B2G in France at Present and in the Future

France is one of the first European countries that decided to implement e-invoicing obligations in business to government (B2G) relations. Since 1st of January 2020, it has been mandatory for the public sector (buyer side) to be able to receive and process e-invoices, as well as for e-invoices to be issued on the supplier side. It is also worth noting that this obligation applies to French entities and does not extend to international transactions. To enable the implementation of this solution, the government has made available a free portal called Chorus Pro, which is PEPPOL-enabled.

The French system continues to evolve, and in the near future Chorus Pro will have a new form known as plataforme publique de facturation electronic (PPF). Ascending compatibility with the existing B2G system (between Chorus Pro and the PPF) will be ensured whenever possible. An additional format may be offered to invoice issuers for this purpose.

The PPF portal will allow companies to file invoices, created by them in a format structured or mixed, via different methods. These include:

• Uploading the file to the web portal
• File transfer, using one of the available protocols (EDI)
• File transfer, using the API made available

The corresponding invoice will be available to the recipient without further action on the part of the supplier.

The next step is to implement e-invoicing in the business to business relationship (B2B), about which you can read more here.

There’s more you should know about e-invoicing in France – learn more about the new and upcoming regulations.