E-invoicing in France: Factur-X
An e-invoice is an invoice in a structured format following the European standard EN 16931: your customer’s accounting software reads it automatically instead of typing it in. For companies based in France, UNENO Invoice creates e-invoices in the Factur-X format.
Factur-X
Section titled “Factur-X”Factur-X is a PDF as you know it — with the invoice data embedded as XML. People read the PDF, software reads the data. Your customer needs nothing special to open it: it’s a PDF.
Who gets an e-invoice
Section titled “Who gets an e-invoice”Once e-invoicing is switched on, the customer decides:
| Customer | Format |
|---|---|
| Organization with a billing address in France | Factur-X |
| Individual | |
| Customer outside France |
Without e-invoicing, every customer gets a PDF. Quotes and reminders are always PDFs.
The format is fixed when you issue
Section titled “The format is fixed when you issue”When you issue an invoice, its format is set and stays: if you later switch e-invoicing off or change the customer, an issued invoice still downloads and re-sends exactly as before. Only when you correct an invoice is its format decided again when it’s issued again.
In the invoice list, the Format column shows how each invoice goes out — for a draft, the format it would get if issued now:
The example shows both cases: Client Exemple SARL, a company in Paris, gets Factur-X; Claude Exemple, an individual, gets a PDF. Invoice 0008 to the same company is a PDF: it was issued before e-invoicing was switched on — its format stayed.
What the customer receives
Section titled “What the customer receives”When you email an e-invoice, exactly one file is attached: the invoice PDF with the embedded data. Below the email text: The attached invoice is an electronic invoice (Factur-X) — a PDF with structured data (EN 16931) embedded, so your accounting software can read it automatically.
Downloading gives you what the customer gets, too: the Factur-X PDF.
The 2027 obligation
Section titled “The 2027 obligation”From 1 September 2027, invoices between French companies must be electronic — you can start with Factur-X today.