Articles 153 and 195 of the Finance Act 2020 will force all French companies subject to VAT to send and receive their invoices electronically from July 1, 2024.
This nationwide reform will modify the internal processes of all taxable persons, with a view to digitalizing practices.
France, like more than 48 other countries around the world, is embarking on this digital transformation, starting with the widespread use of electronic communication. invoice electronic.
The widespread introduction of electronic invoicing invoice electronic invoicing requires every company to change and evolve its invoice handling processes.
To help you assess your compliance with this new legal framework, here are 5 fundamental questions.
1 - Does your IS contain all the mandatory legal data?
Until now, when you dematerialized your invoices for tax purposes, 16 data items were mandatory on the invoice. invoice. By 2024, more than 28 data items will be required by the tax authorities. The new data requested by the DGFIP will have to be integrated into every . invoice. A delta of more than 12 data items that will have to be extracted from your management tools or retrieved electronically.
Do you know what this information is? Do you have this information? Is your IS capable of integrating them into electronic invoices?
2. Can I automatically integrate electronic invoices issued by my suppliers?
For simplicity's sake, many invoices are sent by e-mail after being scanned or transformed into PDF format. Remember that the definition of invoice electronic invoice is one invoice established from a management or invoicing tool and issued via one of the IT protocols validated by the DGFIP (EDIAPI, State portal for B2G).
All other forms of invoice creation using protocols other than those permitted by the DGFIP do not constitute valid invoicing for tax purposes. invoice valid for tax purposes.
3. Can I automatically send electronic invoices to my customers?
Simply creating a invoice from your management or invoicing tools does not constitute a invoice for tax purposes. For 2024, the state platform has defined 3 formats in which you must send your invoices to the public platform: CII, Factur-X and UBL.
Does your IS or your Digitalization providers offer the possibility of complying with one of these formats? What does it mean to implement one of these formats in your organization?
4 - Is the invoice tax validation process reliable and compliant?
Invoices sent in electronic format must be secure. Article 289 V of the General Tax Code states that an invoice invoice tax-compliant electronic invoices must be secured by :
This guarantees the authenticity of the origin, the integrity of the content and the legibility of the piece. Do your current practices meet one of these three security criteria?
5 - Is my management system capable of managing the lifecycle of my invoices?
The process of monitoring the invoice lifecycle and managing any disputes will become automatique thanks to the receipt of electronic statuses from the public platform.
There are 4 mandatory statuses (invoice rejected, refused, deposited and cashed). However, the DGFIP allows you to set up 10 additional statuses, which are either recommended or free. It is essential to be able to integrate and process all the statuses sent to you, to ensure smooth processing and payment of invoices received.
An audit to prepare you more serenely?
If the answer to at least one of these 5 questions is still unclear, an audit can help you prepare for the transition to mandatory invoice mandatory electronic invoicing.
Every year in France, around 2.5 billion invoices are issued, of which only 3% are in electronic format.
2024 requires a switch to 100% electronic invoicing, which means that many companies will have to go the Digitalization route.
Upgrading your operating methods to meet the requirements of the tax authorities will require technical updates to your management and IS tools, as well as a reorganization of your business services.
To make this transition a success, the first essential step is to know and master your company's internal processes and the exact functioning of its invoicing flows.
To achieve this, it is necessary to carry out an analysis in collaboration with the departments affected, in order to initiate a gradual and appropriate transformation of your invoicing processes.
Asexperts in Digitalization document management for over 30 years, we can support you in this change management process with an audit that will stabilize your current processes so that they can evolve gradually and tackle this reform serenely.
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