Summary:
This article summarizes the key messages from the recent customer webinar on the French Mandate. It provides a clear, customer‑focused overview of what to expect, how to prepare, and the important dates to keep in mind.
Basware’s Approach:
Basware is committed to supporting customers through this transition with clarity, professionalism, and practical guidance. Our focus is on helping you prepare early, avoid disruption, and move confidently toward compliance.
Key Dates:
Additional mandate milestones:
Company size defined:
Summary of Webinar Content (Refer webinar PDF Deck here):
The webinar covered the following areas:
1. Overview of the French Mandate
– B2B clearance model, e-invoicing and e‑reporting
– Mandate timelines
– Supported formats and Basware’s PA certification
2. Delivery Approach
– Preparation & Design
– Build & SIT
– UAT
– Deployment & Hypercare
3. Customer Readiness Requirements
– Governance
– Scope definition
– Administrative prerequisites (SIREN, legal entity details)
– Change management planning
4. What to Expect Next
– Delivery pack content overview
– Opt‑In process
– Design Questionnaire and technical documentation
What You Can Do Now:
While waiting for materials to be issued, we encourage you to:
Important Note:
The PMO Office will be available to support you starting 16 February 2026. Prior to this date our response may be subject to a short delay and we will advise where appropriate if it will be answered through the assets shared in the delivery pack.
FAQs on the France e-Invoicing Mandate:
Q: What is an “electronic invoice” according to the French B2B mandate?
A: Only structured formats will be considered valid e-invoices for fiscal purposes under the French B2B mandate. This means that paper and simple PDF invoices will no longer be valid in France for B2B e-Invoicing.
The DGFIP(Direction générale des Finances publiques; translates as General Directorate of Public Finance) is planning to regulate the use of a number of formats, as long as they are compatible with the European Norm. The initially permitted three formats are UBL 2.1, UN/CEFACT CII and Factur-X.
Q: What is a PA and what do they do?
A: PA stands for Plateforme Agréée, which translates to partner digitalization/dematerialization platform. Basware has received confirmation from DGFIP that our PA application is complete and accepted – as no platform can pretend to be registered or accredited without recognition from the French General Directorate of Public Finance.
PAs are required to:
Q: What is the Portail public de facturation (PPF)?
A: PPF stands for Portail public de facturation. After the announcement from the French government in October 2024, this portal will will serve solely as a directory and e-reporting portal. There are no current plans that PPF would support the direct exchange of electronic invoices. All companies need to partner with a PA.
Q: What is E-Reporting under the French Mandate?
A: E-Invoicing will not be mandatory for B2C and cross-border invoices. However, to get a complete overview of all invoice transactions, the government will require companies to send e-reporting files.
E-reporting requires a specific set of data-points in a specific form and will have to be sent on a recurring basis. Companies will have to be able to produce e-Reporting and send them through a partner platform (PA) which can produce these files and deliver them to the government platform. These transactions are affected by e-reporting:
Q: What is Invoice Lifecycle Management under the French Mandate?
A: In addition to invoice data, companies will have to transmit the invoice processing statuses to the government platform via a partner platform.
The invoice lifecycle will guarantee more transparency on the status of operations to the government. Some statuses will be mandatory (invoice submitted, refused, rejected, received) and other will be optional (disputed, approved, etc.).
Q: What’s the definition of a large, medium or small company’s (Turnover a year)?
A: 1 September 2026: All businesses mandated must accept e-invoices. B2B e-invoicing and e-reporting become mandatory for large and medium companies with over 1,000 employees and over €250 million in revenue.
1 September 2027: B2B e-invoicing and e-reporting become mandatory for all businesses.
Q: What will be special compared to other countries like Denmark or Belgium?
A: Denmark and Belgium are post-audit model, where formal reviews and governmental access may take place on request and there is no governmental platform where the invoices must be directed to. In France the model is decentralized clearance, where there is a governmental platform and certified access points. In France, every business must select a vendor (PA) who has been certified by the authorities to connect to the governmental platform and to interoperate with other certified vendors (PA's). In the invoice issuance and processing, there is a magnitude of detailed requirements per different business scenarios (use cases) and the visibility to the invoice status via lifecycle status messages. Additionally, the businesses have the responsibility to report invoice data in the specified scenarios. In short, France mandate is very detailed and affects all business processes from data management to invoice issuance and processing.
Q: When will the customers be contacted by Basware PMs to start preparing for the French mandate?
A: We will provide the Opt-In form by Monday, February 16th and will start distributing the Delivery pack from Monday, February 16th however your preparation can start right now. Please replay the webinar for details.
Q: Which group am I in?
A: To help ensure a smooth and timely implementation for all customers, we have organized projects into two groups based on previous commitments and timelines. No matter which group you are in, please be assured that our commitment to you remains the same: we will support you all the way to full compliance by 1 September.
Your Customer Success Manager (CSM) can confirm your group by the end of this week (week ending 13th February 2026). You will also have the opportunity to indicate a preferred group in your design questionnaire. We will review all preferences carefully, although we may not always be able to fulfil every request.
Your final group placement will also depend on your readiness, including completion of the Opt In Form and preparation for design and integration activities. Please don’t worry — we will guide you through each step.
At this stage, no immediate action is required until you receive your Opt In Form. In the meantime, you are welcome to revisit the customer webinar to begin gathering the information needed to complete it.
Q: How will Basware support us throughout the delivery?
A: Your Delivery Pack will provide you with all the details you need including interactive guides to walk you through the process with ease. Basware will hold regular drop in sessions where you can receive additional support from our expert team and our centralised PMO support will guide your journey with access to our SMEs and our technical consulting hub.
Q: I need the French tax requirements in English and I need the French XML invoice format and interface description (eInvoice transfer and eReporting) in English language.
A: All technical configuration documentation and delivery assets will be provided in both English and French.
Q: Can Basware share the official French reporting schema (XSD/XML/JSON) you expect?
A: Yes - the official French reporting schema will be included in the technical documentation you receive for E-reporting with your Delivery Pack
Q: How can Basware assist with the activation/registration with the Portail Public de Facturation (PPF)?
A: Once you sign the Opt-in form, Basware will activate your e-invoice addresses in the government directory on your behalf. Only your PA can register you in the PPF directory.
Q: How does the E-invoicing flow look in detail?
A: Your Delivery Pack includes a clear, easy‑to-follow video explaining all French e‑invoicing flows.
Q: What and how do we need to provide the "invoice lifecycle status interface" to/via the Basware REST API Notification 2.0? Is there a template for this?
A: Yes - You will receive technical documentation in the Design Form to implement the lifecycle messages, including samples of API notifications according to the content specified by the reform.
Q: Does the invoicing process involve any PPF-specific identifiers to be saved, comparable to the KSeF confirmation number in Poland?
A: No, only your invoice number is required
Q: What interfaces need to be built between us and Basware?
A: You will need to:
1. Provide the eReporting interface
2. Build or update invoice Life Cycle messages for outgoing and inbound invoices (only if you do not have Basware AP Automation).
3. Update your existing invoice interface.
Q: Does the invoicing process involve any PPF-specific identifiers to be saved, comparable to the KSeF confirmation number in Poland?
A: No, only your invoice number is required
Q: Can Basware share the official French reporting schema (XSD/XML/JSON) you expect?
A: Yes - the official French reporting schema will be included in the technical documentation you receive for E-reporting with your Delivery Pack
Q: How can we test the solution?
A: Testing is available through interoperability between partners. You may also test with one of your customers or suppliers, or directly with Basware. We will support you with a test plan tailored to your project but please be aware that:
1. PPF does not provide a test environment.
2. Only PA interoperability can be tested
3. You may ask one of your customers/suppliers to join your testing. Coordination between the two PAs is needed since the directory is not available for testing.
4. You can always test with Basware as Customer/Supplier: Basware consultants will support you based on the test plan you'll receive from Basware.
Q: In France, e-invoice addresses of the customers are presented as a concatenation of SIREN, SIRET, Suffix, and Code Routage. How should we provide this info to Basware in the outgoing e-invoice?
A: This e-invoicing address of your customer must be populated in a specific field in the outgoing invoice in field BT-49. If your customer opted for an address with SIREN and SUFFIX, the value sent in this field 49 should be SIREN_SUFFIXE.
Q: For employee expenses, will the employee still receive an invoice image as always to settle his expenses?
A: Travel and expense invoices must be received via the PA. If you prefer not to post them as invoices in your Accounts Payable system, we can create a dedicated E-Invoicing address to be able to route these invoices to another application (Travel & Expense system). Employees may still ask the supplier for a duplicate of the invoice.
Q: What is the scope for the French mandate (type of invoices)? Which data should be sent and in which format?
A: Your Delivery Pack includes a Field Capture Guide describing all supported invoice formats, the data required, and the invoice types covered by the French mandate.
Q: Will Basware support all invoice formats from the supplier’s PDP?
A: Yes — the three formats (CII, UBL, and Factur-X) are supported by Basware.
Q: For “Refused” status, what list of reason codes is expected? Are they fixed or configurable?
A: For “Refused” status, a refusal reason is mandatory and must be selected from a predefined list of reasons, as specified in the official documentation
Q: For “Payment sent,” does Basware expect details such as payment method, date, amount, and bank account?
A: You only need to provide the payment date, amount paid and your payment document reference
Q: How will Basware support us throughout the delivery?
A: Your Delivery Pack will provide you with all the details you need including interactive guides to walk you through the process with ease. Basware will hold regular drop in sessions where you can get additional support from our expert team and our centralized PMO support will guide your journey with access to our SMEs and our technical consulting hub.
For additional FAQS, refer (https://basware.showpad.com/share/s5PaFjVY8sMj86fKEVC21)
Basware is ready to support you. We encourage customers to start preparing now so you are well positioned for a smooth deployment.