The entry into force of the new e-invoicing and e-reporting obligations in France has been postponed by probably more than a year. Use this time to refine your strategy and prepare the ground, by deploying SAP DRC in other European countries.
The government wants to extend electronic invoicing – already mandatory for those working with public establishments or local authorities – to all invoices issued between companies subject to VAT. A pilot phase is scheduled to run from January to June 2024, followed by a gradual introduction of the measure from July 2024. On the menu: an e-invoicing obligation for B2B exchanges, as well as e-reporting to the DGFiP.
A press release dated July 28, 2023 announces the postponement of the entry into force of this measure, with the new dates to be defined as part of the work to adopt the 2024 Finance Law. A close examination of the 2024 Finance Bill reveals no new information at this stage. However, the accompanying press kit (dated September 27, 2023) states that “[a] new effort in favor of the information systems of the economic and financial ministries is being implemented. In particular, this involves reinternalising a Chorus solution and supporting the ramp-up of the inter-company electronic invoicing project”.
It is rumored that the test phase could be postponed to 2025, with the measure coming into force at the beginning of 2026, according to a timetable yet to be specified. A significant postponement compared to the dates initially announced.
Will SAP be ready?
In France, companies can choose between two approaches to e-invoicing and e-reporting: they can either use a dematerialization platform that is a partner of the public authorities (PDP), or they can directly upload their data to the public invoicing platform Chorus Pro (PPF). This is the route that SAP offers its customers through the SAP Document and Reporting Compliance solution, SAP DRC.
SAP DRC fetches invoices from the ERP system, adapts them to the required electronic format, then transmits them to the authorities’ platforms. It is also capable of retrieving invoices from tax authority platforms, and feeding them back into the ERP. SAP DRC currently supports 57 national reporting and invoicing regulations. All these countries are therefore supported from a single solution, with global invoicing of the service, calculated according to the volume of invoices processed.
The package adapted to France’s future e-invoicing and e-reporting obligations has not yet been integrated into SAP DRC. Initially, this package was to be made available in a test version at the end of 2023. It will therefore logically be rapidly accessible when the French government launches the test phase.
Should you stop your projects?
Even if it’s tempting to put projects on hold, it’s advisable to use this extra time to prepare, rather than waiting for the final stretch of the test phase, which could result in a bottleneck of projects (4 million companies will eventually be concerned by this system, according to the DGFiP).
This extra time can be used to consider a more global approach, through a tool capable of covering multiple countries, such as SAP DRC. Those who have already implemented specific solutions for certain countries, such as Italy or Spain, will thus have the opportunity to deploy a single tool for both countries, before adding support for Poland in 2024 or France in 2026.
By deploying SAP DRC in other European countries today, you can also secure the French project. Each localization has its own specificities, and therefore requires deployment and validation of the localization package. However, if you already have the SAP DRC solution in another country, you won’t have to revalidate the technical part, which will result in significant time savings when deploying the French localization package.
Patrice Vatin, Head of Customer Advisory Finance & Risks, SAP France
