Tax-compliant electronic invoicing

By Jennifer Montérémal

Published: October 19, 2024

Take your electronic invoicing processes to the next level with tax-compliant dematerialization!

Find out about the many business benefits, the legal environment, key tips for successful deployment, and which software solution you should choose to dematerialize invoices in full compliance!

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What is tax-compliant electronic invoicing?

Tax-compliant paperless invoicing: definition

Tax-compliant dematerialization refers to the process of exchanging invoices solely by electronic means.

In other words, no more paper invoices. This is why tax-compliant paperless invoicing is distinguished from simple electronic invoicing (or simple tax-compliant paperless invoicing), in which only the paper invoice issued before the switch to electronic media is considered legal proof.

In addition, tax-compliant dematerialization requires the integration of a number of advanced security features to ensure that computer-generated documents comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

What are the advantages?

The advantages of tax-compliant electronic invoicing are manifold:

Time savings in invoice processing, and greater productivity for your organization. For example, you no longer need to physically manage VAT tracking.

A significant reduction in costs associated with printing, postage, storage and handling of paper documents.

It is estimated that dematerialization reduces the cost of issuing an invoice to less than ten euros.

The ability to easily integrate tax invoicing data into your organization's other information systems, improving operational transparency and customer knowledge.

Support for your company's sustainable development commitments by significantly reducing the carbon footprint associated with support functions.

What are the legal requirements for tax-compliant electronic invoicing?

The 3 rules of tax-compliant electronic invoicing

Whether the "tax" electronic invoice takes the form of a structured file (XML, EDI, etc.) or not (PDF, image, etc.), it must comply with the characteristics defined by French and European regulations.

While the eIDAS directive insists on its legibility by the recipient, articles 289 bis and 289V of the French General Tax Code also remind us of the following 3 obligations:

prove the authenticity of its origin, generally by means of the electronic signature of its issuer;
guarantee that its content cannot be altered;
to be kept in an "electronic safe" by each of the parties for the long term.

Consequently, tax-compliant dematerialization requires the use of the following processes.

Tax-compliant dematerialization in the private sector

In order to comply with regulatory requirements, the tax authorities accept 3 methods of dematerializing invoices:

EDI, or Electronic Data Interchange. This is a process that replaces the physical exchange of documents, using a computer file structured and standardized to comply with current tax standards.
Signed PDF with an advanced, certified electronic signature, guaranteeing the authenticity and integrity of the document.
The simple PDF and the reliable audit trail (PAF): the latter makes it possible to certify the validity of the invoice and make the link with the transactions and payments made by means of a permanent control deployed within the company.

Tax-compliant electronic invoicing in the public sector

As of January 1, 2020, all companies supplying products or services to the public sector are required to submit invoices electronically.

To do so, they must submit and transmit dematerialized documents via the Chorus pro portal.

How do you implement tax-compliant electronic invoicing in your company?

Implementing tax-compliant electronic invoicing requires a unified system capable of guaranteeing the absolute integrity of documents exchanged with your customer or supplier, from generation to storage.

Standardized, automated software applications are the tool of choice, but their deployment requires a joint decision with your business partners.

Choose the electronic system that ensures compliant invoices

Using a fully electronic invoice management solution ensures compliance with the key points of tax-compliant dematerialization mentioned above.

In fact, this type of tool often guarantees that invoices are exchanged :

time-stamped, ensuring legal enforceability and detailed tracing ;
validated by your certified electronic signature;
archived in accordance with the NF Z42-013 standard, which sets out stringent requirements in terms of back-up (redundancy, etc.) and digital retention periods.

What's more, it means you're already up and running when it comes to electronic invoicing for public procurement contracts.

Get your business partners on board

Don't forget that the decision to dematerialize your invoice flows in line with tax requirements can't be taken alone!

At every stage, the procedure requires the agreement and involvement of your business partner (customer or supplier) to work perfectly.

Choosing, installing and then using the necessary electronic gateway between your 2 companies must therefore be the result of a shared desire and, for maximum success, be part of a win-win partnership.

In this context, the help of a specialist tax-compliant dematerialization consultant is highly recommended if you're unsure about which transmission protocol to share, or if you have to deal with interoperability issues between your systems.

How do you choose your tax-compliant software?

The selection of your tax-compliant invoice dematerialization tool should be based on both technical and operational criteria, to make your document management really simple, more secure, faster and less costly.

What criteria should you take into account?

Regulatory compliance of the planned application. For example :
- dual approval by the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance and GS1,
- RGS2 level electronic signature,
- and ISO certification of IT facilities,
  are very reassuring factors.

Security and adaptability to your working environment: these are essential parameters to take into account when choosing an electronic invoice processing tool.
Quality of archiving services: give preference to solutions capable of providing access to your backups for a minimum of 10 years.

In operational terms, consider whether the software's functionalities are consistent with :

your working methods (manual data entry or full automation of the billing cycle),
the volume of your business, in order to control your investment and deployment time,
the potential complexity of your customer or supplier relationships (e.g. international invoicing).

PDF or EDI?

As we saw earlier, both methods are accepted by the tax authorities. And each has its advantages:

PDF: the PDF format is easier to deploy, even when it incorporates a certified electronic signature. Documents can then be transmitted simply by e-mail.
EDI: although this option is more complex to set up (both sender and receiver must use Electronic Data Interchange), it is particularly well suited to organizations handling a large number of invoices. What's more, some customers insist on receiving their documents only in this way: as EDI is already operational in their company, they prefer to receive invoices from their suppliers in a single format to simplify processing.

☝️ Some customers can only receive their dematerialized invoices in PDF format, as they are not equipped to use EDI. Others, on the other hand, wish to use only Electronic Data Interchange. We therefore recommend a tax-compliant solution that combines both processes.

Examples of tax-compliant software solutions

The collaborative solution, an essential asset for producing your e-bills

Designed by Generix Group, Generix Invoice Services lets you benefit from the technical and legal expertise of one of Europe's leaders in document dematerialization.

Advantages of Generix Invoice Services :

compatibility with all signed files, audit trails and EDI channels,
ease of deployment, whatever the size of the company,
collaborative management and monitoring functions to reinforce the quality and traceability of exchanged data,
support for over 30 transfer protocols in 20 countries to guarantee maximum interoperability,
easier management of updates and maintenance, thanks to SaaS (service on demand) distribution.

Electronic signature software for compliant electronic invoicing

DocuSign is a key player in the field of electronic signatures.

It offers a range of packages to meet all types of tax-compliant electronic invoicing needs, whatever the size of the company.

Advantages of DocuSign :

simplified electronic signature processes, with a focus on the user experience,
high compliance with security standards, thanks in particular to compliance with eIDAS regulations,
tool performance, with a high level of availability,
electronic signature management from all types of media (tablet, smartphone and computer) and environments (iOS, Android, Windows),
over 350 integrations and APIs available (Salesforce, Oracle, etc.),
dashboards to track the status of your invoices at a glance.