THE E-INVOICING PROCESS IN FRANCE AND ABROAD : PAPERLESS POLICY !

Thanks to the growing volumes of data, going paper-free is a major concern for companies.

Benefits of Paperless Invoicing

• Productivity: automating your invoice management will save you a lot of time.
• Cash flow: Electronic invoicing ensures that payments are made twice as fast as in paper format.
• Ecological: dematerialising your invoices also means using less paper and reducing your carbon footprint.
• Security: The electronic invoice is authentic and provides a guarantee of security.

Beyond the simple digitalisation of documents, moving to paperless solutions today enables the optimisation of data exchanges and processes at a time when digital technology is the main carrier of information and communication. Thus, many documents such as orders, quotes, invoices and documents are digitalised, facilitating their exchange, consultation and archiving. In this article, we will take a closer look at the paperless invoices.

To be considered as an E-invoice, a paperless invoice must meet 2 conditions:

– Be created, sent, received and stored in electronic format

– Respect the terms and conditions imposed by the General Tax Directorate, namely

• The electronic invoice may contain standardised, structured data allowing automatic accounting, or be subject to a reliable audit trail, guaranteeing the economic reality of the invoiced transaction,
• Comply with the same obligations as a paper invoice in terms of legal notice,
• Prove the identity of the sender (thanks to the electronic signature in particular),
• Guarantee the integrity of its content (by making it impossible to modify),
• Ensure its readability by the recipient.

Until now, e-invoicing was mandatory for the economic relationship with public organisations via the Chorus Pro platform. Indeed, since 26 June 2014, the European directive on electronic invoicing and public procurement aims to make electronic invoicing the most widely used invoicing method in Europe by 2020.

Several countries, such as France, have introduced regulations requiring suppliers to send their invoices to public administrations electronically. Recently, the administration has been carrying out an ambitious project to normalise the use of paperless/electronic invoices for all b2b relations.

The main objectives of this obligation are:

• to secure commercial relations
• To strengthen the fight against VAT fraud
• More efficient business management
• Facilitating VAT declarations

Article 56 of the PLF 2020 allows for this obligation to be introduced progressively between 1 January 2023 and 1 January 2025, in accordance with a timetable (below) and procedures laid down by decree, taking into account the size and sector of activity of the companies concerned.

• 1 January 2023:

Obligation to accept invoices in electronic format for all companies.

For the obligation to send electronic invoices, only large companies will be affected.

• 2024:

Small and medium-sized companies will have to send all their invoices in electronic format.

• 1 January 2025:

It will be the turn of VSEs and SMEs to send their invoices in electronic format.

Furthermore, the implementation of electronic invoicing must be associated with an additional obligation to transmit data (“e-reporting”) which is not subject to the obligation of electronic invoicing as defined in Article 153 above: for example, transactions between professionals and private individuals (“B2C”), transactions with foreign operators and the status of invoice payment.

Two architectures for the exchange of electronic invoices can be envisaged:

• a model with compulsory transit of invoices through a public platform, which is the only one authorised to transmit them to the customer via, if necessary, the private platform to which the customer is affiliated (the V model);
• a model in which certain private platforms, which have previously been certified as trusted third parties, are authorised to transmit invoices directly to the recipient companies, without going through the public platform (Y model).

But France is not the only country working on this subject.

Indeed, since 1 July 2020, companies located in Hungary are obliged to comply with the new online invoicing system – RTIR (Real Time Invoice Reporting).The principle is that taxpayers residing in Hungary must send all sales invoices to NAV’s “Online Számla” platform (national administration portal). This must be done online, electronically and immediately.

Deveho has worked on the implementation of this new requirement and has recently made Sage X3 compliant  with the latest version of RTIR (V3).

Regarding Poland, the Polish Ministry of Finance makes the electronic transmission of VAT data by means of the SAF-T JPK_VAT file mandatory for both Polish and non-Polish companies operating in the country. The submission of the JPK_VAT file and the availability of electronic accounting information are mandatory for all companies operating in Poland, even without a physical office.

Since 21 July 2018, the use of electronic invoicing in relations between subcontractors and the main contractor of the public administration is mandatory In Spain (FACTURAE format). The use of electronic invoicing is highly enhanced in business-to-business relations through the exchange of electronically signed structured data from secure signature creation devices.

In Switzerland, the QR invoice will replace the red and orange deposit slips. Due to increasing national and international regulatory requirements, the attractiveness and future of Swiss payment traffic and the increasing digitalisation of business processes, an adaptation to international standards (ISO 20022) was necessary and appropriate. This adaptation will make payment processes more up-to-date, easier and more cost-effective. For your information, the QR invoice is compliant with Sage X3.

Since 1 January 2017, all suppliers who have contracts with the Dutch central government (i.e. ministries, their main departments and agencies) are required to submit e-invoices.

Romania is currently looking into the option of paperless invoices using the SAFT file. Our Deveho teams are currently working on this to make it compliant with Sage X3.

Deveho Consulting can support you in this transition with serenity!

Do not hesitate to contact us for more information!