Basware starts live invoices in France ahead of deadline

Basware has begun processing live invoices through France's new e-invoicing system and expects all affected customers to be operational by the September 1 deadline.

The move puts Basware among the providers already handling real invoice traffic before France's mandatory e-invoicing and e-reporting regime takes effect for affected businesses.

France has approved 130 providers to operate in the new framework, but the start of live processing marks a more difficult phase for the market than certification alone. Under the French model, suppliers and customers may use different approved providers, meaning invoices must pass accurately between separate platforms without being rejected, delayed or lost.

That interoperability matters because invoice failure directly affects payment timing. If an invoice does not arrive in the right format or cannot be routed correctly through the required channels, suppliers can face payment delays and companies can run into compliance problems.

Basware said its first customers went live this month, including VINCI SA: Group Corporate Entity, the parent company of the VINCI Group. A first wave of additional customer launches is also due this month.

VINCI described the launch as an early test of the new regime.

"The greatest achievements are often those built together. By becoming one of the pioneers of this project, we chose to lead the way: to learn, innovate, and collectively take on an ambitious challenge," said Amine Dahar, IT Domain Manager at VINCI SA. "Being a pilot means embracing a path that has yet to be fully explored. It means moving forward with courage, turning challenges into opportunities, and shaping the future one step at a time."

A second VINCI executive presented the move as a sign of readiness ahead of the national rollout.

"This early go-live, well ahead of the official timeline, is far more than an operational success. It reflects the trust, commitment, and collective intelligence that inspired our teams throughout this journey," said Sandrine Vandenhole, Budget and Consolidation Department at VINCI SA. "We are proud to have written this first chapter alongside Basware. Together, we have demonstrated that the most meaningful transformations are always driven by a shared ambition."

Readiness gap

Basware was previously confirmed as a certified platform by France's General Directorate of Public Finance after completing end-to-end qualification testing with the Public Invoicing Platform and interoperability testing with other approved operators. The latest announcement shifts the focus from testing to production use.

Markus Hornburg, Senior Vice President of Global Compliance at Basware, drew a distinction between official approval and operational readiness.

"Certification tells you a platform is allowed to operate," said Markus Hornburg, Senior Vice President of Global Compliance at Basware. "Production tells you it actually works at scale, with real invoices and real trading partners. Much of the market is still moving from certification to live exchange. Basware is already there, and our customers will be ready."

The French reform is part of a broader trend in tax administration, with governments requiring companies to route invoices through approved systems as part of VAT enforcement. For multinational groups, that means managing a growing patchwork of national rules, formats and reporting requirements rather than a single common standard.

Basware tracks more than 60 active e-invoicing mandates worldwide and argues that this creates extra difficulty for businesses running several enterprise resource planning systems, multiple accounts payable processes and large cross-border supplier networks.

Compliance pressure

Research cited by Basware suggests many businesses are still struggling with invoice and tax compliance. According to the company, 56% of organisations face challenges when expanding overseas because of missed invoicing or tax compliance deadlines, while 36% have incurred fines after submitting incorrect tax audits. It also found that 39% of companies have experienced invoice rejections due to compliance errors.

Under the French system, every invoice must pass through the Public Invoicing Platform via an approved provider. Companies must also meet commercial record-keeping obligations, including archiving electronic invoices for up to 10 years while preserving their authenticity and legibility.

Hornburg said the French rules were exposing the difficulty of managing invoicing across different systems and jurisdictions.

"The French mandate is exposing how difficult it is to operate invoicing across systems, partners, and country-specific rules," Hornburg said. "But mandates are the floor, not the ceiling. Companies still need to take care of commercial compliance and automation, which mandates do not cover."

The experience may also be watched closely outside France. In the UK, the government plans to make business-to-business and business-to-government VAT e-invoicing mandatory from April 2029, alongside proposed measures aimed at tackling late payments. France's rollout offers an early example of the operational hurdles that can emerge once a certified market moves into live exchange between providers.

For companies preparing for similar systems, the key issue is not only whether software is approved, but whether invoice flows work reliably across trading partners, platforms and internal finance systems when the mandate begins.

Basware said it safeguards fiscal and commercial compliance for customers in more than 190 countries across more than 60 e-invoicing mandates worldwide.