Factur-X explained — France's hybrid PDF + XML e-invoice format

Of the three formats accepted by France's e-invoicing reform, Factur-X is the one most small businesses will actually send. Its trick is simple and clever: it is a hybrid document — a human-readable PDF with a machine-readable XML file embedded inside it. One file satisfies both your customer's eyes and their software.

The hybrid idea

Open a Factur-X invoice and you see an ordinary PDF/A-3 document, exactly like the invoices you send today. But attached inside that PDF is a structured CII XML file (Cross Industry Invoice) carrying every field — amounts, VAT, SIRET, dates — as data. Software reads the XML; people read the PDF; the two can never disagree because they travel as one file.

That is the practical advantage over pure UBL or CII: no separate attachment to lose, and a document a person can still read without special tools.

Franco-German roots

Factur-X is the French name for a Franco-German standard, developed jointly by the FNFE-MPE (France) and FeRD (Germany). The German side calls the same specification ZUGFeRD from version 2.1 onward — the two are technically aligned, so a Factur-X file and a ZUGFeRD file of the same profile are interchangeable. Both conform to the European EN 16931 semantic standard.

The profiles

Factur-X defines several profiles, each embedding progressively more structured data:

• MINIMUM — header totals only. Really a bridge for e-reporting, not a

full invoice.

• BASIC WL (without lines) — totals and VAT breakdown, no line detail.
• BASIC — adds invoice lines; enough for most simple invoices.
• EN 16931 — the full compliant profile that carries every field the

European standard defines. This is the target for the French mandate.

• EXTENDED — a superset for complex, multi-party or sector-specific cases.

For the reform, aim for the EN 16931 profile: it is the one that carries the mandatory mentions and passes validation on the receiving platform.

When Factur-X vs pure UBL/CII

Your PDP will accept all three of Factur-X, UBL and CII. Choose by audience:

• Factur-X when a human on the other side still wants to look at the

invoice — typical for smaller customers and the public sector.

• Pure UBL or CII when the exchange is fully machine-to-machine and the

counterpart never opens a PDF.

You rarely have to pick manually — good tooling emits the right shape for the channel automatically.

Where Eurobillr fits

Eurobillr generates the Factur-X hybrid PDF natively: the invoice you'd send anyway, with the EN 16931 CII XML embedded, ready for a PDP or for Chorus Pro. Nothing extra to attach, nothing to re-key.

More context in the France e-invoicing guide.