The reform of electronic invoicing is one of the biggest administrative changes for French businesses for several decades. It affects all businesses subject to VAT, including the legal professions such as law firms.

In addition to the regulatory obligation, this reform will transform invoicing practices, as well as the internal processes for dematerialising supplier invoices, document management and the transmission of accounting documents.

For law firms, the challenge is twofold:

• comply with new tax obligations
• modernise the administrative management of the practice

In this article, we take a look at the obligations, key dates and opportunities of the reform for law firms.

Electronic invoicing: a major transformation in business invoicing

The reform of electronic invoicing was introduced by the government to modernise VAT management and combat tax fraud.

Its main objectives are :

• automate the transmission of billing data
• simplify reporting obligations for businesses
• improve the traceability of transactions
• modernising exchanges between companies and the tax authorities

Contrary to popular belief, an electronic invoice is not simply a PDF sent by email.

A genuine electronic invoice must :

• be generated in a structured format (automatically usable data)
• transit via a tax-compliant platform
• send certain information to the tax authorities

This change therefore affects all businesses, as well as law firms when they invoice professional clients.

The legal professions affected by the reform

The reform of electronic invoicing applies to companies subject to VAT.

The legal professions, in particular :

• law firms
• legal advisory firms
• certain legal practice structures

are therefore affected when they invoice professional customers (B2B).

This means that firms will gradually have to :

• receive electronic invoices from their suppliers
• issue electronic invoices for their business customers
• transmit certain transaction data to the tax authorities

For many law firms, this means changing their billing tools and procedures.

Must go through an Approved Platform (AP)

A central element of the reform is the use of Authorised Platforms (AP).

Contrary to the initial plan, companies will not be able to send their invoices directly via the Public Billing Portal (PPF).

Invoices must go through an Approved Platform registered with the tax authorities.

These platforms perform several essential functions:

• transmission of electronic invoices between companies
• checking data conformity
• transmission of tax information to the tax authorities
• e-reporting management

Approved Platforms are therefore a key element in the reform of paperless invoicing.

Key dates for law firms

The reform is being phased in gradually to give companies time to adapt.

1 September 2026: compulsory type-approval

From this date :

• all companies will have to be able to receive electronic invoices via an Approved Platform

This includes law firms of all sizes.

1 September 2027: compulsory issue for SMEs

Small and medium-sized businesses, which include the majority of law firms, will also have to issue electronic invoices to their business customers.

In concrete terms :

• PDF invoices sent by email will no longer be sufficient
• invoices must be sent via an Approved Platform

Specific challenges for law firms

The diversity of billing types

Law firms often charge :

• of companies
• individuals
• public institutions

Depending on the case, the operations are either :

• electronic invoicing (B2B)
• e-reporting (B2C or international)

This diversity makes invoicing management more complex and requires appropriate tools.

The dematerialisation of supplier invoices: a challenge often underestimated

When we talk about the reform of electronic invoicing, we often think only of invoices sent to customers.

But for law firms, another major challenge is the dematerialisation of supplier invoices.

A firm receives many invoices:

• IT service providers
• software subscriptions
• administrative services
• legal service providers
• overheads

In many practices, these invoices are still processed very manually:

• receipt by email
• storage in folders
• transmission to the accounting firm
• internal validation

This operation can lead to :

• a waste of administrative time
• a lack of visibility on expenditure
• data entry errors
• inefficient document organisation

The reform is therefore an opportunity to improve the dematerialisation of supplier invoices.

Automating invoice management in a law firm

To anticipate the reform, firms can put in place solutions to automate the dematerialisation of invoices.

A modern tool makes it possible to :

• Automatically collect electronic and dematerialised invoices (email, deposit, connectors)
• automatically extract key data
• organising accounting documents
• set up validation workflows
• send the documents to the chartered accountant

Solutions such as Azopio make it possible to simplify the management and dematerialisation of supplier invoices in law firms.

These tools make it easier to :

• centralisation of invoices
• automated accounting entry
• traceability of validations
• preparing for the reform of electronic invoicing

Set up expense validation workflows

In firms with several partners or teams, validating expenses can quickly become complex.

Supplier invoice dematerialisation solutions allow you to implement simple rules such as :

• invoice between €300 and €1,000 → validation by a manager
• invoice > €1000 → approval by a partner

These workflows offer a number of advantages:

• better internal control
• traceability of decisions
• reducing administrative errors
• saves time for teams

Better collaboration with your chartered accountant

The dematerialisation of supplier invoices also improves collaboration with the firm’s chartered accountant.

Documents can be :

• centralised on a single platform
• automatically sorted
• sent directly to the accounting firm

This allows :

• avoid sending documents by email
• reduce data entry errors
• improve the quality of accounting data

Anticipating the reform of electronic invoicing now

Even though certain obligations will come into force in 2026 and 2027, it is strongly recommended to anticipate the reform now.

Implementing dematerialization tools for invoices makes it possible to :

• get teams used to new processes
• structure document management
• simplify the administrative management of the practice

This will also allow you to prepare for the transition to compulsory electronic invoicing with greater peace of mind.

Conclusion

The reform of electronic invoicing will radically transform the administrative management practices of companies, including law firms.

For the legal professions, this development implies :

• adopting an Approved Platform
• adapting billing tools
• the modernisation of electronic supplier invoicing

Firms that anticipate this transformation now will not only be able to comply with the regulations, but will also be able to improve their internal organisation.

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