Public Invoicing Portal (PPF)

The PPF is the public brick of the French e-invoicing reform. Designed in 2020 as a central hub, repositioned in 2023 as a tax concentrator and directory, it remains the arbiter of routing between Partner Dematerialisation Platforms (PDPs).

History: from central hub to concentrator

Announced in 2020 in the finance law for 2020 (article 153), the PPF underwent three major strategic repositions before its planned go-live on 1 September 2026.

• 2020-2022 — Mandatory central hub. The PPF was meant to be the unique entry point for any French B2B invoice, like the Italian Sistema di Interscambio (SdI). Ordinance 2021-1190 of 15 September 2021 set out this "public highway" principle.
• July 2023 — Repositioning announced. DGFiP communiqué of 28 July 2023: faced with industrialisation complexity and single-point-of-failure risk for 2 billion annual invoices, the project was deferred and redesigned around private Partner Dematerialisation Platforms (PDPs). The PPF became a tax concentrator.
• 2024-2026 — Concentrator, directory and fallback. Decree 2024-266 of 25 March 2024 formalised the new architecture: three distinct roles for the PPF (recipient directory, tax data concentrator for DGFiP, fallback delivery point for businesses without a PDP).

PPF architecture

The post-2024 PPF is made of three independent services, exposed through separate endpoints but operated by AIFE.

1. Central directory. Mandatory registry of liable businesses (SIREN/SIRET) and their reception PDP. Every PDP must query the directory before routing an invoice: this service guarantees that a single recipient is not addressable through two competing PDPs.
2. Tax concentrator (e-reporting). Receives, from each PDP, the invoicing data extracted from B2B documents (net totals, VAT, lifecycle statuses) along with B2C data and international flows where the counterpart is not established in France. Feeds the pre-filled VAT returns.
3. Fallback delivery point. If a business has not chosen a private PDP, the PPF acts as a default PDP (reception and emission). This service is free of charge but with minimal functionality: no direct ERP connector, no 10-year legal archive, no validation workflow.

Connectors: REST API, SFTP, Chorus Pro

The PPF exposes four main interfaces, documented in the AIFE External Specifications (chapters 7 and 8).

• REST API over HTTPS / OAuth 2.0 — the canonical interface for PDPs and ERP vendors. Versioned endpoints /api/v1/..., JSON responses, cursor pagination, idempotency by X-AIFE-Correlation-Id.
• SFTP batches — drop ZIP archives containing several invoices, an XML manifest, on a nightly schedule. Used for large volumes beyond the API unit limits.
• Web portal — single-invoice entry through a guided online form. Target: micro-businesses without accounting software, ad-hoc filings.
• Chorus Pro — for B2G flows, the historical portal remains the entry point. An invoice deposited on Chorus Pro is not routed by the PPF to a recipient PDP: it stays within the B2G perimeter.

POST /api/v1/invoices HTTP/1.1
Host: ppf.aife.economie.gouv.fr
Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIs...
Content-Type: application/json
X-AIFE-Correlation-Id: 2026-05-19-7a3c

{
  "format": "FACTURX_EN16931",
  "siret_emetteur": "80214579500024",
  "siret_destinataire": "88410230400015",
  "payload": "<base64-encoded factur-x.pdf>",
  "checksum_sha256": "9c1185a5c5e9fc54612808977ee8f548b2258d31"
}

HTTP/1.1 202 Accepted
X-AIFE-Submission-Id: PPF-2026-1052-9C1185
Location: /api/v1/invoices/PPF-2026-1052-9C1185/status

The PPF always responds in two steps: an immediate 202 Accepted with a submission ID, then an asynchronous status callable through GET /api/v1/invoices/{id}/status. AIFE-published processing latencies are 15 minutes in nominal mode, 4 hours at peak load.

Accepted formats

The order of 7 October 2022 sets three acceptable syntaxes for PPF reception, all compliant with the European EN 16931 standard:

The Factur-X MINIMUM profile is only valid for B2G through Chorus Pro: it does not carry line-level detail, so it does not support detailed e-reporting. For B2B, profile BASIC or higher is expected.

Volume and technical limits

Limits published in AIFE External Specifications v3 (April 2026):

• Maximum invoice size: 10 MB (Factur-X PDF or pure XML)
• Maximum SFTP batch size: 100 MB per archive, 500 invoices per archive
• API throughput: 50 requests per second per PDP (rate-limit), burst to 200/s for 10 s
• Attachments outside XML: allowed inside Factur-X PDF, refused in pure UBL/CII
• Resubmission window: 90 days for an invoice refused by the recipient before automatic block
• Archiving: 10 years for tax flows (CGI art. L102 B), ensured by the PDP — the PPF stores only e-reporting metadata

┌────────────┐    POST /invoices    ┌───────────────┐
│  ERP / PDP │ ──────────────────>  │  PPF endpoint │
└────────────┘                      └───────────────┘
                                            │
                                            ▼
                            ┌────────────────────────────┐
                            │  Validation EN 16931 + 24  │
                            │  mandatory French clauses  │
                            └────────────────────────────┘
                                            │
                       ┌────────────────────┴────────────────────┐
                       ▼                                         ▼
              ┌────────────────┐                       ┌────────────────┐
              │ PDP directory  │                       │ Tax concentr.  │
              │ for recipient  │                       │ (DGFiP)        │
              └────────────────┘                       └────────────────┘

Authentication and security

• France Connect Pro (FCP) — identity federation for human users. Built on OpenID Connect, MFA mandatory (TOTP, FIDO2 or certificate).
• RGS** and e-IDAS certificates — for machines, mutual TLS authentication is required. RGS** (Référentiel Général de Sécurité, level 2 stars) or qualified e-IDAS are the accepted levels.
• XML electronic signature — not mandatory in the PPF format (authenticity rests on the mutual TLS channel), but recommended for long-term archiving by PDPs.
• Qualified server seal — required for PDP → PPF flows, sealed with a key registered with a Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP), per the e-IDAS regulation EU 910/2014.

Go-live timeline

Decree 2024-1099 of 4 December 2024 confirms the following timeline for the PPF:

Cross-links

• France hub — full e-invoicing mandate
• List of registered PDPs
• E-reporting: flows and frequencies
• 10 invoice lifecycle statuses
• 2026-2027 timeline
• Factur-X / ZUGFeRD specification
• AIFE — official site
• Decree 2022-1299 of 7 October 2022 (Legifrance)
• Decree 2024-266 of 25 March 2024 (Legifrance)