B2B, B2C, international, marketplaces: The electronic invoicing reform does not apply equally to all e-commerce workflows. During this webinar, Hugues Payen and Rayane broke down the new requirements and the key areas to address when preparing your invoicing process. Here are the key takeaways; you can find the full analysis in the recording of our 2026 electronic invoicing webinar.
Electronic invoicing will enter a new phase effective September 1, 2026. For e-commerce businesses, this isn’t simply a matter of replacing a PDF with a new format: a single company may sell in B2B, B2C, in France, internationally, or through marketplaces, with different requirements for each sales channel.
- How Electronic Invoicing Is Changing Things for E-Commerce Businesses
- How to Prepare Your Invoicing Workflow Before the Reform
- Preparing for the reform without rebuilding your entire tech stack
To clarify these situations, Shippingbo hosted a webinar on the reform and its operational implications for e-commerce merchants. Alongside Rayane, Product Manager at Shippingbo, Hugues Payenof Haas Avocats discussed the regulatory framework before translating these obligations into a concrete action plan for merchants.
The deadline is fast approaching. Starting September 1, 2026, all businesses must be able to receive electronic invoices. Large companies and mid-sized businesses will also be required to issue electronic invoices and submit their e-reporting data. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and micro-enterprises will have until September 1, 2027, to begin issuing electronic invoices.
How Electronic Invoicing Is Changing Things for E-Commerce Businesses
The reform has several objectives: to improve the traceability of transactions, reduce VAT fraud, and standardize the exchange of invoices. But for an e-commerce merchant, the primary challenge lies in accurately identifying the nature of each sale.
Not all orders follow the same process. It is this segmentation of workflows that then determines what data to transmit and how to transmit it.
E-invoicing or e-reporting: identifying the correct flow
E-invoicing primarily applies to domestic transactions between businesses subject to VAT. The electronic invoice must adhere to a structured format and be transmitted via an approved platform.
For a merchant, a B2B sale between two French companies no longer simply follows the traditional process: generating a PDF, sending it by email, and archiving it.
Conversely, B2C sales and certain transactions conducted with foreign entities fall under the scope of e-reporting. This does not involve sending the consumer a B2B electronic invoice, but rather transmitting transaction data—and, depending on the circumstances, payment data—to the tax authorities.
This table shows why the reform cannot be treated merely as a change in invoice format. For an e-commerce business, the main challenge is first and foremost to correctly classify each order so that it is routed to the appropriate regulatory workflow. This is particularly important when B2B, B2C, international, and marketplace transactions coexist within the same business.
Marketplaces: Who Is Actually Responsible for Invoicing?
Marketplaces introduce another variable. Their legal and commercial roles can alter the responsibilities associated with invoicing.
In a traditional matchmaking model, the merchant remains the seller of the product in its own name. It therefore retains its invoicing obligations.
In other scenarios, the marketplace may issue the invoice in the seller’s name and on the seller’s behalf. It may also be involved in a buy-and-resell model. In this case, the allocation of obligations changes.
The right approach, therefore, is not to treat all marketplace orders the same way. You need to determine, on a channel-by-channel basis, who sells, who invoices, and who transmits the data.
This is particularly important when a company uses its e-commerce site, multiple marketplaces, and B2B data feeds from an ERP system simultaneously.
How to Prepare Your Invoicing Workflow Before the Reform
The reform introduces a new player into the invoicing ecosystem: the certified platform. This platform is registered with the tax authorities and is responsible, among other things, for transmitting electronic invoices as well as transaction and payment data.
But choosing an accredited platform isn’t the end of the story. As Rayane pointed out during the webinar, a platform can only correctly transmit data that is itself reliable and structured.
Compliance therefore begins long before the platform comes into play.
Ensure data reliability before considering transmission
Today, an e-commerce invoicing workflow can start on Shopify, PrestaShop, or a marketplace, pass through an OMS, an ERP, or invoicing software, and then end up in accounting.
The reform requires us to examine this workflow from start to finish.
Incorrect data at the input stage remains incorrect at the output stage. An incorrect VAT rate, a misclassified transaction, or a B2B order identified as B2C can cause the invoice to be routed to the wrong processing channel.
The priority, therefore, is to verify three elements: the quality of the data reported by the sales channels, the compliance of the billing module, and the ability to automatically categorize each transaction.
That is also the role that a OMS can play in this architecture. By centralizing commands from the various channels, it becomes possible to apply specific rules to them before routing the data to the correct billing stream.
At Shippingbo, this approach involves, for example, identifying a B2B order based on information such as the company name, VAT number, or SIRET number, using rules that can be tailored to each merchant’s specific needs.
Three Questions to Address Before September 1
The webinar concludes with a deliberately simple action plan. Before attempting to rebuild their entire tech stack, an e-commerce merchant must be able to answer three questions:
- 1. Do I really have control over my business flows? You need to know where orders come from, who the customer is, who issues the invoice, and what requirements apply to each transaction.
- 2. What is the deadline that applies to me? All businesses must be able to receive electronic invoices as of September 1, 2026. For issuing invoices, the deadline depends on the size of the business.
- 3. Are my tools and data ready? You need to verify the flow of data between sales channels, the OMS, the ERP, the invoicing solution, and the approved platform.
This last question is often the most critical. A merchant may have a compliant tool on its own, but still have gaps in data flows or manual re-entry processes that undermine the entire system.
Preparing for the reform without rebuilding the entire tech stack
Electronic invoicing for e-commerce is therefore not just an accounting project. For merchants who operate in B2B, B2C, international markets, and marketplaces, it’s also a matter of data quality and workflow architecture.
The goal is not necessarily to replace existing tools. Rather, it is to clearly define each one’s role: the sales channels generate sales, the OMS centralizes and validates orders, the billing module produces compliant data, and then the certified platform ensures that the data is transmitted to the correct recipient or to the government agency.
Shippingbo is updating its Invoice module in line with this approach, with a connection to an approved partner platform and rules designed to route transactions to the correct workflow. The receipt of supplier invoices, however, remains a separate process.
The webinar delves deeper into these specific scenarios, including marketplaces, credit notes and invoice adjustments, supplier purchases, the use of multiple approved platforms, and the unique aspects of B2C e-reporting.
Want to find out what the reform actually changes in your organization? Watch the full recording of the webinar and see Hugues Payen and Rayane’s detailed responses to the challenges faced by e-commerce businesses:
FAQ
All companies based in France and subject to VAT are affected by the reform, but the requirements vary depending on the type of transaction. Specifically, B2B sales in France fall under e-invoicing, while B2C sales and certain international transactions fall under e-reporting.
E-invoicing refers to the issuance and receipt of structured electronic invoices for eligible domestic B2B transactions. E-reporting involves submitting certain transaction and payment data to the tax authorities for transactions not covered by e-invoicing, particularly in B2C and certain international transactions.
Not always. It all depends on the marketplace’s role. If it acts solely as an intermediary, the seller is generally still responsible for invoicing. If it invoices in the merchant’s name and on their behalf, or operates under a buy-and-resell model, the responsibilities may differ. It’s therefore important to check how each marketplace you use operates.
The first step is to accurately map out your business flows: B2B in France, international B2B, B2C, and marketplaces. Next, verify the quality of the data flowing between sales channels, the OMS, the ERP, and the invoicing module, then ensure that this data can be correctly transmitted to an approved platform.
Glossary
E-invoicing
An electronic invoicing process applicable, in particular, to relevant domestic B2B transactions. The invoice is transmitted in a structured format via approved platforms.
E-reporting
Submission of certain transaction and payment data to the tax authorities for transactions not covered by e-invoicing.
Approved Platform
A platform registered with the tax authority that is responsible for transmitting electronic invoices or transaction data to the appropriate recipients and to the tax authority.
Peppol
A network and standard used to facilitate the standardized exchange of electronic documents—particularly invoices—between businesses across Europe.