French invoice details and the 2026-2027 e-invoicing reform

What every French invoice must show

An invoice is not a free-form letter: the French public service lists the details it must carry, whether the customer is a private person, a business or a public body. Check the list against a real document, not against a template you think you know. This guide helps you prepare a document; it is neither legal nor tax advice.

• The issue date and a unique invoice number, in a continuous chronological sequence.
• The date of the sale or service (or of the deposit).
• The seller: for a sole trader, their first and last name with “Entrepreneur individuel” or “EI”, their address and Siren number; for a company, its registered name, Siren number, head-office address, legal form and share capital. The billing address is added if it is different.
• The buyer: the company name for a business; the full name and address (unless they object) for a private person. The purchase-order number, when the buyer issued one.
• The seller’s VAT number (and the professional customer’s, if it is liable for the VAT), except on an invoice of EUR 150 excluding VAT or less.
• For each line: a precise description, the quantity, the unit price excluding VAT and the VAT rate (or the exemption). For a service, the materials supplied and the labour.
• The total excluding VAT and the total including VAT, any price increase (transport, packing) and any reduction already agreed at the date of sale.
• The payment date, the early-payment discount terms (“Escompte pour paiement anticipé : néant” when there is none) and the late-payment penalty rate.
• The fixed EUR 40 recovery-cost indemnity, when the customer is a business.
• On an invoice to a private person: the existence and length (at least 2 years) of the legal guarantee of conformity, for the categories of goods the page lists.

Special mentions in particular cases

Some situations add a precise wording. The public service names, among others: “TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI” for a seller under the VAT franchise; “Auto-liquidation” when the buyer is liable for the VAT; the membership of an approved association; and, for craft activities, the references of the professional insurance. A missing or wrong mention is your mistake, not the template’s.

Four new mentions from 1 September 2026

With the phased introduction of e-invoicing from 1 September 2026, four more mentions become compulsory. According to the public service, the duty applies first to large companies and mid-size enterprises, then extends to SMEs and micro-enterprises from 1 September 2027.

• The customer’s Siren number, when it is a business.
• The delivery address of the goods, if it differs from the customer’s address.
• The nature of the invoiced operations: deliveries of goods, services, or both.
• The wording “Option pour le paiement de la taxe d’après les débits”, if the supplier opted to pay the tax on the basis of debits.

The calendar of the e-invoicing reform

According to the tax administration’s page, the duties of electronic invoicing and of transmitting data (“e-reporting”) roll out in two stages, by company size. From 1 September 2026 every business, whatever its size, must receive its invoices electronically when its supplier is required to issue them that way; on that date large companies and mid-size enterprises must issue their invoices electronically and transmit their transaction and payment data to the administration.

From 1 September 2027 the duty to issue in electronic format and to transmit the data applies to small and medium-sized enterprises and to micro-enterprises. To know whether, and from when, it concerns you, read the official page cited below: the answer depends on your business.

What QuoteBill does and does not do

QuoteBill is a free document generator: it lays out an invoice, a quote or a receipt and saves it as PDF, Word or Excel. It is not an approved platform, it issues no e-invoice and sends nothing to the tax administration. A document made in QuoteBill is a printable copy, not a registered e-invoice.

The editor gives the structure (seller, customer, number, date, lines, amounts, notes) with one VAT rate per document and one tax-identification field per party. Put the Siren there and write the VAT number in the notes. The wording “TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI”, the late-payment rate, the EUR 40 indemnity, the delivery date or delivery address are for you to write in the notes or the payment terms.

Check before sending

Tick these on the finished PDF, not on the template.

• Is the number unique and the sequence continuous? Are the issue date and the date of the service both there?
• Do the seller’s Siren, and the customer’s when it is a business, appear on the document?
• Does each line carry its quantity, its unit price excluding VAT and its VAT rate (or the exemption wording)?
• Are the payment date, the discount terms, the late-payment penalties and, for a business customer, the EUR 40 indemnity written out?
• Is the nature of the operation (goods, services or both) stated? Is there a delivery address if it differs?
• Have you checked on the official page whether the reform already requires you to issue invoices electronically?

Sources

• Service-Public: Mentions obligatoires sur une facture (verified 11 August 2026)
• impots.gouv.fr: when am I concerned by the e-invoicing reform?

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