Plateforme Agréée vs PPF: How French E-Invoicing Platforms Actually Work
- 18 août
- 8 min de lecture
French e-invoicing does not travel by ordinary email. Under CGI Article 289 bis, electronic invoices are issued, transmitted and received through a Plateforme Agréée (PA): a private operator immatriculated by the tax authority. The State's Portail Public de Facturation (PPF) sits behind the scenes as a central directory and data concentrator. It is not a free personal inbox that replaces a PA for day-to-day issuing and receiving.
This guide is the platform deep dive for the cluster: what a PA does, how immatriculation differs from marketing "certification", what a Solution Compatible can and cannot do, how the PPF directory works, and how landlords, SCIs and micro-entrepreneurs should choose without buying the wrong product twice.
FrenchNotaires matches you free of charge with vetted bilingual notaires, typically within about 48 hours, in person or by video call. Your accountant or billing software partner usually selects and configures the PA; a bilingual notaire confirms which legal person (you or the SCI) must appear in the directory.
Key takeaways
A Plateforme Agréée is the only operator authorised to perform the full e-invoicing and e-reporting stack for users.
You must designate a PA in time for reception from 1 September 2026; the same or another PA can handle issuing later.
The PPF holds the routing directory and concentrates tax data. It does not replace your PA as a daily send/receive tool.
A Solution Compatible (invoicing or accounting software) may keep your usual interface, but it must connect to a PA for legal transmission.
Only trust the official list on impots.gouv.fr, not a vendor homepage alone.
Why you need a Plateforme Agréée
impots.gouv.fr is direct: taxable persons must use a Plateforme Agréée to transmit and receive electronic invoices and to send transaction and payment data to the administration from the reform go-live. Article 289 bis CGI says electronic invoice flows run through an approved platform, and that the State makes a central directory available to those platforms.
DGFiP fiche 3 for smaller businesses translates that into a diary entry: by 1 September 2026 at the latest, choose a PA for reception. Your chosen platform informs the administration through the central directory so suppliers know where to route invoices. By 1 September 2027, smaller issuers must also be able to send through a PA (the same one or another).
Calendar detail: E-Invoicing Timeline 2026 vs 2027. Duty vocabulary: E-Invoicing vs E-Reporting.
What a PA actually does
On the official Plateformes Agréées page, a PA is a service provider with several roles:
Issue, transmit and receive the electronic invoice from supplier to customer, converting formats where needed so the buyer can process what the seller produced;
do so while protecting integrity, authenticity, readability and completeness of the data;
extract and send certain invoice data to the tax authority (identities, net amounts, VAT due, rates, and similar fields);
transmit transaction data for operations that do not travel as domestic e-invoices (e-reporting);
transmit payment data where that duty applies.
In plain English for a property owner: the PA is your regulated post office and tax-data courier for in-scope flows. Your accountant may still prepare the numbers; the PA is how compliant electronic documents and reports move.
Register the right legal person
Directory identity follows the taxable person on the invoice: you personally, or the SCI. Fix ownership mismatches with a bilingual notaire before your accountant wires the PA to the wrong SIREN.
Immatriculation, not a casual badge
The administration does not use "certification" or "homologation" as the legal label for this role. A Plateforme Agréée is a dematerialisation operator that has completed an immatriculation procedure with the DGFiP's dedicated Service d'Immatriculation.
Key points from the official page:
immatriculation follows a regulatory dossier and proof that the operator can perform the expected PA functions;
it is granted for three years, renewable;
only an immatriculated PA is authorised to perform the full set of e-invoicing and e-reporting functions for users;
the Service d'Immatriculation also monitors transmission duties and can withdraw immatriculation after repeated breaches.
Marketing pages that say "ready for 2026" without appearing on the official list are not enough. Always cross-check: Je consulte la liste des plateformes agréées.
That official page also shows why timing matters for buyers. Operators must demonstrate fiscal compliance, infrastructure and data security, and technical interoperability with the PPF and with other platforms. Final immatriculation is granted only after interoperability tests succeed in real conditions. The administration therefore publishes both operators that already meet the full conditions and operators whose complete file is still waiting on those final tests. Prefer a fully immatriculated PA for go-live, not a brochure promise.
PA versus Solution Compatible
Many landlords and freelancers already use an invoicing app, a property-manager portal or an accountant's software. That tool may remain your daily screen as a Solution Compatible (SC).
Official distinction:
you may keep using a compatible solution;
without immatriculation, that operator is not a Plateforme Agréée;
it is therefore not authorised, on its own, to transmit e-invoices to clients' platforms, receive e-invoices for you, or send invoice / transaction / payment data to the administration.
DGFiP fiche 3 makes the practical point: if you already have billing, till or trade software, check that it is a compatible solution connected to a PA for transport. You keep the familiar interface; the PA still carries the legal pipeline.
Ask vendors one clarifying question: "Are you yourself on the official PA list, or which immatriculated PA do you connect to?" Get the answer in writing.
What the PPF is (and is not)
The Portail Public de Facturation (PPF) is the public infrastructure layer of the reform. After the architecture was narrowed, its working role for private businesses is best understood as:
the central directory (annuaire) of in-scope taxable persons and their electronic routing addresses;
a concentrator for tax data flowing toward the administration.
It is not:
a free Chorus-style mailbox where private landlords log in to send every guest or supplier invoice by hand instead of designating a PA;
a substitute for immatriculation;
proof that "the government will handle my invoices for free, so I can wait."
For most English-speaking owners, you will never "live inside" the PPF. Your PA (or SC-plus-PA stack) talks to the directory and data hub. Your job is to choose that stack and keep your SIREN identity correct.
The central directory and routing codes
Article 289 bis provides for a State central directory made available to approved platforms, built from information those platforms transmit, so e-invoices can be addressed to the recipient's PA.
Operationally:
when you designate a PA, that platform registers or updates your directory line for the private taxable person;
suppliers' platforms look up where to route your inbound invoices;
public bodies follow related Chorus Pro synchronisation rules; private units are maintained through PAs.
AIFE documentation on the annuaire also notes that a public web consultation can let users search whether a private taxable person or public entity has declared one or more reception addresses via a PA. That is useful before you chase a missing supplier invoice, but it does not replace having your own PA live.
If your property manager or syndic pays bills for the SCI, make sure they know which PA identity must receive supplier e-invoices. Mis-routed reception is an operations failure, not a VAT philosophy debate.
Formats: Factur-X, UBL and CII
Structured e-invoices in the French ecosystem are repeatedly described in Factur-X, UBL or CII. Factur-X is the hybrid many smaller businesses meet first: a human-readable PDF layer plus embedded structured data.
Your PA may convert between accepted formats so the buyer's system can ingest the seller's file, while integrity rules still apply. A free-text PDF attached to an email is not that channel once issuing applies to a domestic B2B flow.
When you compare tools, ask whether reception and issuing both support the formats your counterparties use, and whether e-reporting for B2C is included if you need it (tourism hosts and many micros).
How to choose as a landlord, SCI or micro
Most FrenchNotaires readers need a simple, low-volume stack, not an enterprise EDI programme. Use this filter:
Profile | What to prioritise |
Classic residential landlord / SCI (reception-heavy) | Reliable inbound mailbox, accountant access, clear archive export; issuing can wait unless VAT-liable |
Micro-entrepreneur | PA or SC+PA that handles franchise mentions, B2B issuing in 2027, and B2C e-reporting |
Para-hôtellerie / VAT-liable tourism | E-reporting of guest turnover and payment data; multi-rate VAT if relevant; platform commission reception |
Non-resident owner | English support helps, but immatriculation and the correct French SIREN identity matter more than language marketing |
Price matters, but orphan data matters more. Prefer tools that let you export invoices and directory settings if you change provider. Confirm who holds the contract: you, the SCI, or the accountant's umbrella arrangement.
Profile guides: SCI, LMNP/LMP, Micro-entrepreneurs, Para-hôtellerie.
Changing platform later
You are not married to the first PA forever. Article 289 bis contemplates change of approved platform, and implementing rules provide for minimum services from the former platform for a period that cannot be less than one year when a change occurs.
Still treat a switch as a project:
update the directory routing so suppliers do not keep sending to a dead address;
export historical invoices and statuses;
tell your accountant and property manager;
avoid a week where nobody is designated for reception.
Selection checklist
Step | Action |
1 | Confirm the taxable person and SIREN that must appear in the directory. |
2 | Decide whether you need reception only in 2026, or also issuing / e-reporting later. |
3 | Shortlist providers and verify each on the official PA list (or identify their connected PA). |
4 | Check e-reporting support if you sell to individuals or run VAT-liable tourism. |
5 | Test reception with a real or pilot supplier invoice before 1 September 2026. |
6 | Document who holds logins: owner, gérant, accountant, property manager. |
7 | Agree an export / exit plan in the contract. |
Where the notaire fits in
Does: confirm which person or SCI owns the asset and should carry the SIREN-linked compliance identity.
Does not: usually compare PA tariffs, configure Factur-X, or negotiate software contracts.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Plateforme Agréée?
A dematerialisation operator immatriculated by the French tax authority for a renewable three-year term, authorised to issue, transmit and receive electronic invoices and to send e-reporting data to the administration.
Is the PPF enough on its own?
No for day-to-day private issuing and receiving. The PPF concentrates directory and tax-data hub functions. You still need a Plateforme Agréée (directly or through a compatible solution connected to one).
What is a Solution Compatible?
Software that can remain your working interface but is not itself immatriculated as a PA. It must connect to a Plateforme Agréée for legal transmission and reception.
When must I choose a platform?
By 1 September 2026 for reception if you are in scope. Issuing through a PA follows your size calendar (2026 for GE/ETI, 2027 for PME/micro) when issuing duties apply to your flows.
Can I use one PA for reception and another for issuing?
Yes. DGFiP fiche 3 notes that the issuing platform may be the same as the reception platform or a different one.
How do I verify a provider is genuine?
Check the official list of plateformes agréées on impots.gouv.fr. Do not rely on a sales brochure alone.
Does my SCI and my personal LMNP need two platforms?
They are different legal identities if both are in-scope taxable persons with their own SIRENs. Each identity needs correct directory registration. That may mean two PA setups, or one provider managing both under separate accounts. Ask your accountant to map it.
Related guides
Pick an immatriculated PA, then test reception
The PPF routes and concentrates. The Plateforme Agréée is what you actually need in order to receive in 2026 and, where required, issue and e-report later.
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