What is Factur-X?

A Factur-X invoice is one file, two layers. The first is an ordinary PDF: you open it, you read it, it looks like any invoice. The second is invisible in a normal PDF reader: a structured data file (XML), embedded inside the PDF, carrying the same information (issuer, number, dates, amounts, VAT) in a form accounting software reads directly.

That is the format’s whole strength: the human reads the PDF, the machine reads the XML, and the two travel together. Technically, the container is a PDF/A-3 (an archival PDF that accepts attachments) and the attachment is named factur-x.xml. The format is a Franco-German standard, published on the French side by FNFE-MPE; its current version is 1.09.2, published in August 2026.

Not every Factur-X file carries the same richness of data: that is what profiles are. From lightest to fullest: MINIMUM, BASIC WL, BASIC, EN 16931, EXTENDED. The EN 16931 profile corresponds to the European semantic standard for electronic invoicing; it is the reference level under the French reform. The lighter profiles are not a complete invoice: they accompany bookkeeping, they do not replace it.

Why are you hearing about this now? Because Factur-X is one of the core formats of French e-invoicing, described in the AFNOR XP Z12-012 standard: from 1 September 2026, files of this kind start flowing to every business. Knowing what they really contain, and checking that the two layers tell the same story, becomes a basic reflex. That is exactly what Pruvue does, in your browser, sending nothing anywhere.