A Factur-X is your PDF plus an XML layer that follows EN 16931, wrapped as a PDF/A-3. The converter builds it from the PDF you already send: it reads the seller, the buyer, the lines, the VAT and the totals, maps them to the standard, embeds the XML and returns the hybrid file. Your job is to review a handful of fields the PDF cannot supply on its own, above all your French customer's SIREN and the operation category, then run the validator and email the result. Five minutes the first time, two once you know the drill.
What the converter reads, and what it cannot know
From a PDF exported by any billing tool, the extraction picks up:
- your name, address, VAT number and the buyer's name and address;
- the invoice number, the issue date and the due date;
- every line with its description, quantity, unit price and VAT rate;
- the VAT breakdown and the totals;
- payment terms and your IBAN, when they are printed.
A scan or an unusual layout is read too, by an AI extraction, but review it more carefully. What no PDF carries reliably, and what you add in the review step:
- the buyer's SIREN, the nine-digit French company number the reform made mandatory on every invoice to a French business (the SIREN lookup confirms it);
- the operation category France requires: goods, services or both;
- the VAT treatment when the invoice carries no VAT: reverse charge for a cross-border service (code AE), intra-Community supply for goods shipped within the EU;
- a delivery address when it differs from the billing address.
Step by step
- Drop the PDF on the converter. DOCX and XLSX invoices work too.
- Review the extracted data in the guided form: check the totals against your PDF, add the SIREN and the operation category, set the VAT treatment on lines without VAT.
- Generate: a PDF/A-3 with the CII XML attached as
factur-x.xml, profile EN 16931. Your page is kept as it was; the data travels underneath. - Validate with the validator, French rules on. It runs the same EN 16931 and BR-FR checks French platforms apply and names, in plain words, anything that would bounce.
- Email the file to your customer. Nothing else: as a supplier outside France you have no French platform to use, and you do not need one.
Where files still fail, and the fix
Totals that do not reconcile. Line amounts, VAT per rate and the grand total must agree to the cent. Rounding per line versus on the total is the usual cause. Fix the figure in the form; totals are recomputed to the standard.
Missing SIREN. The platform cannot identify the buyer. Add the nine digits in the buyer block.
No VAT and no reason. An invoice without VAT must say why in the XML: reverse charge, intra-Community supply, export. Pick the category on the line; the mention is added.
A profile that is too thin. MINIMUM and BASIC WL carry no lines and are not enough for a B2B invoice. The converter produces EN 16931 by default.
A broken PDF/A-3. Files printed to PDF from another tool, e-signed after generation, or annotated in a reader lose PDF/A conformance. Generate last, then do not touch the file.
If your system already exports XML
Some billing systems can export the invoice as UBL or CII XML alongside the PDF. Then you do not need extraction at all: the embed tool merges your XML with your PDF into the hybrid file, and the UBL to CII converter turns a UBL export into the CII syntax Factur-X uses. Same review of the SIREN and the operation category, same validation.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account?
No. The converter, the validator and the editor are free and need no sign-up. The Essential plan removes the GetFacturX line from the generated PDFs if you want the file to carry only your brand.
Is my invoice stored?
No. Files run through the tools are processed in memory and discarded when the response is returned.
Can I convert invoices in bulk?
Yes, several files can be queued in one go. Review each result: the SIREN and the operation category are per customer.
Which Factur-X profile should I use?
EN 16931. It carries the line items and the fields French platforms and accounting systems check. The converter selects it by default.
My customer says the file "has no XML". What happened?
Most often the file was modified after generation, or emailed through a system that flattened it. Send the generated file as is, as an attachment, and validate the copy you send.
Does a Factur-X also work for German customers?
Yes. Factur-X and ZUGFeRD are the same format. A German buyer reads it the same way; only the French-specific fields (SIREN, operation category) do not apply to them.
Published 14 September 2026. GetFacturX is not an accredited platform (Plateforme Agréée); transmission over the French network, which foreign suppliers do not need, is operated by an accredited partner platform. This article is not tax or legal advice. Dates, frequencies and amounts are those known at publication and may change; check them before relying on them.