How to invoice in France with Cord

In France Cord issues a commercial invoice in French with the mentions the e-invoicing reform requires (transaction category, client SIREN, option to pay VAT on debits, delivery address) and delivers it as Factur-X. Issuing through an approved platform (PA), e-reporting and payment reporting are built, but being turned on: today Cord does not transmit anything to the administration. If you need to issue through the platform from Cord, write to us to enable it on your account.

In short:

• Document: invoice and commercial credit note, on every plan (10 per month on Free, unlimited from Starter). By default each invoice email carries the Factur-X PDF (the PDF with the XML inside).
• Being turned on: issuing through an approved platform, e-reporting and payment reporting. Under Settings › Invoicing › Tax profile › E-invoicing in France it reads Coming soon.
• Reform calendar: since 1 September 2026 every business established in France must be able to receive e-invoices, and large companies and mid-caps (ETI) also issue and report. SMEs and micro-businesses issue and report from 1 September 2027.
• Cord only issues: it does not receive your suppliers’ invoices. You need your own reception platform.
• What you need: your SIREN (or your VAT number, which contains it), your VAT regime, whether you opted to pay VAT on debits and the type of each product (goods or service).
• Collect: card, SEPA transfer with a reference to each client’s own French IBAN and SEPA Direct Debit in EUR, and automatic payments from the client portal (bank transfer, direct debit and automatic payments are new and being rolled out: they may not be available on your account yet).

Which document Cord issues

The reform mentions

All your French invoices already carry them, with or without the platform:

• Transaction category (goods, services or mixed), taken from each product’s Type of sale (product, service or subscription) and, for items typed by hand, from Lines without a catalog product in Settings. Without it, the invoice cannot be transmitted.
• Option to pay VAT on debits, if you have it: the invoice prints “Option pour le paiement de la taxe d’après les débits”.
• Client SIREN and their electronic address in the directory.
• Delivery address, if it differs from the client’s and it is not services only: the Delivery address (optional) field in the invoice editor.
• The business-to-business terms: late payment penalties, the fixed 40 EUR recovery cost indemnity and no discount for early payment; and, if you apply the franchise, the art. 293 B CGI notice.

What you need

• Your business SIREN or your intra-community VAT number, which contains it.
• Your VAT regime: monthly standard, quarterly standard or simplified (the franchise is taken from the franchise switch).
• A reception platform for the invoices you receive: Cord does not receive them.
• Once issuing is turned on, verifying your identity and signing the mandate with the approved platform Cord issues through.

Set up your account

1. Under Settings › Invoicing › Tax profile › Invoice identity, enter Legal name, SIREN / N° TVA, address and your Invoice prefix. If you apply the franchise, turn on VAT small-business exemption (art. 293 B du CGI).
2. Under E-invoicing in France, choose your VAT regime, set Lines without a catalog product (goods or services) and, if it applies, turn on I opted to pay VAT on debits. These details feed the mentions even while the platform is off.
3. In Products, check each one’s Type of sale: a product is a supply of goods; a service, subscription or license is a supply of services.
4. Under European e-invoicing, complete contact, electronic address and what to attach to the email.
5. Once the platform is active: Register with the platform and, on its page, verify your identity and sign the mandate.

How you see the status

Today, the invoice detail shows its business status and, in the E-invoicing platform panel, how the reform treats it (between French businesses, with a foreign business or to a consumer) and whether it already has what it requires or what is missing. With the platform active, the same panel shows the submission, each status with its date and reason (200 to 213) and the payments reported. Settings shows the queue (queued, without confirmation, reports past their deadline) and what needs attention.

Collect

• Card from the invoice link, through Cord Payments.
• SEPA bank transfer with a reference in EUR, if you turn on Automatic SEPA transfer under Settings › Payments › Payment methods: your client transfers to a French IBAN of their own, the same for all their invoices, with each payment’s reference in the transfer details, and Cord records the payment on its own. They must enter the account holder exactly as shown: if it doesn’t match, their bank may hold the transfer. Without a reference, the money goes to that client’s open payment with the exact amount; anything that doesn’t match a payment stays in their favor and, if nobody applies it, the payment processor tries to return it after 75 days. It is offered on the invoice link and on the quote’s payment page, when the document has a linked client. See Bank transfer with a reference in the documentation.
• SEPA Direct Debit in EUR, if you turn it on under Settings › Payments › Payment methods: your client authorizes the debit from their account on the invoice link or in their portal. It takes up to 6 business days to confirm and the account holder can ask for a refund for 8 weeks. See Bank debit.
• Client portal to pay several invoices at once, and automatic payments on the due date. See Client portal and Automatic payments.
• Cord charges no fee of its own per transaction outside Mexican pesos.

Bank transfer with a reference, SEPA Direct Debit and automatic payments are new and may not be enabled on your account yet. If you don’t see them, write to us.

Void or correct

• Void: More actions › Void, only if the invoice has no payments. An invoice already transmitted through the platform is not voided there: it is corrected with a credit note.
• Credit note: More actions › Credit note, which cites the original invoice and its date.
• Invoice rejected by the client (210) or by a platform (213): an accounting cancellation without a flow is recorded and a new invoice with the right data is issued. Nothing corrects itself.

Common issues

• “Cannot be transmitted yet”. Something the reform requires is missing: SIREN, the transaction category of an item, a valid French rate or an invoice number with allowed characters. The panel lists it.
• I do not receive supplier invoices in Cord. That is on purpose: Cord only issues. Keep your reception platform.
• The invoice has services and goods. It is a mixed transaction and is reported as such; each item takes the category of its type.

Not covered yet

• Issuing through the platform, e-reporting and payment reporting: being turned on.
• Receiving supplier invoices.
• Correcting data already reported in e-reporting from Cord.
• Not issued through the platform: self-billing, multi-vendor, advances or the margin scheme.

Related

• European e-invoicing
• Bank debit
• Bank transfer with a reference in the documentation
• European e-invoicing in the documentation