Last updated August 2026. Refreshed at each mandate milestone.
On 1 September 2026, France flips the switch: every VAT-registered company must be able to receive electronic invoices through an accredited platform. If you run Business Central, that raises two practical questions: what the ERP already covers, and what still lands on your AP team. This page walks through the French timeline, the Business Central side, and what remains outside the mandate.
The reform replaces the free-for-all of PDF invoices with structured exchanges between accredited platforms. The timeline is now fixed:
If your group has a French entity, being connected to a PDP is no longer optional. If you have not chosen one yet, talk to your accountant or your Business Central partner now: contracting and testing take time.
Microsoft ships an E-Documents framework in Business Central: the ERP can receive and send structured electronic documents, with localization apps per country and partner connectors on top, including PDP connectivity through ISV connectors. Setup is country-specific and typically runs through your Business Central partner.
One nuance worth stating plainly: the framework is the plumbing. The compliance connection itself comes from an accredited platform, not from Business Central alone.
France is not an outlier. In Germany, receiving B2B electronic invoices has been mandatory since January 2025, with issuing obligations phasing in through 2027 and 2028. At EU level, the ViDA package extends digital reporting further over the coming years. Country by country, e-invoicing is becoming the European default.
Going deeper: our France 2026 guide (facture Ă©lectronique), the German E-Rechnung guide, Peppol in Business Central and the E-Documents module setup guide.
Zentriq is not a PDP and not a compliance connector, and it does not replace one. The mandate covers structured domestic flows: invoices exchanged between French companies through accredited platforms. Plenty of documents stay outside that perimeter: invoices from foreign suppliers, PDFs and receipts, and documents flowing through non-French entities in your group.
For everything that still arrives as a PDF or an image, AI document capture reads the invoice and creates the record in Business Central. And for everything after receipt, structured or not, invoice matching checks each invoice against orders and receipts, flags what needs review, and lets you question your AP in plain language. The reform automates the domestic capture step; Zentriq covers the rest of the workflow around it.
Yes. From 1 September 2026, every French VAT-registered company must be able to receive electronic invoices through an accredited platform (PDP). Issuing follows the phase schedule: large companies and ETI in 2026, SMEs and micro-enterprises in 2027. Your accountant or your Business Central partner can point you to accredited platforms.
Business Central ships an E-Documents framework for receiving and sending structured documents, extended by localization apps and ISV connectors that link it to accredited PDP platforms. The accreditation itself lives with the platform, not with Business Central, so the setup involves your partner and a platform choice.
No. Zentriq is not a PDP and not a compliance connector. Zentriq handles what surrounds the mandate: AI capture for the documents that remain PDFs, matching invoices to orders and receipts, review, and plain-language reporting on your AP.
From 1 September 2027, issuing electronic invoices becomes mandatory for SMEs and micro-enterprises as well. By then, every French company both receives and issues invoices electronically through accredited platforms.
Compliance is one piece of the puzzle: for the broader workflow, see our guide to accounts payable automation in Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Zentriq Document Capture reads the invoices and receipts that still arrive as PDFs and turns them into records in Business Central.
Explore Document CaptureSee pricing