E-Invoicing - Overview

France is introducing mandatory electronic invoicing (E-Invoicing) for B2B transactions. From 1 September 2026, all VAT-registered businesses in France must receive structured electronic invoices from other VAT-registered businesses. The obligation to issue e-invoices will extend progressively to cover all domestic B2B transactions. All invoices must comply with the French E-Invoicing standard and be submitted through an approved platform (Plateforme de Dématérialisation Partenaire, or PDP).

The reform also covers e-reporting for B2C invoices and cross-border transactions. B2C invoices are reported individually through e-reporting. Zoho Invoice will support e-reporting for applicable France edition transactions before 1 September 2026.

What Is an E-Invoice?

An e-invoice is a machine-readable invoice issued in a structured electronic format (such as Factur-X, CII, or UBL) that can be processed automatically. In France, B2B e-invoices must be transmitted through an approved platform (Plateforme de Dématérialisation Partenaire, or PDP), which routes the invoice between the supplier’s and buyer’s systems.

How E-Invoicing Works in Zoho Invoice

When you enable E-Invoicing in Zoho Invoice, the following workflow applies to your transactions:

Convert to Structured Format

The transactions you create in Zoho Invoice are automatically converted into the structured electronic format required for E-Invoicing in France. The system checks that all required fields are present, such as your SIREN, SIRET, VAT Registration Number, and the customer’s details, before the invoice is pushed.

Send Transactions

Once an invoice is marked as Open, you can push it to your customer through the e-invoicing network by clicking Push Invoice. The invoice is transmitted through B2Brouter to the customer’s system and awaits their acceptance.

If your customer is not registered on the e-invoicing network, the invoice will show a Not Eligible status and you can send the invoice in PDF format via email instead. Once the customer becomes registered, future invoices can be sent electronically through the network.

Track and Handle Rejected Transactions

After a transaction is pushed, Zoho Invoice tracks and updates its status. When the customer accepts the invoice, the status updates to Accepted. If the customer rejects it, you will be notified of the reason. Since you cannot edit or delete an invoice once it is marked as Open, you can create a correction invoice to issue a revised version, or create a credit note to cancel it.

Role of B2Brouter in E-Invoicing

Zoho Invoice has partnered with B2Brouter, an approved platform (PDP), to provide native e-invoicing connectivity for France. B2Brouter handles the submission and routing of transactions through the e-invoicing network on your behalf.

Zoho Invoice connects to B2Brouter using your organisation details, such as your VAT Registration Number and SIRET, which you provide during the e-invoicing setup. You do not need to create a separate B2Brouter account.

Zoho Invoice also supports exporting invoices in Factur-X format, which you can use for B2G invoicing through Chorus Pro. For B2B e-invoicing and e-reporting, use the B2Brouter connection configured in Zoho Invoice.

Using Another Approved Platform

B2Brouter is not mandatory. If you use another approved platform, you can continue creating invoices in Zoho Invoice and export them for e-invoicing through that platform. You are responsible for managing the submission and compliance workflow outside Zoho Invoice.

Set Up E-Invoicing in Zoho Invoice

Setting up E-Invoicing in Zoho Invoice is a one-time process. Here is how you can set it up.

Prerequisite: You can set up E-Invoicing only if you’ve enabled taxes in your Zoho Invoice organisation. Make sure to enter your VAT registration number in the tax settings.

Go to Settings and select E-Invoicing.
Click Setup E-Invoicing.
Enter the required details:

Field	Description
Registered Name	The legal name of your organisation.
SIREN	Your 9-digit SIREN number (organisation identifier).
SIRET	Your 14-digit SIRET number (establishment identifier).
VAT Registration Number	Your VAT registration number.
Enterprise Size	The size category of your enterprise (for example, SME, large enterprise).
NAF Code	Your NAF (Nomenclature des Activités Françaises) activity code.

Note: The VAT Registration Number and SIRET you enter here are also used by the e-invoicing network to identify and route transactions to and from your organisation’s contacts. Ensure these details are accurate before pushing any e-invoices.

Verify your organisation address details, including address, city, state, postal code, and mobile number.
Choose whether the updated organisation address should apply only to new transactions or to both existing and new transactions.
Enter the Tax Reporting Start Date.
Read and accept the terms and conditions.
Click Save & Continue.
In the Set Up Transaction Push step, configure your push preferences, then complete the setup.

Send Transactions via the E-Invoicing Network

Note:

You can push e-invoices only to customers who are registered in the e-invoicing network. If the customer is not registered, the e-invoice status will show as Not Eligible and you can send the invoice by email instead.
E-invoicing push is currently supported for contacts within France only. Overseas customers and vendors are not eligible.

To send e-invoices to a customer through the e-invoicing network:

Go to Invoices or Credit Notes.
Enter the required details.
Click Save as Draft.
Click Mark as Open to open the invoice.
Click Push Invoice at the top of the invoice’s Details page.

Zoho Invoice transmits the invoice to your customer through B2Brouter. The invoice awaits the customer’s acceptance, and the e-invoice status updates when they respond.

Insight: Recurring invoices will continue to be created as per the recurring invoice schedule. They must be reviewed and pushed through the e-invoicing network as you would for regular invoices. Once the recurring invoice is created, open it, review the details, mark as open and then click Push Invoice.

Note:

Once an invoice is marked as open, it cannot be edited or deleted. To make corrections, create a correction invoice and push it through the e-invoicing network. To cancel it, create a credit note and push it through the e-invoicing network.
If there are any errors while pushing an invoice, you will be notified both in the app and by email.
Invoices created through Zoho Forms, Zoho Checkout, or Stripe must be pushed manually for e-invoicing. They are not pushed automatically.
Once e-invoicing is enabled, you can add payment modes and the respective bank IBAN number at the invoice level.

Create a Correction Invoice

If an open invoice needs to be updated (for example, due to an error in the item details, quantity, or rate), you can create a Correction Invoice for it. A correction invoice references the original (preceding) invoice and issues a revised version through the e-invoicing network.

To create a correction invoice:

Go to Invoices.
Open the invoice that needs to be corrected.
Click the More icon at the top of the invoice detail page.
Select Create Correction Invoice from the dropdown.

A new invoice form will open with the heading New Correction Invoice and the original invoice’s number listed as the Preceding Invoice Number. The form is pre-filled with the items, taxes, and details from the original invoice.

Note: The transactions associated with the original invoice will not be reflected in the correction invoice automatically. You can associate them manually if required.

Review and update the invoice details as needed.
Click Save as Draft.
Click Mark as Open to open the correction invoice.
Click Push Invoice to send the correction invoice through the e-invoicing network.

Statuses of Transactions in E-Invoicing

The e-invoice status of each transaction is displayed on the transaction’s detail page. The statuses are:

Status	Description
Not Eligible	The transaction is excluded from e-invoicing. This occurs when the customer is not registered in the e-invoicing network. You should send the invoice by email instead.
Yet To Be Pushed	The transaction has been created for a customer registered in the e-invoicing network, but has not yet been pushed.
Push Initiated	The push to the e-invoicing network has been initiated after clicking Push Invoice.
Pushed	The transaction has been successfully sent to your customer through the network.
Failed	The transaction could not be sent due to errors such as missing required fields. You can rectify the errors and try again.
Accepted	Your customer has accepted the transaction.
Rejected	Your customer has rejected the transaction.

You can filter invoices based on these statuses by clicking the All Invoices dropdown at the top and selecting the desired e-invoice status. You can also create a custom view to filter invoices by your own criteria.

Disable E-Invoicing

If you use a different approved platform for sending outgoing invoices, you can disable E-Invoicing in Zoho Invoice and manage outgoing e-invoices through that external platform.

Go to Settings and select E-Invoicing.
Click Disable in the top-right corner of the page.

E-Invoicing will be disabled in your organisation. To enable it again, follow the steps in Set Up E-Invoicing in Zoho Invoice.

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