France E-Invoicing: The ESSENTIALS of the reform #2 Invoice formats and EN16931 standard

I. The reform requires the use of invoice formats that comply with the European Semantic Standard EN16931.

There are three invoice formats: XML UBL, XML UN/CEFACT CII, and Factur-X.
These formats have profiles, including the EN16931 profile and the EXTENDED-CTC-FR profile.
Factur-X has additional profiles: BASIC, EN16931, and EXTENDED.
Companies need to align their invoice management with the EN16931 semantic model.

II. The EN16931 Standard is a semantic invoice standard that defines common business terms and data groups.

It is based on existing frameworks like UN/CEFACT and UBL.
It includes a set of 164 invoice data grouped into 32 categories.
It also includes code lists for payment methods, currencies, invoice types, etc.
Each data has a defined type and management rules.

III. The reform’s impact on businesses and how to prepare:

All invoices must comply with the EN16931 Standard or the EXTENDED-CTC-FR profile.
Companies need to align their invoice generation tools with the semantic model.
The exercise of mapping invoice data to the semantic model helps identify gaps.
The calculation of invoices, including discounts, needs to align with the EN16931 rules.
The reform also introduces new concepts and data, such as the “Addressed To” party.
Companies should prepare by studying the source of data, discount management, etc.

IV. Invoice formats and other invoice data messages:

The “minimum base” formats include UBL profiles, UN/CEFACT CII profiles, and Factur-X profiles.
Companies can use third-party formats but need to align them with the core formats.
Readable representations of invoices are required, either natively in Factur-X or as attachments in UBL and CII formats.
Other invoice data messages include flows 1, 8, 9, and 10.1 for reporting purposes.
The PPF offers data extraction from structured invoices for reporting purposes.