How SMBs can Send and Receive Compliant E-Invoices in France with Babelway

Tradeshift – Babelway is a permanent registered PA (“PA immatriculatée définitive”) in France

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. Then starting September 2027 all businesses in France will have to comply with this mandate regardless of their size.

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.

Spoiler alert: if you are already a Babelway customer, you are in luck. You can continue to use Babelway as your Plateforme Agréée. 

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

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

For companies who don’t have complex e-Invoicing workflows in France, 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 do not need supplier onboarding 
  
• 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 invoice processing
  
• Supplier portals
  
• AI-based invoice coding
  
• Accounts Payable reporting and analytics

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 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
  
• AI-powered AP automation
  
• Agentic AI analytics and audit

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: Babelway for small and medium businesses, and Tradeshift for enterprise businesses.

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:

France’s E-Invoicing Mandate in 2026: Why Multinational Companies Are Choosing Tradeshift as Their Plateforme Agréée (PA)

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 
  
• Want fast ERP connectivity
  
• Want a self-service set-up

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

• You have enterprise-level volume of invoices with complex flows 
  
• Have 20+ countries in scope
  
• Want one platform for both e-Invoicing compliance and AI-powered AP automation

Start now, while the window is still open

For small and medium businesses, France’s September 2027 deadline may feel distant, but for integration, testing, and customer connectivity, it’s best to start early. 

Start a discussion with one of our representatives. 

If you are already a Babelway customer, things are even easier. You can continue to use Babelway as your Plateforme Agréée (PA) in France. Just get in touch with your Babelway representative and they will walk you through the process.

Related Blog articles

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