French e-invoicing 2026: the guide for photographers

Since September 1, 2026, businesses established in France and subject to VAT must be able to receive electronic invoices under the French reform. This includes photographers using the VAT exemption scheme known as franchise en base. Small and micro businesses must issue the invoices concerned and transmit e-reporting data from September 1, 2027. Service Public sets out the timetable and scope and the DGFiP explains when each business is concerned.

Your immediate priority is to check that your business can actually receive invoices through an accredited platform. Preparing to issue them in 2027 is a separate step. This guide covers professional activity in France, not invoicing rules in other countries. It also shows, screen by screen, what Graindevue does.

An electronic invoice under the reform contains structured data and travels through an accredited platform, or plateforme agréée. An ordinary PDF emailed to a client is not enough: the DGFiP states that the accepted formats are UBL, CII or a mixed format combining structured data and an image. Read the DGFiP's overview. Your invoicing software can be an accredited platform itself or connect to one. Check that connection and the functions enabled in your account. The DGFiP explains the platforms' role.

Large and mid-sized businesses must issue invoices and report data from September 2026. The deadline depends on business size, not simply its legal form. If you have several activities or use a particular exemption, see the official rules.

E-reporting can also cover payment data, in particular for transactions where VAT is due on receipt of payment. It is more than sending an annual sales total. Your VAT regime and transaction types determine the required data and schedule. The DGFiP introduces both parts of e-reporting.

Yes, if you are subject to VAT under the franchise en base scheme. Not collecting VAT does not put you outside the reform. The DGFiP expressly names businesses under the franchise en base scheme. A micro-entrepreneur photographing families must, for example, be able to receive electronic invoices from suppliers since September 2026.

The private customer does not become a recipient of a domestic B2B electronic invoice. Covered sales to individuals instead fall under e-reporting according to the business's timetable. Service Public distinguishes these situations.

These examples illustrate the processes to distinguish.

A family session for an individual in France

Your customer receives the document required by the invoicing rules applicable to the service. They do not need an accredited platform account to receive a B2B electronic invoice. The sale's data falls under e-reporting if the transaction is in scope, from September 2027 for a micro business.

Staff portraits for a French business subject to VAT

For a service covered by the reform, your invoice must travel through an accredited platform from your issuing deadline. Prepare the customer's business details and verify its identification. A PDF copy may help your contact read the invoice, but it does not replace the required transmission process.

A reportage commissioned by a foreign business

Being a business customer does not, by itself, place this client in France's domestic B2B process. Check the transaction's VAT and e-reporting requirements. Do not automatically send all professional customers through the same process.

The artiste-auteur regime does not itself exclude electronic invoicing. Services and licensing revenue that you invoice directly must be assessed according to the customer and transaction.

There is a specific process for certain royalties paid by a collective management organisation. ADAGP explains that when it withholds VAT on the royalties it pays, the artist does not need to issue an electronic invoice for those royalties and ADAGP handles the corresponding e-reporting. An artist who has opted out of that VAT withholding must issue an electronic invoice from the applicable issuing deadline. Read ADAGP's explanation.

Do not confuse this VAT withholding with the précompte of social contributions. An exemption from social contribution withholding is not enough to determine your electronic invoicing obligations. Verify the tax mechanism used by the organisation paying the royalties and separately assess revenue you invoice directly.

Start with the official list, then compare the functions you need:

• receiving and processing supplier invoices;
• issuing B2B invoices and handling rejections or corrections;
• e-reporting sales and payments for your activity;
• accountant access and exports;
• document retention and retrieval arrangements;
• volume limits, included functions, prices and support.

Ask each provider which of reception, issuing and e-reporting its offer covers, and which require an option. Service Public notes that a compatible solution can only be used if it is connected to an accredited platform, and that you can change platform.

Graindevue is connected to Super PDP, an e-invoicing provider. Super PDP appears in an operator file published on the DGFiP's platforms page (checked on October 12, 2026). Check its current status on that page yourself before choosing your platform.

In Graindevue, you are the seller: every invoice is issued in your name. The recipient is the booking's client. Graindevue is neither the seller nor the recipient of these invoices.

Until the profile is complete, your clients cannot pay and you cannot open your availability for bookings. A "French e-invoicing" banner reminds you in Studio.

Invoices transmitted by Super PDP

When you have a SIRET and the client entered business billing details with an address in France, the invoice takes the e_invoice route. It is transmitted by Super PDP if your connection is "Connected", and Super PDP returns a Factur-X file, downloadable through "Official file" once the invoice is transmitted or accepted.

When booking, a business client enters its legal name, its SIRET (checked for validity), its billing address and, optionally, its VAT number. These details are copied onto the invoice.

What the connection handles

• Sending e_invoice invoices from your bookings in a structured format, and tracking their status.
• Returning the official Factur-X file for those invoices.
• Showing supplier invoices received by Super PDP for your business.
• For franchise en base invoices, Graindevue adds the statement "TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI".

Whatever the route, Graindevue numbers invoices in YYYY-NNNN format, with a reset every year, and credit notes in AVR-YYYY-NNNN format.

For a problem with a received invoice, report it on your platform, as Service Public advises: "Reject" moves the invoice to the "Rejected" section of your Graindevue list.

Reception, to do now

1. Identify your accredited platform. If software or a provider handles your reception, note the name of its platform. Check it against the DGFiP's official list.
2. Verify your business registration and routing. Check the SIREN, business details and receiving address in the electronic invoicing directory. Opening an account does not prove that registration or the connection was completed.
3. If you use Graindevue for reception, check that the connection shows "Connected" and that the "Received" tab no longer shows "Inbox not ready".
4. Locate a real supplier invoice when one arrives. Check its status, contents and availability to your accountant. If none is expected yet, use your platform's verification process without creating a fictitious transaction.
5. Assign responsibility for follow-up. Decide who will monitor notifications, resolve rejections and reconcile invoices with payments. Check your accountant's access and your export options.

The official setup guidance covers platform selection and directory registration. If reception is not operational, contact your platform now: the receiving deadline has already passed.

Issuing, to prepare before September 2027

1. Sort your customers. Distinguish individuals, French businesses and foreign customers. Check business customers' legal names, SIREN identifiers and billing addresses.
2. Complete the seller invoicing profile in Graindevue and check the legal form and VAT treatment you chose.
3. Check your SIRET in the profile; without a SIRET, no invoice goes through the e_invoice route.
4. Ask business clients to enter their business billing details when they book.
5. After a first payment from a business client, check the route, status and "Official file" in the "Issued" tab.

The invoice comes at the end of a sequence. Deposit and balance terms are decided earlier: the deposit and balance guide covers them. The contract records the agreement: see the photography contract checklist. The payment processing page shows how a payment triggers the invoice in Graindevue.

To check this flow against your own status, start a trial account and fill in the invoicing "Profile" tab. If your situation is unusual (artiste-auteur without a SIRET, foreign clients), talk it through with the founder.

Does this apply if all my clients are individuals?

Yes for reception if your business is established in France and subject to VAT, including the franchise en base scheme. Covered sales to individuals fall under e-reporting, from September 2027 for a small or micro business.

Can I still email a PDF?

An ordinary PDF does not replace the required electronic invoice for covered B2B transactions from your issuing deadline. It can remain a reading copy. Invoices to individuals follow a different process, with the applicable e-reporting obligations.

Where do I find the official file of a transmitted invoice?

In the "Issued" tab: for invoices transmitted on the e_invoice route, Super PDP returns a Factur-X file, available through "Official file" once the invoice is transmitted or accepted.

Must I change my invoicing software?

Not necessarily. Check whether it connects to an accredited platform and which functions are available for your activity. A logo or compatibility announcement does not replace checking your connection and receiving address.

When does e-reporting start?

On September 1, 2027 for a small or micro business. It covers sales to individuals and the international transactions concerned, and may include payment data depending on your VAT scheme.

How does Graindevue take the artiste-auteur status into account?

The seller invoicing profile lets you choose the artiste-auteur status and its sub-regime. Graindevue uses it to suggest the VAT treatment and to know whether a SIRET is required.

Where should I check an unusual situation?

Start with the DGFiP's guidance, then consult your tax office about mixed activities, exemptions and international transactions. The sources above were reviewed on October 12, 2026.