The short answer
It depends on two things: your size (which sets the date from which you must issue e-invoices) and your customer (French business, consumer, foreign business, public body). The table below sums up the most common cases for a small business in France.
| Your customer | Until 31 August 2027 | From 1 September 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| VAT-registered business established in France | PDF allowed | E-invoice through an approved platform |
| Consumer | PDF allowed | PDF allowed, plus e-reporting of your sales |
| Business established abroad | PDF allowed | PDF allowed, plus e-reporting of the invoice data |
| State, local authority, public body | Chorus Pro (already in place) | Chorus Pro, preferably through your approved platform |
This table applies to SMEs and micro-businesses, whose obligation to issue starts on 1 September 2027 at the latest. For a large company or an ETI, the right-hand column has applied since 1 September 2026.
Your business customers in France
This is the only case where the PDF disappears. Mandatory e-invoicing covers transactions between two VAT-registered businesses established in France, within the scope of French VAT and subject to French invoicing rules. For these invoices, from your deadline, the invoice must be issued, transmitted and received through a *plateforme agréée* (an approved platform registered by the French tax authority, the DGFiP), in Factur-X, UBL or CII format.
Until then, you can keep sending PDFs. According to the DGFiP practical guide, a customer cannot force e-invoicing on you under the reform before your deadline, nor refuse to process or pay an invoice solely because it is not electronic. A contract can provide for another way of exchanging invoices: that is then a commercial agreement, not a legal obligation.
You may also start earlier, for all or some of your invoices. As long as you are not yet subject to the obligation, each invoice can go out in the format you choose, and if electronic issuing fails you can temporarily return to PDF. One point to note: if you send an e-invoice, your customer must accept it, because everyone has had to be able to receive since 1 September 2026.
Worked example. An electrician sends 15 invoices a month to French businesses. If he kept sending them as PDFs after 1 September 2027, the fine would be €50 per invoice, or €750 a month, capped at €15,000 per calendar year. A first offence is not penalised if it is corrected spontaneously or within 30 days of the authority's first request.
Your consumer and foreign customers
For a consumer, there is no mandatory e-invoice, in 2026 or 2027. You hand over your invoice or receipt as today: paper, emailed PDF, customer account. What changes at your deadline is e-reporting: your approved platform sends the tax authority your total sales per day and, for services where VAT is due on payment, the payments received.
For a customer established abroad, same logic: the invoice can take any form and you send it through the channel of your choice. Certain invoice data goes into e-reporting, invoice by invoice. If your foreign customer asks for a particular format, that comes from your agreement or from their own country's rules, not from the French reform.
If you are yourself a business not established in France, the DGFiP FAQ states that you are outside French e-invoicing, though you may have e-reporting duties for transactions located in France on which you owe French VAT.
Some transactions are not covered at all: those outside the scope of VAT, and exempt ones such as care provided by regulated medical and paramedical professions. For those, nothing changes.
Your public-sector customers
Invoicing the State, a local authority or a public body has been electronic for years, through Chorus Pro, the French public-sector invoicing portal (since 1 January 2017 for public bodies' receipt of invoices). Since 1 September 2026 you can do it through your approved platform connected to Chorus Pro, which gives you a single channel for all customers; the DGFiP calls this the target set-up. Using Chorus Pro directly (keying on the portal, upload, API, EDI) remains possible, but the DGFiP describes it as provisional.
And the PDFs you receive?
Since 1 September 2026, suppliers that are large companies or ETI must send their invoices through their approved platform. If one of them still sends you a PDF, the DGFiP is clear: an invoice received by email, as a PDF or on paper must not be set aside for that reason alone, as long as it reflects a real transaction and contains the information needed to process it. You can pay it, book it and deduct its VAT under the usual conditions.
Your supplier may be asked to regularise that invoice through the electronic channel, but this is not a condition for paying it. Just keep a record to avoid paying twice if the electronic version arrives later.
PDF as a backup when something goes wrong
Even after your deadline, PDF keeps a backup role. If your customer's platform cannot be found in the directory, or an outage blocks sending, the DGFiP practical guide accepts that a usual channel be used to bring the invoice to the customer's attention so that payment is not blocked. This is a continuity measure, not a new invoice: the same invoice must then be sent through the electronic channel or regularised as soon as possible, and the incident documented.
This backup should not become a habit. Systematically sending a PDF copy of every e-invoice creates a risk of double payment; the DGFiP recommends keeping it for cases where it is genuinely useful.
For the full timeline, read what changes for small businesses in 2026-2027; to understand what replaces the PDF, Factur-X explained.
Frequently asked questions
Until when can a small French business send PDF invoices?
To business customers established in France, until its obligation to issue e-invoices starts, on 1 September 2027 at the latest. To consumers and foreign customers, PDF remains possible after that date; those sales go through e-reporting.
Can a customer demand an e-invoice right now?
Not under the reform: according to the DGFiP, an SME or micro-business can keep invoicing as usual until its deadline, and a customer must not refuse to pay an invoice solely because it is not electronic. A commercial agreement can provide otherwise.
Is a PDF invoice from a large supplier valid?
Yes, if it reflects a real transaction and contains the necessary information. It can be paid and its VAT deducted. The supplier may be asked to regularise it electronically, but that is not a condition for payment.
Is a PDF sent by email an electronic invoice?
No. For the DGFiP, a plain PDF sent electronically is not an e-invoice under the reform. You need a structured format (Factur-X, UBL or CII) transmitted through an approved platform.
What if electronic sending fails after 2027?
Fix the cause (wrong data, recipient not found), contact the customer if needed and, if the invoice must go out quickly, send it temporarily through a usual channel. The same invoice must then go through the platform or be regularised as soon as possible, keeping a record of the incident.
Sources
- DGFiP — Practical start-up guide to e-invoicing at 1 September 2026 (impots.gouv.fr)
- DGFiP — FAQ "Je découvre la facturation électronique" (version 01/09/2026) (impots.gouv.fr)
- DGFiP — FAQ "J'approfondis la facturation électronique" (in-depth FAQ, version 01/09/2026) (impots.gouv.fr)
- impots.gouv.fr — "Je découvre la facturation électronique" (Discovering e-invoicing, modified 26/05/2026) (impots.gouv.fr)
- Entreprendre.Service-Public.fr — E-invoicing: penalties are changing (20/02/2026) (entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr)
This article summarises the official texts to help you get organised. It is not a substitute for personalised advice from your accountant.