The French e-invoicing reform requires every company to issue structured invoices, transmitted by a Plateforme Agréée, with data reported to the tax authority and statuses travelling back. On paper, that looks like a project. In AlibeeZ, it is the natural continuation of what the software already does: the invoice starts from the data it holds, and comes back to it.

The diagram above shows the journey of an invoice issued from AlibeeZ. Here, step by step, is what AlibeeZ does, what iopole does, and what is left for you to do.

Before the invoice: the data is already there

An e-invoice is only as good as the data it carries. That is where AlibeeZ starts ahead: as the data hub of your business, it already holds everything the invoice will use.

  • Your clients and contracts, in the master data: details, payment terms, late penalties, schedules.
  • What was delivered: approved time, milestones reached, rebillable expenses, with or without margin.
  • Your tax rules: VAT by country, by entity and by type of service, and invoice numbering for each legal entity.

The reform’s new mandatory mentions, such as the client’s SIREN number or the category of the transaction, are not retyped invoice by invoice: they come from the master data. A detail corrected once is correct for every invoice that follows.

Step 1: the invoice is generated, then handed to iopole

In AlibeeZ, the invoice is generated in one click from approved time, in the model set by the contract: simple time and materials, capped time and materials, milestone-based fixed price or progress billing. The same engine handles mixed cases, with no spreadsheet on the side. You review a draft instead of rebuilding an amount.

Before issuing, AlibeeZ warns you of any overrun: purchase order ceiling, day allowance or budget. A billing mistake is easier to fix on a draft than on an invoice already transmitted.

Once approved, the invoice is produced in the expected structured format (Factur-X, UBL or CII) and handed to iopole. There is nothing to export or upload elsewhere: issuing starts from AlibeeZ.

Step 2: iopole checks, transmits and reports

iopole checks the invoice, then transmits it to your client’s platform, whichever it is: your client does not need to use the same platform as you.

In the same move, iopole reports the transaction data to the tax authority. That is the “regulatory flow” branch of the diagram: there is no separate filing for you to make, the reporting follows the invoice.

Step 3: your client receives the invoice

Your client’s platform makes it available to them. Because the invoice is backed by approved time and approved expenses, anything disputed can be traced back to the entry that produced it: a dispute is settled with facts, not with spreadsheets going back and forth.

And your clients outside France?

For them, the invoice can leave in Peppol BIS format and travel on the Peppol network, for which iopole is an access point. No need to negotiate a bespoke channel with each customer. Invoicing in another currency is tracked in the original or converted currency, with historised rates.

Step 4: the statuses come back into AlibeeZ

This is where the reform becomes useful day to day. Received, approved, refused, paid: the invoice’s statuses come back into AlibeeZ automatically, onto the invoice itself. You know where it stands without chasing your client to ask, and a rejected invoice shows up at once instead of being found at the due date.

Those statuses feed collection tracking directly:

  • Readable receivables by client, by entity and by age.
  • Better-aimed reminders: a refused invoice is not chased like one that is simply pending. Reminders can be sent from your own domain, through Brevo for example.
  • DSO steered invoice by invoice, flowing into the margin of the project concerned.

Why payment matters to the tax authority too

For a supply of services, VAT is in principle due on payment. The tax authority therefore needs to know when you get paid, and the “collected” status is what tells it. A payment properly matched to its invoice is no longer just a cash matter: it is tax data. One more reason for the invoice and its payment to live in the same place.

Afterwards: the data keeps travelling

Once issued, the invoice does not stay locked in AlibeeZ. It goes out as entries to your accounting (Pennylane, Cegid and others) with ledger codes and analytical axes already attached, by legal entity and by currency. You keep your accounting software, and your accountant works on entries that are already allocated. If you finance your receivables, issued invoices can also go to your factor, with their due dates.

What is left for you to do

Not much, but the essential part: keep the master data up to date. An e-invoice only reflects the data that produced it. Complete client records, well-configured contracts and timesheets approved on time are what make an invoice go out on the 2nd of the month and come back “collected” rather than “rejected”.

For the other end of the chain, read how AlibeeZ turns approved time into cash.

Frequently asked questions

Is AlibeeZ a Plateforme Agréée?

No. AlibeeZ is a compatible solution: it produces the invoice and hands it to iopole, a Plateforme Agréée registered by the French tax authority, which transmits it. The connection is built into AlibeeZ.

Do I need to buy an extra tool for e-invoicing?

No. Transmission through iopole is built into AlibeeZ: issuing, data reporting and status feedback travel the same channel, with no second tool to add.

Do I have to change my accounting software?

No. AlibeeZ invoices and exports to your existing accounting, with ledger codes included. The list of accounting connectors is on the connectors page.

How are my clients abroad invoiced?

The invoice can leave in Peppol BIS format and travel on the Peppol network, for which iopole is an access point. Invoicing in another currency is tracked in the original or converted currency.