2023-07-31 05:00:00
Initiated in 2017 by the French government, the transition to electronic invoicing has begun, in France as in the whole of the European Union, by the public sector.
From July 1, 2024, VSEs and SMEs will have to be able to receive electronic invoices and issue them in this format before 2026. The ambition of this project is multiple: simplify the life of companies, reduce payment times, fight once morest VAT fraud, limit the carbon footprint, increase security. As such, dematerialization, which will become essential for all financial transactions, is an opportunity both financially and ecologically.
For many companies, whatever their size, their resources or their workforce, the dematerialization of invoices represents a considerable adaptation. To be optimized, this process must be anticipated. The best approach, in a sense, is to take the time to go fast.
6 lessons from the dematerialization of invoices
Lesson 1 – Who might have guessed thirty years ago that it would be possible to watch a film while waiting for the bus? The same logic can easily be applied to the accessibility of accounting documents. In an appointment with a supplier, checking a price previously invoiced, a delivery cost, an annual volume of invoicing, is now possible thanks to digital tools and cloud storage solutions.
Lesson 2 – The challenge of electronic invoicing is also that of the ecological transition. History at a glance: 2017 is not only the year in which the invoice dematerialization process is initiated, but also the second hottest year in history. According to a study published in 2020, 2.5 billion invoices are issued each year in France. The vast majority of these documents are still published in paper format. However, the production of one kg of paper is equivalent, according to ADEME, to 0.919 kg of CO2.
Lesson 3 – Increasing the traceability of financial flows makes it possible to improve fraud detection and real-time knowledge of business activity at the national level. Although it is difficult to assess, VAT fraud figures prominently among State budgetary shortfalls (the estimate is around 20 to 25 billion euros per year).
Lesson 4 – Optimized security: less risk of error. The transition to electronic invoicing is an opportunity because it is an opportunity to adapt accounting language. All the data is thus the subject of a nomenclature which, once it is computerized, is kept, automated when it can be, making its filling, processing and even analysis more easy.
Lesson 5 – Careful and virtuous accounting which also manifests itself in the relationship with third parties. Who has never heard of dubious justifications such as “The invoice arrived at the wrong department”, “The check left by post this morning”? Generating dissatisfaction, mistrust (even mistrust) in human relations, payment defaults can also have significant and unfortunate legal consequences. With electronic invoicing, information is stored and accessible to all stakeholders, and financial flows are all subject to the same traceability obligation.
Lesson 6 – Managing your billing better means better managing your time and resources. It is also to ensure an objective and measured vision, to optimize its financial and commercial strategy. Accounting is an essential function of the company, because it is at the heart of all activities. Improving processes is therefore a virtue for the whole company. The computerized search is faster, the conservation of invoices – compulsory in France for a legal period of 10 years – undoubtedly less voluminous.
Calendar of electronic invoicing obligations
From July 1, 2024, in reception, to all taxable persons,
From July 1, 2024, in transmission, to large companies,
From January 1, 2025 to medium-sized companies,
From 1 January 2026 to small and medium-sized enterprises and microenterprises.
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