Invoice format in France: Facture rules

France invoice facts

What a France facture must show

14 fields, from the sources listed below.

• Date of issue and unique sequential number
• Seller name, address and SIREN or SIRET
• Legal form and share capital for companies
• Seller intra-EU VAT number (Numéro de TVA intracommunautaire, e.g. FR12345678901)
• Customer name and billing address
• Customer VAT number for intra-EU business supplies (Numéro de TVA intracommunautaire, e.g. FR12345678901)
• Date of sale or service
• Quantity, precise description and unit price excluding tax
• Any discount or rebate agreed
• VAT rate and amount per rate (20%, 10%, 5.5% or 2.1%)
• Total excluding tax and total including tax, in EUR
• Payment due date and early-payment discount terms
• Late-payment penalty rate (20%, 10%, 5.5% or 2.1%)
• €40 fixed recovery fee for business customers

Sample facture in EUR

The tool above uses these lines. Illustrative amounts in EUR, not market prices.

Worked TVA example in EUR

A net amount of 1 000,00 € at each TVA rate of France: the tax is the net amount times the rate, rounded to the currency's smallest unit.

Number, date and currency format (fr-FR)

How fr-FR writes amounts and dates, computed with the browser's Intl API; the invoice tool uses the same formatting.

France invoicing rules

• Every business-to-business facture must state the late-payment penalty rate and the €40 indemnité forfaitaire pour frais de recouvrement owed by a late-paying professional customer.
• Micro-entrepreneurs under the franchise en base print "TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI" instead of charging TVA.
• Invoice numbers follow one continuous chronological series without gaps, and a mistaken facture is cancelled with a facture d'avoir rather than deleted.
• With the e-invoicing reform, invoices also carry the customer's SIREN, the delivery address when it differs, whether the operation is goods, services or both, and the mention "option pour le paiement de la taxe d'après les débits" where that option was taken.
• The facture must be written in French; a translation can accompany it but the French version is the reference for the tax authorities.
• Keep invoices for ten years under the Code de commerce, which outlasts the six-year tax inspection window.

E-invoicing, simplified invoices and record keeping

How to make a facture for France

1. 1

   Set currency and format

   Choose EUR and the fr-FR format so amounts read like 1 234,50 €.

2. 2

   Title and number

   Title the document "Facture" and number it in sequence, for example FR-2026-0054.

3. 3

   Your tax ID

   Enter your Numéro de TVA intracommunautaire (format FR12345678901) in the seller details.

4. 4

   Add TVA

   Add TVA at 20%, or a reduced rate where the goods or services qualify.

5. 5

   Check and download

   Check the 14 required fields above, then download the PDF.

Sources

General information, not tax advice; checked October 2026. Rules change: confirm with the tax authority or an accountant before relying on them.