How to Send and Receive Compliant E-Invoices in France in 2026, and When Babelway Is the Right PA

Tradeshift Babelway has received the permanent registration (“immatriculation définitive”) as a PA from the French authorities

France’s B2B e-invoicing mandate is really knocking at the door. From September 2026, every large and intermediary company operating in France must send and receive its B2B invoices through a permanently registered Plateforme Agréée (PA) connected to the French tax authority.

For many businesses, this raises a very practical question:

What is the simplest way to send compliant e-invoices from my ERP to my French customers?

This article explains how e-invoicing compliance works under the French model, when Babelway is the right choice, and when a broader platform like Tradeshift makes more sense.

You can try out Babelway for free for 30 days, before deciding if this is the tool for you.

What does “sending and receiving compliant e-invoices in France” actually mean?

Under the French clearance model, companies will no longer email or upload PDF invoices to customers. Instead:

1. Your ERP generates an invoice
   
2. It is sent to a permanently registered Plateforme Agréée (PA)
   
3. The PA validates, enriches and routes it
   
4. The invoice is  is submitted to the PPF and delivered to the buyer via their own permanently registered PA
5. Transaction data is reported to the tax authority (DGFiP)

This applies even if your customer is another French company you already trade with today.

The technical and regulatory complexity sits between your ERP and the government — which is exactly where Babelway operates.

Babelway: built for SMBs, or purely outbound e-invoicing

Babelway is designed for one thing: moving business documents from your systems to external networks and authorities, reliably and at scale.

For companies whose French scope is limited to sending invoices, or don’t have complex e-Invoicing workflows, Babelway acts as a powerful, lightweight PA connection layer.

With Babelway you get:

• Connection to other PAs for France
  
• Transformation of any ERP format into mandated formats
  
• Secure routing and tracking
  
• Fast deployment without changing your ERP

This is ideal if:

• You have one or two ERPs
  
• You mainly need to send invoices
  
• You do not need supplier onboarding or inbound processing
  
• You want a focused, integration-centric solution

What Babelway does not try to be

Babelway does not aim to be a full Accounts Payable or supplier collaboration platform. It is not designed to manage:

• Large-scale inbound & outbound invoice processing
  
• Supplier portals
  
• AI-based invoice coding
  
• Multi-country compliance programs

And that is deliberate. If you are ticking the above boxes you should check out our full e-Invoicing compliance and AI-powered automation platform – Tradeshift. 

Instead, for organisations that have less complex operations, lower documents volume, or need only outbound compliance in France, Babelway keeps things simple, fast, and cost-effective.

When France is just one country among many

Many companies affected by the French mandate are not purely domestic. They also operate in:

• Belgium
  
• Germany
  
• Spain
  
• Poland
  
• Romania
  
• or outside Europe

In these cases, being e-Invoicing compliant in France is only part of the picture. Companies also need:

• Multi-country clearance models
  
• Supplier onboarding
  
• AP automation
  
• Auditability across jurisdictions

This is where the Tradeshift platform comes in.

As Tradeshift-Babelway we have received the permanently registered status for our Plateforme Agréée solution in France. This means that our solution can offer two packages: lightweight outbound through Babelway, and full flow (inbound – outbound) through Tradeshift.

Tradeshift is a global e-invoicing and AP automation platform covering 70 countries. It supports both outbound and inbound flows, Peppol connectivity, supplier collaboration, and AI-driven invoice processing.

If your project looks bigger than “just sending invoices from one ERP”, Tradeshift is the right strategic choice.

You can read the full France PA and compliance overview here:

Tradeshift is Permanently Registered as a French PA, and Why February 2026 Is the Moment to Decide

Choosing the right approach for France

A simple way to think about it:

Choose Babelway if one of the below applies to your business:

• Have easy e-invoice workflows and / or a small volume 
• Only need outbound e-invoicing in France
  
• Want fast ERP connectivity
  
• Do not need inbound or AP automation

Choose Tradeshift if you one of the below applies to your business:

• Need inbound and outbound complex flows
  
• Have multiple countries in scope
  
• Want one platform for compliance and AP automation

Both are part of the same ecosystem. The difference is scope.

Start now, while the window is still open

France’s September 2026 deadline may feel distant, but for integration, testing, and customer connectivity, early 2026 is already the last comfortable phase to start.

Whether you choose Babelway for focused outbound flows or Tradeshift for a broader compliance strategy, the most important decision is not to wait.

Related Blog articles

• https://tradeshift.com/resources/compliance/france-e-invoicing-plateforme-agreee-tradeshift/
• https://www.babelway.com/resources/blog/belgium-e-invoicing-2026-smbs-peppol-babelway/ 
• https://www.babelway.com/resources/guides-ebooks/peppol-guide/
• https://www.babelway.com/resources/case-studies/yonderland-frees-employees-for-strategic-work-with-b2b-integration-platform/