What is Factur-X? A guide for UK suppliers

FNFE-MPE, the French forum that publishes the format with Germany's FeRD, describes it as "a Franco-German standard for hybrid e-invoice (PDF for users and XML data for process automation)". For a UK supplier selling into France, that hybrid shape is the point. Your customer's people can read the invoice, and its system can load the data without anyone retyping it.

What is Factur-X?

Factur-X is an invoice format, not a platform or a network. FNFE-MPE calls it "the first implementation of the European Semantic Standard EN 16931 published by the European Commission on October 16th 2017."

EN 16931 is the European standard that, in the European Commission's words, "defines a common format and data model for electronic invoices". Factur-X is one way of carrying that data model.

Transalis's France and Belgium mandate page puts the French formats side by side: Factur-X is "a PDF with structured XML inside it", while UBL and CII "are pure XML". All three align to EN 16931.

What is inside a Factur-X file?

Two layers, in one file. FNFE-MPE describes Factur-X as "at the same time a full readable invoice in a PDF A/3 format" and a set of invoice data in "an XML structured file conformant to EN16931 (syntax CII D22B)".

FNFE-MPE says the format leaves customers "free to use the invoice data and / or the readable presentation, depending on their needs and their invoice process maturity on automation." A customer that still checks invoices by hand reads the PDF. One that processes invoices automatically loads the data. You send the same file to both.

It is also why, in FNFE-MPE's words, the format "is very popular amongst small and medium sized businesses".

Is a Factur-X invoice just a PDF?

No. It is a PDF, but the invoice data travels as XML inside it, and the XML is what a system reads. A plain PDF is not an eInvoice in France or in Belgium.

The DGFiP, France's tax authority, says it in its eInvoicing FAQ: "Ce n’est donc pas un PDF envoyé par e-mail." In English: so it is not a PDF sent by email. The same FAQ says an electronic invoice carries 34 data items that must be sent in structured form. Belgium's federal eInvoicing site says the same of a PDF sent by email.

Transalis's guide to eInvoicing gives the reason: "A PDF attached to an email is not an eInvoice, however tidy it looks, because the buyer's software cannot read it without help."

Factur-X solves that from inside the file. Strip the XML out and you are back in the PDF trap.

What are the Factur-X profiles?

A profile sets how much invoice data the XML carries. FNFE-MPE lists five, from smallest to largest:

1. MINIMUM, "corresponding to the minimum invoice information required on CHORUSPRO".
2. BASIC WL, the document-level invoice information that buyers most often need or find useful for automation.
3. BASIC, which adds the core line information to BASIC WL.
4. EN16931, "corresponding to all the invoice information present in the European Norm EN16931".
5. EXTENDED, the EN16931 profile "with some additional invoice data".

The specification also allows country reference profiles, including "EXTENDED-CTC-FR for France, which is a subset of EXTENDED profile."

Agree the profile with your French customer before the first invoice goes.

Is Factur-X the same as ZUGFeRD?

Yes. FNFE-MPE states it directly: "Technically, both Factur-X and ZUGFeRD are identical." Factur-X is the name used in France. ZUGFeRD is the name used in Germany, and FeRD, the German forum for electronic invoicing, publishes the specification with FNFE-MPE. For Germany, FNFE-MPE names XRECHNUNG as a reference profile.

Transalis's guide to Germany's eInvoicing legislation describes ZUGFeRD as "a hybrid format embedding a CII dataset inside a PDF/A-3 file, widely used in Germany", and it covers Germany's own dates too.

How does Factur-X fit France's eInvoicing reform?

France's reform is live. The DGFiP's reform page refers to "la réforme effective depuis le 1er septembre": the reform in effect since 1 September 2026.

The DGFiP's FAQ sets out the phasing. Since 1 September 2026, every business in France, whatever its size, must be able to receive electronic invoices. Large companies, intermediate-sized companies (ETI) and public administrations issue them now. Medium, small and micro businesses follow by 1 September 2027 at the latest.

Factur-X sits on the receiving side of that rule. FNFE-MPE: "Factur-X is one of the three mandatory formats for receipt in France". The other two are UBL and CII. FNFE-MPE adds that this base set is mandatory in reception for every company and every approved platform, so a Factur-X is a format your French customer's platform has to accept.

Invoices do not go to one central government inbox. The DGFiP's FAQ says "Les factures sont échangées entre les plateformes agréées choisies par les entreprises": invoices are exchanged between the approved platforms that businesses choose. An approved platform (plateforme agréée) is, in the DGFiP's words, "un opérateur de dématérialisation immatriculé par l'État", an operator registered by the State.

Factur-X is the shape of the invoice. The approved platform is how it travels. The France and Belgium mandate page keeps the full timeline in one place.

Do UK suppliers need to send Factur-X?

Not as a legal duty, if you have no permanent establishment in France. The DGFiP's page for foreign companies says that "e-invoicing (receiving and issuing e-invoices) does not apply to foreign companies that do not have a permanent establishment in France within the meaning of VAT."

E-reporting is a separate question. The same page says "there are e-reporting requirements concerning transaction data and, in some cases, payment data, from foreign companies not established in France" where they are liable for French VAT on transactions that take place in France. Where the French customer accounts for the VAT under the reverse charge, the page puts the e-reporting requirement on the buyer. Your VAT adviser can confirm which applies to your sales. A UK company with a permanent establishment in France should check its own position.

So the reason to care is commercial. Your French customers now receive invoices through approved platforms, and every one of those platforms must accept Factur-X. An invoice that arrives as data goes straight into your customer's system.

Public buyers are a separate route, through Chorus Pro. The DGFiP says public administrations already receive invoices in formats close to those the reform requires: Factur-X, UBL and CII. The Chorus Pro guide explains that "Factur-X, a PDF/A-3 that carries structured XML, is filed through the same process as XML", and gives this advice to suppliers who sell to both sectors: "A structured format is the safer choice if you also trade with French businesses."

Does Factur-X work in Belgium?

Belgian B2B invoices go over the Peppol network. Belgium's federal eInvoicing site: "Since 1 January 2026, all Belgian enterprises liable to VAT will have to use structured electronic invoices in their transactions with each other." And: "Structured electronic invoices will be sent via a decentralised network called Peppol."

The European Commission's Belgium page names the format: Belgium uses "a predefined format called Peppol BIS BILLING 3.0", which follows EN 16931. The DGFiP draws the contrast in its own FAQ. In Belgium, the Peppol network "est le canal officiel pour la transmission et la réception de factures alors qu’il est facultatif en France": the official channel there, optional in France. The Commission's page also sets the scope: excluded suppliers include "foreign entities solely registered for VAT in Belgium".

If you sell into both countries, your customers receive invoices through two different routes: approved platforms in France, the Peppol network in Belgium. The Peppol guide explains how the network works.

Where does Transalis fit?

Transalis is a managed outcomes provider for B2B integration, EDI and eInvoicing. Its France and Belgium mandate page sets out what it offers in both countries.

• Registered in France. "Transalis Limited appears on the French register of approved eInvoicing platforms held by the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP)". The DGFiP's register shows a registration number issued on 19 January 2026.
• Peppol for Belgium. "Transalis is an authorised Peppol Access Point using AS4. That is the default channel for Belgium's mandate, and the model the UK plans to adopt from 2029."
• Run for you. "Mapping, testing, partner onboarding and day-to-day monitoring are handled by Transalis."
• Every status visible. The Transalis eInvoiceTrack page puts it this way: "See every eInvoice the moment it moves: validated, sent, delivered, received, accepted."

The page sums the offer up as "One connection, run for you, covering both mandates and the UK date that follows."

Book a 30-minute call with a Transalis eInvoicing specialist to walk through eInvoicing for your customers in France and Belgium.