Preparing Your ERP for France E-Invoicing: A Step-by-Step Guide
Learn how to prepare your ERP for France's e-invoicing mandate. Map data to Factur-X, UBL, and CII, add the four new fields, clean SIREN/SIRET/VAT master data, and connect to an Approved Platform (PA) with Complyance.
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Your ERP is where invoices are born. So when France makes facturation électronique obligatoire from September 2026, your ERP is where the real preparation happens. It is not enough to sign up for a platform. The data your ERP produces has to be structured, complete, and mappable to the formats the French network accepts.
The good news: this is engineering work with a clear finish line, not a guessing game. If your ERP holds the right data in the right fields, and it connects cleanly to a certified platform, you are compliant. This guide walks through exactly how to get there: data mapping, the four new mandatory fields, master-data cleanup, the ERP-to-PA connection, and testing.
Why the ERP Is the Heart of Compliance
Under France's strict 5-corner model (in force from September 2026, after the earlier Y-model was dropped at the end of 2024), an invoice leaves your ERP, travels to your Approved Platform (Plateforme Agréée, PA), gets validated and converted into an approved format, and is transmitted to the buyer's PA and reported to the DGFiP. The PPF (public portal) is now only a Central Directory and Data Concentrator. It does not route or issue invoices, so choosing a certified PA is mandatory.
That means the quality of everything downstream depends on what your ERP hands over. Missing a buyer SIREN, storing an address as free text, or exporting an unstructured PDF will cause rejections no platform can silently fix. Preparing the ERP well is what makes the rest of the reform feel effortless.
Step 1: Map Your ERP Data to the Approved Formats
A compliant French e-invoice is structured data carried in Factur-X, UBL 2.1, or UN/CEFACT CII, all aligned to the EN 16931 European standard. Your first job is to map each piece of data your ERP holds to the corresponding element in these formats.
- Factur-X is a hybrid: a human-readable PDF with structured XML embedded inside. It is often the gentlest path for businesses moving from PDF invoicing.
- UBL 2.1 and UN/CEFACT CII are pure XML syntaxes. Your PA handles conversion, but your ERP still has to supply every element the target format needs.
Work field by field: for each invoice element (supplier, buyer, lines, taxes, totals), identify where it lives in your ERP and which EN 16931 element it maps to. The mapping table later in this guide shows the pattern.
Step 2: Add the Four New Mandatory Fields
The reform introduces four new mandatory fields on domestic B2B invoices. Many ERPs do not capture these cleanly today, so treat this as dedicated configuration work.
1. Buyer SIREN
The buyer's 9-digit SIREN must appear on every domestic B2B invoice. Confirm your customer master holds a validated SIREN as a structured field, not buried in a comment or address line.
2. Delivery Address
When goods are delivered to an address different from the billing address, that delivery address must be on the invoice. Make sure ship-to is stored and passed separately from bill-to.
3. Nature of the Operation
An indicator showing whether the invoice covers goods, services, or both. This is often not a structured field in ERPs today, so you may need to add or derive it.
4. VAT-on-Payments Option
A mention indicating the option for VAT to be due on payment (option pour le paiement de la TVA d'après les débits). This usually lives in tax configuration and needs to flow through to the invoice output.
Alongside these fields, plan for the four mandatory lifecycle statuses (Déposée, Rejetée, Refusée, Encaissée) that your ERP must be able to send and consume.
Step 3: Clean Up Your Master Data
Structured invoicing is unforgiving of messy master data. Before mapping means anything, your foundational records need to be accurate.
- Validate SIREN/SIRET numbers for every French customer and for your own entities. Deduplicate and correct malformed entries.
- Check VAT numbers for format and validity, including intra-EU numbers for cross-border partners.
- Standardise addresses so billing and delivery addresses are stored as discrete, structured fields.
- Fix customer records where the nature of operation (goods vs services) cannot be derived reliably.
- Archive or merge duplicates so one customer does not map to conflicting data.
This is unglamorous work, but it is where most rejections are prevented. Clean master data is the single biggest lever on a smooth go-live.
Step 4: Connect Your ERP to an Approved Platform (PA)
Once your data is right, the ERP has to reach the network. Because the PPF does not route or issue invoices, you connect through a certified Approved Platform (PA). There are two common integration patterns:
- API integration. Your ERP calls the PA's API to submit invoices and receive lifecycle statuses in near real time. This is the cleanest, most automated route and suits businesses with development capacity.
- File-based batch transfer. Structured files are exchanged with the PA in batches over an agreed channel such as SFTP. This suits organisations with high volumes or existing file-transfer infrastructure. Note that the invoice itself must reach the network in an approved structured format (Factur-X, UBL 2.1, or CII); legacy EDIFACT is not an authorised e-invoice format, so any EDIFACT input must be converted before or by the PA.
Whichever you choose, the PA validates the invoice, converts it to an approved format, uses the PPF Central Directory to locate the buyer's platform, transmits the invoice, and reports data to the DGFiP. Your ERP's job is to send complete, structured data and to consume the statuses that come back.
One transition note: PDFs can be sent to a PA for conversion until December 2027, giving slower-moving suppliers a bridge. Even so, structured output from your ERP is the target state.
Complyance is an Approved Platform (PA) that supports both API and file-based batch connectivity, with pre-built ERP integrations and a guided-upload fallback for teams not yet ready for full automation.
Step 5: Test End to End
With mapping, fields, master data, and connectivity in place, validate the whole chain in a sandbox before any real invoice moves.
- Submit representative invoices from your ERP through the PA.
- Confirm the four new fields populate and validation passes on all three formats you might use.
- Test edge cases: credit notes, self-billing, mixed goods/services, exempt and zero-rated lines, multi-currency.
- Verify the four lifecycle statuses (Déposée, Rejetée, Refusée, Encaissée) flow back into your ERP and reconcile against the original invoice.
- Run e-reporting scenarios for B2C and cross-border transactions.
Only when these pass cleanly should you move to production, and even then, phase your rollout and monitor closely.
ERP Field Mapping Reference
Use this table as a starting template for mapping your ERP data to the approved French formats. New reform-specific fields are flagged.
| Invoice Data | Typical ERP Source | Maps To (EN 16931 / Format) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier name & SIREN/SIRET | Company / entity master | Seller party identification | Validate your own SIREN/SIRET |
| Supplier VAT number | Tax registration record | Seller tax registration | Include for all VAT flows |
| Buyer SIREN | Customer master | Buyer party identification | New mandatory field, must be structured |
| Buyer name & address | Customer master (bill-to) | Buyer party & postal address | Keep separate from delivery address |
| Delivery address | Ship-to record | Delivery / "deliver to" party | New mandatory field when different from billing |
| Nature of the operation | Invoice / order type | Document-level indicator | New mandatory field, goods, services, or both |
| VAT-on-payments option | Tax configuration | Tax point / payment mention | New mandatory field, *TVA sur les débits* |
| Invoice lines | Sales document lines | Invoice line (item, qty, price) | Each line structured, not free text |
| VAT rate & amount per line | Tax engine output | Line VAT category & rate | Must reconcile to the VAT summary |
| VAT summary by rate | Tax subtotal | Document-level tax breakdown | Include exempt/zero-rated bases |
| Totals (net, VAT, gross) | Document totals | Monetary totals | Include discounts and adjustments |
| Lifecycle status (inbound) | Returned by PA | Status message | Reconcile back into ERP records |
How Complyance Makes ERP Preparation Easier
Complyance is an Approved Platform (PA) designed to take the heavy lifting out of ERP readiness.
1. Gap analysis against your ERP. A structured review shows exactly which fields, including the four new ones, your ERP is missing before you write a line of integration code.
2. Pre-built ERP integrations. Connect via API or file-based batch transfer without building everything from scratch, shortening go-live from months to days.
3. Format conversion handled. Send your structured data once; the platform converts to Factur-X, UBL 2.1, or CII and validates against EN 16931.
4. Real-time validation. Errors surface immediately in sandbox and production, so bad data never reaches the network.
5. Statuses and e-reporting in one place. Lifecycle statuses flow back to your ERP, and B2C/cross-border e-reporting is covered by the same platform.
Ready to get your ERP France-ready?
Complyance helps your IT and finance teams map data, close field gaps, clean master data, and connect to the network, with expert support at every step.
Conclusion: A Well-Prepared ERP Makes Compliance Quiet
When your ERP holds the right data in the right structure and connects cleanly to an Approved Platform, France's e-invoicing mandate stops being a threat and becomes routine. Here is your ERP-readiness checklist:
- Map every invoice element to Factur-X, UBL 2.1, or CII (EN 16931)
- Add and structure the four new mandatory fields
- Clean and validate SIREN/SIRET and VAT master data
- Choose API or file-based batch transfer and connect to your PA
- Test end to end in a sandbox, including edge cases
- Switch on e-reporting for B2C and cross-border flows
Do the ERP work well, and everything downstream (validation, transmission, reporting) simply works.
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Frequently Asked Questions
France accepts Factur-X, UBL 2.1, and UN/CEFACT CII, all aligned to the EN 16931 standard. Your PA converts between them, but your ERP must supply complete, structured data. Factur-X (hybrid PDF/XML) is often the easiest starting point for businesses moving from PDF invoicing.
Most businesses configure rather than replace. You typically add or expose the four new fields, clean master data, and set up a connection to a PA. A gap analysis tells you whether configuration is enough or whether deeper changes are needed.
The buyer SIREN, the delivery address (when different from billing), the nature of the operation (goods, services, or both), and the VAT-on-payments option. Each should be a structured field, not free text.
API integration gives near-real-time submission and status updates and suits teams with development capacity. File-based batch transfer (for example over SFTP) suits organisations with high volumes or existing file-transfer infrastructure. Complyance supports both, plus a guided-upload option for teams not yet ready to automate. Either way, the invoice must reach the network in an approved format (Factur-X, UBL 2.1, or CII); legacy EDIFACT is not authorised and must be converted.
A PDF emailed to a customer is not a compliant French e-invoice. The reform requires structured data transmitted through a certified Approved Platform and reported to the DGFiP. During the transition, PDFs can be sent to a PA for conversion until December 2027, but your ERP should still target structured output.
Complyance is an Approved Platform (PA) that provides pre-built ERP integrations, API and file-based batch connectivity, format conversion, and real-time validation. It maps your existing data to the French formats and returns lifecycle statuses to your ERP, so you keep your ERP and add compliance around it.
About the Author
Swathy
Content Marketer
I’m a Content Marketer at Complyance, focused on e-invoicing. Over the years, I’ve created a wide range of content, including blog posts, whitepapers, and product guides, which have supported Complyance’s growth across markets such as the UAE and EU regions. My goal is to deliver content that is comprehensive, clear, accurate, and easy to understand, no matter how complex the topic.
