Digitising invoices: from scanning to e-invoicing
Enter your invoice volume and the time spent on each: the tool estimates the hours saved per year, using your own assumptions.
Hours saved a year
32
Add your hourly cost in the options for a value in euros.
| Invoices a year | 480 |
| Current time a year | 64 h |
| Time saved | 32 h |
Based only on your assumptions: this site gives no platform prices.
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · Tax code, BOFiP and approved-platform list checked on 25 October 2026
Digitising invoices can mean three very different things. Scanning paper invoices turns them into images, useful for record keeping but with no usable data. Emailing PDFs removes paper and postage, but the customer still has to retype the amounts. Moving to e-invoicing under the reform means exchanging structured data through an approved platform, which software reads without human input. Only this third form meets the obligation: receiving for all businesses since 1 September 2026, issuing for SMEs and micro-businesses from 1 September 2027. The time saved depends on your organisation, and this site publishes no ready-made average: the tool above works it out from your invoice volume, the time spent on each and the share of that time you expect to remove, including data entry, filing and reminders.
Three levels of digitisation
| Level | What it is | Usable data | Meets the reform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scanning | Scan of a paper invoice | No | No |
| Emailed PDF | Visual file sent directly | No, retyping needed | No from your date |
| E-invoice | Structured data via platform | Yes | Yes |
Article 289 bis of the French tax code only targets the third level. The first two remain useful, but are not enough: a PDF, however well designed, will have to be replaced by a structured format for sales between businesses established in France.
Where the time is saved
The saving does not come from sending, already quick by email. It comes from everything after: entering received invoices, matching them with orders and payments, searching for a lost invoice, chasing payments. With structured data, the received invoice goes straight into the books, and its status shows where it stands. The BOFiP news item also sets out the aim of prefilling VAT returns, which will eventually lighten the reporting workload.
Hours saved a year
Hours saved a year
15
| Invoices a year | 300 |
| Current time a year | 30 h |
| Time saved | 15 h |
What does not change
Digitisation does not remove checks: you must still verify that an invoice matches a real order before paying it. Nor does it remove record keeping: the e-invoice is kept in its original format for the legal periods, recalled by the service-public.fr page on keeping documents. Details are on the record keeping page.
Where to start
Start with receiving, mandatory since September 2026: choose a platform and ask it to pass received invoices to your accounting. You will measure the saving on your own invoices before you even have to issue. Then prepare issuing with the backward plan, and check the differences between scans, PDFs and structured data on the definition page.
To estimate the saving, use your real figures rather than an average found elsewhere: every business has its own organisation, and a few minutes timed on your invoices are worth more than a general percentage. The tool keeps your assumptions visible, so that you can adjust them.
Remember that the tool’s result is only as good as the figures you enter: try a cautious and an optimistic scenario to see the range.