26.08.2026
19 Minuten Lesedauer

Questions and answers – French eInvoicing

This Q&A provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the French eInvoicing mandate and Continia eDocuments.

Frequently asked questions:

Products, versions, and licensing

Which Continia apps do I need for France?

You need the base Continia eDocuments module plus the French modules for the direction(s) you use:

Continia Document Output – French e-Invoicing – required to send invoices (accounts receivable).
Continia Document Capture – French e-Invoicing – required to receive invoices (accounts payable). Installing this app also installs Document Output automatically.

If you only send, install Document Output – French e-Invoicing. If you receive (or both send and receive), install Document Capture – French e-Invoicing, which covers both directions.

Which Business Central version is required?

Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 (version 28) or newer, in both sandbox and production. French eInvoicing is not available on version 27. The minimum build for the French features is 28.2.2.

Online (SaaS): install the French apps from Microsoft Marketplace.
On-premises: you need Document Capture/Document Output 2026 R1 Service Pack 3 (version 28.3).
The French-specific features are available in English only until Service Pack 3.

Which document formats are supported?

UBL and CII (in the EXTENDED-CTC-FR profile) are supported today; Factur-X is coming soon. Domestic B2B invoices are exchanged through a certified Plateforme Agréée (PA).

Does French eInvoicing cost more than other countries?

No. Connecting through a French PA carries the same standard pricing as electronic documents in other countries – there's no French surcharge.

Installing and importing the configuration (existing Document Capture/Document Output customers)

I already use Document Capture or Document Output. What are the steps to add French eInvoicing?

The high-level sequence is:

Update Business Central to version 28.2.2 or newer.
Install the relevant French app from Microsoft Marketplace (Document Output – French e-Invoicing to send, Document Capture – French e-Invoicing to receive).
Activate the app(s). Business Central shows a notification in the Role Center if Document Output or Document Capture still needs activation.
Enable the required feature (see Which feature do I have to enable, and where? below).
Import the French configuration (formats, and – for sending – eDocuments Scenarios and eReporting; for receiving – the French templates).
Create a PA France Network participation, and configure your customers/vendors.

Detailed, step-by-step instructions are provided in two dedicated guides: one for Document Output (sending) and one for Document Capture (receiving).

Which feature do I have to enable, and where?

Enable the Enhanced Continia eDocuments feature. This is a Document Output feature: in Business Central, open the Continia Feature Management page, find Enhanced Continia eDocuments, and then enable it. The French configuration relies on it, so enable it before importing.

Document Output or Document Capture – which one imports what?

They cover different parts of the configuration:

Document Output imports the electronic formats, the eDocuments Scenarios framework (used to build outgoing documents), and eReporting.
Document Capture imports the French document templates (used to read incoming documents) and the electronic formats – but not eDocuments Scenarios and not eReporting.

Therefore, to send invoices or to do eReporting, you must set up Document Output. If you only receive documents, Document Capture on its own is sufficient. Most customers do both.

When I run the Document Output setup guide, do I choose "Full" or "Custom"?

It depends on whether any eDocuments configuration already exists:

Nothing imported yet – if no eDocuments configuration has ever been imported by either guide, you can run the Full setup.
Configuration already imported – if configuration was imported before (by either guide), choose Custom and reimport the eDocuments configuration. A plain re-run will not pull in the eDocuments Scenarios and eReporting configuration.
Non-French Business Central localization – always choose Custom, and in the guide's eDocuments section explicitly select the French localization configuration. If you don't, no French configuration is imported at all.

I set up one product before the other. Is there anything I need to watch for?

Yes, the order matters:

Document Capture was set up first, and you now add sending or eReporting. Run the Set Up Document Output assisted setup guide with Setup Type = Custom, and reimport the eDocuments configuration. This is the only way to bring in the eDocuments Scenarios and eReporting configuration that Document Capture didn't import.
Document Output was set up first, and you now add receiving. A Document-Output-first import leaves the document categories unset on the XML structure, which means that incoming documents will not be processed. To fix this, open the XML Structure Setup page and select the correct document categories manually.

I run a non-French Business Central localization. What do I need to know about the Document Capture templates?

The French Document Capture templates are delivered in a configuration file that ships with the French document-category codes – ACHAT (purchase) and VENTE (sales). Before importing the file, open it and replace ACHAT and VENTE with the document-category codes used in your own environment. If you import the file unchanged, the templates are created under the French categories and will not match your setup.

The configuration file contains three template sets:

eBilling FR (with its identification template) – reads incoming invoices and credit memos.
eSelf-Billing FR (with its identification template) – reads incoming self-billed invoices.
eBilling Response Purchase (with its identification template) – the CDAR templates, which process the lifecycle status responses returned on your documents. Include these if you need status/lifecycle handling, not just plain invoice reception.

Onboarding and participations

How do I select the French network during onboarding? There's no "France or Peppol" switch.

There's no such switch. After you've installed the French app and imported the latest configuration, open the Onboard to Continia Delivery Network guide and select the PA France Network. That selection is what puts the participation on the French network.

Where do I upload the PA designation form? Nothing appears in the setup guide.

The PA designation form is required only in production. In a sandbox, the onboarding guide omits that step by design so you can start testing quickly – so the absence of an upload prompt in a sandbox is expected, not an error. In production, you complete the official PA designation form and upload it on the dedicated page while creating the participation.

Which identifier does France use?

France routes documents on the SIREN (the 9-digit company identifier) using scheme 0225 – this is the electronic address registered in the PPF directory, not the VAT number. The SIREN is derived from your VAT number (for example, VAT FR12345678901 > SIREN 345678901). The legal identifier carried inside the document uses a different scheme, 0002. You create one participation per identifier.

What Identifier Type do I set when creating the participation?

Set the Identifier Type to FR:CTC – this is the type used for electronic routing on the PA France Network. Set the Identifier Value to your 9-digit SIREN. (The VAT Registration Number is not the routing identifier.)

Sending invoices

Do I have to set a scenario on every sales document?

Yes. Every sales document requires an eDocument Scenario Flow. The scenario determines the use case and calculates the invoice type (goods, services, or mixed). The configuration ships with the supported French use cases ready to use. For a standard invoice, select REGULARINVOICE.

How is the billing framework (Cadre de Facturation) determined?

It's calculated automatically from the invoice lines: goods (B1/B2/B4), services (S1/S2/S4), or mixed (M1/M2/M4). The only case that requires a manual choice is a mixed invoice.

How do I send an invoice?

Create and post the sales invoice with a scenario flow selected, then click Document Output > Send eDocument. The document is generated in the configured French format (UBL-FR or CII-FR) and sent over the PA France Network.

Receiving invoices

How does an incoming document become a purchase document?

In production, an incoming document travels from the PA France Network through the Continia CDN, into eDocuments, and is then mapped by a Document Capture template into a Business Central purchase document. Received documents appear in Document Capture's Ready to Import cue on the Role Center.

What are the CDAR templates for?

The CDAR templates (eBilling Response Purchase and its identification template) process the lifecycle status responses you receive back on your documents – for example, when a counterpart accepts or refuses an invoice. Import them if you need status/lifecycle handling in addition to invoice reception.

Testing in a sandbox

Can I test before production opens?

Yes. Activate a France participation in a sandbox, and either exchange documents between Continia-registered parties or use Test Mode to validate documents without sending them live.

How does a sandbox differ from production?

In a sandbox there's no PA connection – the Continia CDN handles everything internally, exchanging documents between Continia-registered parties within the CDN sandbox. The full PA France Network is used only in production. The Business Central setup is otherwise the same.

How do I test receiving?

You need a second party to send you a document (real-world participations can't be used in a sandbox). The most realistic test is to pair two parties – two customers, or two partner test environments – so that one sends and the other receives, and a real document flows through the CDN sandbox. Alternatively, use Test Mode to validate an incoming XML file without a live exchange.

Does Test Mode cover everything?

No. Uploading a document in Test Mode works only for main business documents (invoices and credit memos). It does not cover lifecycle status updates. To test lifecycle/status handling, use a sandbox running without Test Mode – that is, a real exchange between two parties. Full instructions are in Setting up eInvoicing in France (see the sections "Document flows in sandbox" and "To validate incoming documents using test mode" in particular).

eReporting

What is eReporting, and who has to report?

eReporting is the obligation to transmit data on transactions that fall outside domestic e-invoicing. It covers two things: transaction data (international B2B and B2C) and payment data (for services, where VAT is due on receipt). Data is transmitted via flux F10 in four blocks – 10.1 international invoices, 10.2 their payments, 10.3 B2C transactions, 10.4 B2C payments. The party that reports (le déclarant) is the one carrying the French VAT obligation: the supplier for international-outbound and B2C, and the French buyer when purchasing from a foreign supplier. Imports of goods are excluded.

Do I have to eReport domestic B2B invoices?

No. Domestic B2B is reported automatically as part of sending the invoice through the PA – there's no separate report.

Is there a background job that creates the default eReporting setup?

No. The default eReporting setup – the four Flow 10 report types with their filters and groups – is created when you import the eReporting configuration through the Document Output setup. It's not created by a job, and Document Capture does not import it. If the eReporting pages are empty or show only a manually added row, the configuration hasn't been imported: run the Document Output assisted setup guide and import the eReporting group.

I only receive invoices (AP) but I have an eReporting obligation. What do I set up?

The eReporting engine captures your purchase postings directly, so it works from your AP data. However, eReporting is currently set up and run through Document Output, so even a receive-only company with an eReporting obligation must also set up Document Output and import its configuration (with Setup Type = Custom if Document Capture was configured first). This may change in a future release.

Document lifecycle

Are lifecycle statuses used for reporting?

Only the Refused and Cashed statuses are transmitted to the PPF. Other lifecycle statuses are tracked but not reported.

Cross-border and foreign sellers

A company outside France sells to a French VAT-registered company. Does it need the French apps?

No. A non-French company is not subject to the French eInvoicing mandate. The invoice can be sent by email or over the standard Peppol network, and the French Document Output/Document Capture apps are not required.

Getting help

Where do I raise a question or an issue about the French mandate?

In PartnerZone, go to Help Center > Get Help > Submit a request, and then select eDocument French Mandate from the dropdown.

Continia eDocuments for Document Output

Inhaltsverzeichnis