France e-Invoicing mandate: Why platform interoperability is essential
A guide to compliance and possible testing use cases
By Sandy Wauthier, Senior Software Development Engineer
As France moves forward with its ambitious B2B e-invoicing and e-reporting clearance mandate, interoperability between registered PDPs (Plateformes de Dématérialisation Partenaires), that are now the only way to clear invoices in France, has become a cornerstone of the system’s success.
By 2026, businesses operating in France will be required to use electronic invoicing for all business-to-business (B2B) transactions and report specific data for VAT purposes.
This digital transformation brings efficiency, transparency, and compliance benefits, but it also places significant emphasis on ensuring that all registered PDPs can work seamlessly together.
In this blog, we will explore the critical role of interoperability in the context of France’s B2B e-invoicing mandate, why it matters for compliance, and how to test interoperability effectively using three key use cases:
- Connectivity via the Peppol network
- Document validation for supported formats,
- Orchestration of interactions using the mandated “formats du socle.”
What is interoperability in e-Invoicing?
Interoperability refers to the ability of different e-invoicing platforms, in the case of France – registered PDPs, to communicate and exchange data efficiently, accurately, and securely, regardless of differences in their underlying technologies.
To become a registered PDP in France, e-invoicing platform providers must ensure they can send, receive, and process e-invoices according to legal requirements, particularly through the mandated “formats du socle” (core formats): Factur-X, UBL 2.1, and CII.
As of August 19th 2024, Tradeshift is a registered PDP and is among the first to achieve this status.
Interoperability ensures that invoices can flow seamlessly between trading partners, whether they use the same platform or different ones.
For example, if Company A uses PDP1 and Company B uses PDP2, the two platforms must be able to exchange invoices without errors or manual intervention.
Things can become even more complex with the complexity of your business and if between your AP and AR teams you are using different platforms to send and receive documents.
This is vital for compliance with France’s mandate and for maintaining business continuity.
Why is interoperability crucial for the e-Invoicing clearance model in France?
- Legal Obligations: The French government requires that all e-invoices adhere to specific technical and format standards. Registered PDPs, such as Tradeshift, are legally obligated to meet these requirements to ensure smooth operation within the national e-invoicing CTC (continuous transaction controls) framework.
- Harmonisation: Interoperability prevents fragmentation in the e-invoicing ecosystem, ensuring that e-invoicing platforms (registered PDPs) of all sizes can participate equally. It also reduces the risk of disputes between trading partners regarding data integrity or format mismatches.
- Efficiency: Proper interoperability reduces the need for manual reconciliation, accelerates payment cycles, and minimizes errors. This is particularly important in a system as large and complex as France’s B2B economy.
- Scalability: As the clearance system evolves and more businesses onboard, interoperable platforms can handle increased transaction volumes without bottlenecks or compatibility issues.
Possible use cases for testing interoperability between registered PDPs
Ensuring interoperability is a multi-step process that involves rigorous testing, and is part of the rollout process of the B2B e-invoicing and e-reporting clearance mandate in France.
Below, we discuss three possible use cases for testing interoperability among registered PDPs in France.
1. Connectivity: Using the Peppol Network
The French B2B e-invoicing clearance mandate specifications theoretically grant PDPs the freedom to use any technology for networking and message formats when connecting with each other. This approach was designed to avoid disrupting existing traffic. However, with the understanding that PDPs must seamlessly interact with one another, the all e-invoicing platform providers that received the PDP status have rallied around a single solution to support the “formats du socle” and enable secure, effortless exchanges: using the Peppol network.
Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) is a standardized framework for electronic document exchange. Many European countries, including France, rely on Peppol for secure and efficient invoice transmission.
Testing interoperability in this context involves:
- Network Access: Verifying that the PDPs can connect to the Peppol network using compliant Access Points.
- Protocol Compatibility: Ensuring both sending and receiving platforms support the required transport protocols.
- Message Exchange: Conducting end-to-end tests to confirm that e-invoices can be successfully transmitted and acknowledged without data loss or corruption.
For example, a PDP must demonstrate that it can send an invoice via Peppol to another PDP and receive a confirmation message (e.g., an acknowledgment of receipt) within the required time frame. This ensures that all PDPs can participate in the broader European e-invoicing network.
Connecting to Peppol and using its network can pose a challenge for some PDPs unfamiliar with Peppol as a technology. The challenge is even greater for companies that planned to become ODs and anticipated API-based integrations, which Peppol does not support. These companies now face a critical decision: either transition to becoming PDPs and adopt Peppol or partner with an existing PDP—all within a tight timeframe.
Tradeshift has a significant advantage with its long-standing experience using Peppol, giving us a head start in the development of the compliance solution for the B2B e-invoicing clearance mandate in France.
2. Document Validation for the Three Formats
France’s e-invoicing mandate specifies three supported formats for e-invoices: Factur-X, UBL 2.1, and CII. Interoperability testing must ensure that PDPs can handle these formats correctly.
Key validation checks include:
- Format Parsing: Confirming that the platform can read and interpret invoices in each format without errors.
- Content Validation: Ensuring that mandatory fields, such as invoice number, VAT details, and totals, are present and correctly populated.
- Transformation: Testing the ability to convert invoices from one format to another (if required) without losing data fidelity.
For example, a PDP might receive an invoice in Factur-X format, validate its content, and transmit it to another PDP in UBL 2.1 format. This capability is critical for enabling seamless communication between businesses using different systems.
3. Orchestration: checking typical interactions using the “formats du socle”
Orchestration refers to the coordination of multiple steps in the e-invoicing lifecycle, from invoice creation to transmission, validation, and reporting. Testing orchestration ensures that PDPs can handle typical workflows mandated by French regulations.
Key tests include:
- Invoice Submission: Verifying that invoices can be submitted in any of the three core formats and routed correctly.
- Error Handling: Ensuring that errors (e.g., missing fields or incorrect formats) are flagged and communicated back to the sender.
- Compliance Reporting: Checking that data required for VAT reporting can be extracted and submitted to the French tax authorities (via Chorus Pro or another intermediary).
For instance, a PDP might need to demonstrate that it can process an invoice submitted in UBL 2.1 format, validate its compliance with French requirements, and forward it to the tax authorities for reporting—all within the prescribed timelines.
The road ahead
Interoperability is not just a technical requirement; it’s the backbone of France’s e-invoicing ecosystem. Interoperability testing use cases like connectivity via Peppol, document validation, and orchestration are essential for ensuring that the ecosystem functions as intended.
Beyond interoperability testing, the final step involves conducting tests with the government directory, which, according to the latest timeline from French tax authorities, is expected to be available in March 2025. Once this step is completed, all flows between the entities (corners) involved in the French B2B e-invoicing clearance ecosystem, as required by the mandate, will have been tested. This ensures that PDPs are fully prepared to clear invoices for the businesses relying on them.
As the September 2026 deadline is only 18 months away, businesses with operations in France must select a fully capable e-invoicing platform to clear e-invoices. Choosing a PDP that prioritizes compliance, received their registered status among the first, and is fully on track with the progress of the mandate rollout is the smartest choice.
Tradeshift’s commitment to compliance and supporting digital transformation
Tradeshift offers a proven compliance-as-a-service process, providing innovative solutions that empower customers like Air France, Disneyland Paris, and Schaeffler to drive their digital transformation while meeting e-invoicing and tax clearance mandates.
Currently, we deliver compliance-as-a-service in 70 countries, including a streamlined approach to managing tax clearance requirements in 12 countries and e-invoicing mandates globally.
We support compliance for countries with tax clearance or B2B e-invoicing mandates such as France, Romania, Malaysia, and Germany, with more European and APAC countries included in our roadmap.
To maintain compliance excellence, we continuously monitor emerging global regulations, ensuring our roadmap evolves to meet the needs of additional countries.
Notably, we are the only company offering cross-zone fapiao e-invoicing capabilities in China and among the first to achieve registered PDP (PDP immatriculée) status in France.
Ready to streamline tax compliance domestically and for cross-border document transactions? One platform is all you need.
