There is one thing I have been hearing for months from SME managers: "We'll deal with that later." And honestly, they are not necessarily wrong about the legal risk — a large share of companies will not be ready in September, and penalties will probably remain symbolic at the start.
But that is not the right question. The real question is: while most are patching things up or waiting, what do we do with this time? Well-advised SMEs are not asking how to be compliant. They are asking how to get a head start.
What the Reform Says, Clearly
The reform rolls out in two stages. Confusion between the two is the first source of inaction — so let's clear it up.
1 September 2026: obligation to receive electronic invoices via an approved platform — all VAT-registered companies, regardless of size.
1 September 2027: obligation to issue electronic invoices in a structured format — SMEs and micro-enterprises (large companies issue from 2026).
Next September, your large suppliers — EDF, Orange, logistics providers — will send you structured invoices in UBL format. If your software is not able to receive and process them, someone on your team will handle them by hand. That "someone" probably already has something else to do.
BPI Finance offers the Prêt Boost dedicated to e-invoicing: up to €75,000, no guarantee, 100% online, answer within 48 hours. For SMEs with fewer than 50 employees that have existed for more than 3 years.
Compliance Is the Minimum. Not the Goal.
Compliance in the strict sense — connecting an approved platform, receiving invoices in UBL format — takes a few days with an up-to-date Odoo. That is not what takes time or thought.
What deserves thought is the real state of the invoicing cycle behind it. In most SMEs, it looks roughly like this: vendor bills arriving by email, which someone re-keys into the accounting software. Reconciliations done manually at month-end. Customer follow-ups lost in a personal mailbox. A customer receivables balance impossible to read in real time.
The reform does not create a legal emergency. It creates a gap — between those who make something of it and those who wait and see.
This is not a criticism. It is simply that nobody had a strong enough reason to rethink everything from scratch. The reform is that reason.
What It Looks Like with Odoo
Odoo natively handles the UBL format and connects to partner dematerialization platforms. Compliance for receiving is there as soon as the configuration is done — without any specific development. But the value of the project goes well beyond that.
What our customers set up when they truly seize the opportunity:
- Automated receiving: vendor bills arrive structured, are posted to the right accounts, and trigger the approval workflow without re-keying.
- Three-way matching: order, receipt, invoice — reconciled automatically, with no manual intervention.
- Real-time cash position: no need to wait for the monthly close to know where you stand.
- Integrated tax transmission: data flows up to the tax authority within the process, with no manual export.
- Automatic follow-ups: overdue receivables no longer sit forgotten in a mailbox.
Why Do It Now
A well-scoped project to overhaul the invoicing cycle takes between 4 and 8 weeks. Configuration, connection to the approved platform, tests with suppliers, team training. Starting in July means being ready in September — and reaching the 2027 deadline with a cycle already running smoothly, without having to redo the work in 14 months.
The BPI Prêt Boost covers the entire scope: software, configuration, integration, training. €5,000 to €75,000, no guarantee, answer within 48 hours.
- Amount: €5,000 to €75,000
- Term: 3, 4 or 5 years — deferral of 9 to 12 months
- Guarantee: none
- Response time: answer within 48 hours, 100% online
- Eligibility: fewer than 50 employees, existing for more than 3 years
- What it covers: software, configuration, integration, training
The reform is a window. Those who have structured their invoicing cycle in 2026 will be 18 months ahead of the others. That is rarely where companies are won or lost — but it counts.