Dear CFO (Chief Financial Officer), a few months ago, lawmakers decided to give economic players more time (1) to prepare for the transition to electronic invoicing. You are thekey players affected by this challenge... According to the recent study " The State of Automation in Finance " (2),60% of you arelooking for a technological solution that complies with the reform, and among you, 27% are considering subscribing to a partner dematerialization platform (PDP), while 7% say they prefer to use the public invoicing portal (PPF). A PDP not only facilitates this transition, it optimizes it. Imagine tailor-made support, guaranteed compliance, and considerable time savings. Let us show you why a PDP is not just an option, but a reliable and indispensable partner for your business!
1. Why choose a PDP when you are a CFO?
A PDP is a service that facilitates the digitization of invoices, both sent and received. It advises on best practices and ensures compliance with key deadlines, making the transition to compliance easier and less time-consuming. The PDP ensures that all invoice formats comply with the requirements of the Public Invoicing Portal, thus guaranteeing that your company remains compliant and protected against potential penalties. In addition, it takes care of e-reporting obligations, relieving CFOs of a considerable administrative burden.
We see three crucial points that make a PDP an ideal partner in the context of electronic invoicing reform:
- A digitalization expert to support you: PDP acts as a strategic partner for CFOs, offering personalized support for invoice digitization. It provides expert advice on best practices and reminds you of important deadlines to ensure a smooth transition.
- Compliance: By aligning billing formats with Public Portal standards, PDP ensures compliance and protects the company from penalties.
- Task automation: Electronic reporting obligations are efficiently managed by PDP, freeing CFOs from complex and time-consuming administrative tasks and allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives. Tax digitization is no longer seen as a daunting and complex task.
2. Why choose a PDP rather than the PPF?
If more and more companies are considering using the services of a PDP to digitize their invoices as part of the electronic invoicing reform, there is a good reason for this. And thefirst argument put forward, quite rightly, is the guarantee of compliance that a Partner Digitization Platform provides.
Why? PDP operators approved by the government must meet strict specifications, thereby ensuring the highest level of compliance and security for companies in the electronic invoicing process. In other words, the government awards a label of excellence to operators capable of ensuring full compliance with local and European regulations on electronic invoicing. State certification guarantees that the PDP complies with the security, confidentiality, and compliance standards required to process electronic invoices. For CFOs who are subject to increasingly numerous and restrictive compliance requirements, this provides the assurance of being able to rely on operators with an unmatched level of compliance and security.
It should be noted that one of the prerequisites for PDP certification is that candidates must be ISO 27001 certified and therefore host their services on a sovereign cloud (SecNumCloud). ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized information security standard that guarantees that the company has implemented a sustainable information security management system and is committed to continuously improving it. Accreditation is valid for three years, and the company is audited annually. This requires significant effort, as obtaining ISO 27001 certification involves the entire organization of a company in terms of HR, legal, and contractual aspects.
Developed by ANSSI (the French National Cybersecurity Agency), the SecNumCloud standard is a security label awarded to cloud service providers that meet specific requirements in terms of security, independence from extraterritorial legislation, and resilience. And here again, obtaining it requires a significant internal investment with extensive work on process documentation and network segmentation.
3. Other major services provided by a PDP
In addition to ensuring the highest level of compliance and security, PDPs provide their users with other key services:
- PDPs will be able to receive and send invoices to companies that are not subject to VAT, such as independent professionals, property managers, holding companies, associations that are not subject to VAT, etc.
- PDPs will facilitate the management of international flows by listing companies in a public, global directory. In practical terms, French companies will be able to receive invoices from foreign companies via the PEPPOL international network. Naturally, PDPs should be able to transmit international flows in the near future thanks to the VIDA Directive ("VAT in the digital age"). This Directive will strongly influence and drive the gradual spread of e-invoicing at European and global level.
- In the near future, PDPs will be able to manage the digitization of other document flows, such as delivery notes, purchase orders, etc.
- PDPs will facilitate the management of companies that already exchange electronic documents such as invoices or purchase orders in EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) format. The PDP will be responsible for converting the proprietary flow for sending to the administration.
👉 Please note: since this article was written, on October 15, 2024, the government announced a significant reduction in the scope of the PPF (Public Invoicing Portal). This public platform, initially designed to issue, receive, and manage electronic invoices for businesses, will now focus solely on two functions: the business directory and the tax data hub for e-reporting. As a result,all companies will now have to turn to a Partner Dematerialization Platform (PDP) to exchange their invoices and report VAT.
By integrating Partner Dematerialization Platforms (PDPs) into the electronic invoicing process, companies improve their document management and enable CFOs to save considerable time. Above all, it also guarantees that they will be supported by state-certified operators who ensure the highest levels of safety, compliance, and reliability. as part of the implementation of electronic invoicing reform. Think about it: a PDP makes it easier to identify reliable partners who honor their payment commitments, thanks to automated processes. The French Public Finance Directorate (DGFiP) supports the adoption of these approved private systems, giving companies the freedom to select their suppliers while ensuring efficient management of various invoice formats. In short, these platforms are the preferred solution for advanced document management. 
To learn more about the reform, download our White Papers on the reform.
(1) Initially scheduled for July 1, 2024, the requirement for companies established in France to issue and receive electronic invoices has been postponed until 2026.
(2) Study entitled "The State of Automation in Finance 2023: The CFO, a driver of change in times of resilience" conducted by Yooz among more than 1,500 CFOs, sponsored by Mazars and the DFCG, an association of financial executives.
