice

If you are… 1 September 2026 1 September 2027
A supplier outside France No new duty of your own — but your French customers now take invoices through a platform. Here is what to do. No change.
A large or mid-size French business Must receive and issue. No change.
A French SME or micro-business Must receive. Not yet required to issue. Must issue too.

Why this is not a cliff edge

Take some comfort here: nothing switches off at midnight. What actually happens is that French accounts-payable processes move onto platforms across 2026, and the tolerance for an emailed PDF shrinks as they do — unevenly, one customer at a time. Plenty of suppliers hit their first rejection months before the statutory date, purely because that one customer migrated early.

So the practical way to read it: 1 September 2026 is the date by which you should assume every French customer has switched, not the date they all switch. If one has already bounced an invoice, that is your explanation.

How the dates got here

Worth two minutes, because it explains a lot of the confusing advice out there. The obligation is set by article 289 bis of the code général des impôts, but the current timetable is not the original one. The reform was first scheduled to begin on 1 September 2024 and was postponed by article 91 of the loi de finances pour 2024 (n° 2023-1322 of 29 December 2023), to give businesses and platforms time to prepare. That is why some 2023-vintage guidance still floating around the web quotes 2024 and 2025 dates that no longer apply. If you find a page saying that, it is simply out of date.

As of August 2026 the September dates stand, with platforms registered and in production. If that changes, we will say so right here and email anyone on the list below.

Sources

One last caveat: this is a description of a regulation, not tax or legal advice. Where a date has money attached, check it against the sources above and with the customer concerned.

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Frequently asked questions

When does French e-invoicing become mandatory?

Two answers, because it depends which half you mean. Receiving: 1 September 2026, when every VAT-registered business established in France must be able to receive electronic invoices through an approved platform, with no size threshold. Issuing phases in — large enterprises and ETI from 1 September 2026, SMEs and micro-businesses from 1 September 2027.

Has the French e-invoicing mandate been delayed again?

Not as of August 2026, no. The reform was originally due to begin on 1 September 2024 and was postponed to 2026 by article 91 of the loi de finances pour 2024 — which is why older guidance you find online quotes 2024 and 2025 dates. The current September 2026 and September 2027 dates stand. Plan around those.

What happens on 1 September 2027?

French SMEs, micro-businesses and the self-employed start issuing structured electronic invoices. Nothing changes on the receiving side, because that became mandatory for all of them a year earlier, on 1 September 2026.

Does the deadline apply to companies outside France?

Generally not, in the legal sense — the obligation applies to businesses established in France, so a supplier with no French establishment sits outside it. The date still matters to you commercially, though: your French customers must receive through a platform from that day, and their accounts-payable process changes around it.