France e-invoicing: choosing an approved platform before September 2026

From 1 September 2026 every French business must be able to receive e-invoices through an approved platform, and large and mid-sized companies must issue them. Small companies issue from September 2027.

Alexia M.Comparisons and market guides editor

Published: 29 July 2026
Updated: 4 November 2026
Reading time: 2 min read

"France e-invoicing approved platforms" is one of Google's top suggestions after "France e-invoicing", next to "mandate", "grace period" and "delay". With September 2026 here, the questions have turned practical.

The dates

Date	Who	Obligation
1 September 2026	All VAT-registered businesses	Receive e-invoices
1 September 2026	Large and mid-sized companies	Issue e-invoices and e-report
1 September 2027	SMEs and micro businesses	Issue e-invoices and e-report

What a plateforme agréée does

Approved platforms, formerly called PDP, are registered with the tax administration. They:

send and receive e-invoices in accepted formats,
pass invoice data to the administration,
handle e-reporting on transactions and payments.

A business can use more than one. The tax administration publishes the list.

Choosing one

Does it connect to your accounting or invoicing software?
Does it handle e-reporting for your foreign sales?
What does it charge per invoice or per month?
Can it receive from your suppliers' platforms?

Foreign sales and e-reporting

Invoices to customers abroad are not part of the e-invoicing mandate, but the sale data goes to the administration through e-reporting. See France e-invoicing and cross-border sales.

Payments that match

Under the reform, the administration sees invoices and, for some services, payment data. Payments that arrive with the invoice number as the reference match cleanly; SWIFT payments with truncated references do not.

Paying into France: the local rail

What	Detail
Local rail	SEPA Instant Credit Transfer
Run by	European Payments Council scheme, run by each bank
Settlement	Under ten seconds, 24/7
Published fee	By the EU Instant Payments Regulation, no more than the bank charges for a standard SEPA transfer

Source: European Payments Council: SEPA Instant Credit Transfer. Checked when this guide was last updated; the scheme's own page has the current figures.

Where Rivet fits

Rivet gives French companies EUR details with an IBAN for SEPA on Growth, plus GBP and USD details, and records each receipt with the payer and reference. Statements export for your accountant. Check our eligibility list for French companies. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds. See Accounts.

Questions people ask

When does e-invoicing start in France?

On 1 September 2026 for receiving (all businesses) and for issuing by large and mid-sized companies. Small and micro businesses issue from 1 September 2027.

What is a plateforme agréée?

A private platform approved by the tax administration to issue, receive and transmit e-invoices and e-reporting data. Each business must choose at least one.

Do I need e-invoicing for foreign customers?

Invoices to foreign customers are not e-invoices under the mandate, but the transaction data must be sent through e-reporting.

What is payment e-reporting?

For services where VAT is due on payment, businesses report payment data so the tax administration can match VAT. Your platform handles the transmission.

Sources

Written by

Alexia M.

Comparisons and market guides editor

Alexia compares the accounts, cards and payment tools companies weigh before they switch, and writes Rivet's market guides for founders in a specific country. Prices in Alexia's comparisons come from each provider's own pricing page on the date given in the article, rules come from the regulator or tax authority that sets them, and every source is listed at the end.