The reform of electronic invoicing, an opportunity to think internationally – Daf-Mag.fr The reform of electronic invoicing, an opportunity to think international

The invoice is still too often treated as an administrative subject. However, it directly affects the productivity of teams, the quality of management and the fluidity of financial flows. The initial picture is not bright: a majority of companies have not yet seriously considered the subject. When it becomes a priority, many will find themselves with a double handicap: no method, no preparation.

The patchwork of solutions, a time bomb

The pattern is almost always the same. A company opens a market, adds a local bank, a payment provider, an expense management tool. This helps in the short term. In the medium term, when countries accumulate, it is unmanageable. Finance teams spend their time reconciling, reprocessing, reconstructing an overview that does not exist anywhere in one place. Costs are increasing: bank fees, exchange fees, duplication of tools. On 8 million euros of transactions, moving from a bank conversion rate of 2% to a solution of 0.5% represents around 100,000 euros of annual savings. Productivity gains linked to centralization reach on average 6% for the teams concerned.

What Compliance Doesn’t Solve

INSEE points out: 8.6% of French companies have an activity with an international dimension, and around 200,000 are exporters. But even those who think of themselves as purely domestic face foreign customers, overseas suppliers and foreign currency flows. The real question is therefore not “am I compliant in France?” but “can my processes absorb international complexity without losing control?” Being proactive means having reliable data and building scenarios upstream. Being reactive means reconstructing information country by country, after the fact.

Behind the French reform, a global wave

The French reform is part of a dynamic that goes far beyond our borders. In Europe, the ViDA directive (VAT in the Digital Age) is looming by 2030. In Asia, several markets are moving towards structured electronic invoicing frameworks. Everywhere, States are seeking greater traceability and automation in VAT and invoicing. French scale-ups have understood this: they think internationally from the start, without waiting to have a problem to solve. Alexandre Huin’s advice is direct: don’t wait until you are international to structure the subject. The real risk is not to do it too early. It’s about doing it too late.

Discover Alexandre Huin’s intervention during the DAF Morning on May 28, 2026: