France's e-invoicing mandate starts: what freelancers billing France need

France’s e-invoicing reform took effect today, September 1, 2026. Every VAT-registered business in France, sole traders and micro-entrepreneurs included, must now be able to receive invoices through a state-approved platform rather than a plain PDF by email. Large companies and mid-sized firms (ETIs) must also start issuing e-invoices and reporting transaction data from today. Small businesses and micro-entrepreneurs get until September 1, 2027 before issuing becomes mandatory for them.

The reach goes beyond businesses based in France: if you invoice a French client directly from abroad, that invoice now needs to move through an approved platform on their end. Fines start at 500 euros after a formal notice, add 1,000 euros if it persists past three months, and reach up to 15,000 euros a year in per-invoice penalties for late issuers. Check the registered-platform directory on impots.gouv.fr before your next French invoice is due.

Our invoice generator still handles the document itself; what changed is the channel it has to travel through. If France is even an occasional client, the receiving side of this is live now: don’t wait for the 2027 grace period to look into it.