E-invoicing for auto-entrepreneurs in France: what changes

E-invoicing concerns the auto-entrepreneur (a self-employed person under France’s micro-business regime) too, even under the franchise en base de TVA (the VAT exemption for small businesses). Since 1 September 2026, you must be able to receive e-invoices through a plateforme agréée (an approved e-invoicing platform). From 1 September 2027, you’ll also have to issue yours in this format whenever your client is a business established in France. Here’s who’s concerned, what changes on each date, how to choose your platform and what becomes of a sale to a private individual.

The rules and dates are those in force in 2026, checked on impots.gouv.fr and Entreprendre.Service-Public.fr on 30 September 2026.

Does the reform apply to you?

Yes, in almost every case. The reform applies to all taxable persons for VAT (assujettis) established in France, “whether or not they are liable to pay VAT”, impots.gouv specifies. An auto-entrepreneur under the franchise en base is a taxable person not liable to pay VAT (assujetti non redevable): they don’t charge VAT and don’t pay it, but they stay within the scope of the reform. The authorities say so plainly: micro-businesses that benefit from the franchise en base “will also be obliged to receive and issue e-invoices”.

People often look for the answer in the form « facturation électronique non assujetti TVA » (e-invoicing, not a taxable person for VAT). The word is misleading: a micro-entrepreneur (the official name of the auto-entrepreneur) isn’t a non-taxable person. Your invoice will simply go on carrying the « TVA non applicable » mention you already use. Everything you need to know about this mention is in the article on VAT for auto-entrepreneurs.

Two cases partly fall outside the scheme:

• According to impots.gouv.fr, VAT-exempt transactions (articles 261 to 261 E of the CGI, the general tax code) don’t have to be invoiced electronically. That’s the case for care provided by the regulated medical and paramedical professions. But even an entirely exempt activity must be able to receive its suppliers’ e-invoices: the authorities give the example of the doctor or osteopath who receives their energy and internet invoices.
• Transactions outside the scope of VAT, with no consideration in return, are subject neither to the e-invoice nor to e-reporting (sending transaction and payment data to the tax office).

The timetable: 1 September 2026, then 1 September 2027

impots.gouv.fr states that the reform is rolled out in two stages, depending on the size of the business. A micro-enterprise in the reform’s sense has fewer than 10 employees and less than €2 million in turnover or balance sheet total: every auto-entrepreneur is one.

This timetable is set out in the 2024 Finance Act (article 91) and the authorities confirm it in 2026: there’s no postponement and no suspension. If you wish, you can issue e-invoices before 1 September 2027 through a plateforme agréée.

Receiving is already mandatory. If a supplier sends you an e-invoice, even a supplier not yet required to, you must accept it through your platform.

Receiving your invoices since 1 September 2026

In practice, according to the FAQ “Je découvre la facturation électronique”, you must have chosen a plateforme agréée and designated it as your receiving platform. This choice is recorded in the national e-invoicing directory (annuaire), run by the authorities: it’s what tells your suppliers where to send your invoices. You can check your own entry there, and your clients’.

The first e-invoices you receive are those from large and mid-sized companies: your electricity supplier, your phone and internet provider, an equipment supplier.

If you haven’t chosen a platform yet, the authorities ask you to start the process without waiting, directly with a plateforme agréée or through your usual tool (software, bank, chartered accountant or expert-comptable). Their start-up guide specifies that an invoice received by email, as a PDF or on paper after 1 September 2026 isn’t to be rejected for that reason alone: if the transaction is real and the invoice complete, you can process it and pay it.

Keep a record of the steps you take: the agreement signed with the platform, your exchanges with your provider, the date you were designated in the directory. During the start-up phase, the authorities say they won’t penalise a business engaged in a “serious path towards compliance”.

Issuing e-invoices from 1 September 2027

According to the authorities’ sheet no. 1, from 1 September 2027, every invoice you send to a business established in France and a taxable person for VAT will have to be an e-invoice. It will have to:

• follow a standard electronic format;
• carry certain details in a structured form;
• be sent through a plateforme agréée, and no longer directly to your client.

A PDF sent by email is not an e-invoice in the sense of the reform, even if it’s created by software. The authorities repeat this in their FAQ: “a simple PDF sent electronically is not an e-invoice within the meaning of the scheme”.

The invoicing rules themselves don’t change: you still invoice as soon as the sale is made or the service completed, with the same mandatory details. Four details are added:

The full list of details, including « TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI » (VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the CGI), is in the article on the auto-entrepreneur invoice.

A business client can ask you for an e-invoice right now, but you’re not required to issue one before 1 September 2027. What’s already mandatory is receiving theirs.

Factur-X, UBL, CII: the e-invoice formats

The authorities’ external specifications explains that every plateforme agréée accepts a common base of three formats, which ensures that an invoice can pass from one platform to another:

Factur-X is the format most auto-entrepreneurs will come across: it looks like the PDF invoice you send today, but the data is machine-readable. You don’t have to produce these files yourself: your platform, or the software connected to it, takes care of that. Your supplier can’t impose a format on you: you choose your receiving platform according to the formats that suit you.

The plateforme agréée: what it does and how to choose one

impots.gouv.fr notes that a plateforme agréée is a dematerialisation operator registered by the State for three years, renewable, after interoperability tests. It issues, sends and receives e-invoices, extracts from them the data the authorities need and sends your transaction and payment data.

What to know when choosing:

• The official list is on impots.gouv.fr, updated regularly. It distinguishes registered platforms from those waiting for their tests to finish.
• The choice is yours. You can take one or more platforms, one to receive and another to issue, and change at any time.
• Software isn’t necessarily a platform. A “compatible solution” (solution compatible; invoicing software, for example) isn’t registered. It must be connected to at least one plateforme agréée for your invoices to flow.

Before committing, check the operator’s exact name on the authorities’ list, and look at what the offer includes: receiving only, issuing, e-reporting, archiving. Platforms also offer tools to create an invoice if you don’t have software.

And your private clients? E-reporting

The e-invoice only concerns sales between businesses established in France. A sale to a private individual, or to a client established abroad, isn’t covered by it. These transactions fall under e-reporting: you send certain data to the authorities, through your plateforme agréée, from 1 September 2027.

• Private clients (and associations that aren’t taxable persons): you send the total amount of your transactions per day, over a given period. You go on handing your invoice or bill to the client as you do today.
• Business clients abroad: you send the data invoice by invoice.
• Payment data: for your services, you also send the date and amount received.

The frequency depends on your VAT regime. Under the franchise en base, the authorities indicate sending every two months (calendar two-month period), for transaction data as well as payment data. Your platform can extract this data from your invoices; no special equipment is required.

The penalties

The general tax code sets fines specific to the reform, in articles 1737 and 1788 D:

For issuing and sending data, the first offence isn’t penalised if there’s no previous one in the current year and the three previous years, and if you put it right spontaneously or within 30 days of the authorities’ first request. The usual fines for a missing detail on an invoice still apply.

What you can do now

1. Choose your receiving platform from the official list, if you haven’t already, and check your entry in the directory.
2. Note down your business clients’ SIREN numbers: the SIREN will become a mandatory detail.
3. Sort your clients: businesses in France will go through the e-invoice, private individuals and clients abroad through e-reporting.
4. Test issuing before September 2027 if your platform allows it: the first months are easier without a deadline.
5. Keep up your receipts book (livre des recettes): the reform doesn’t replace the micro-entreprise’s registers.

The reform changes the route your invoices take, not your work: one step now, another before September 2027, and you’ll be ready without rushing.
💜💙 Your BravoLisa Team

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. Every situation is different — consult a qualified professional (tax adviser, accountant, or lawyer) for advice specific to your circumstances. BravoLisa does not accept liability for decisions made based on this information.

Last updated: September 2026. Rates and thresholds can change: always check with the URSSAF, impots.gouv or the relevant authority.

Sources (15)

Verified on 30 September 2026

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