2026 is the year e-invoicing went mainstream in Europe. France switched on its mandate on 1 September 2026, after Belgium in January and Poland in February. Germany and Spain follow in 2027. Whether you are based in one of these countries or simply invoice customers there, the way you exchange invoices is changing.
Most of the discussion is about invoice formats and platforms. Much less is said about what happens after the invoice: the payment. Yet e-invoicing creates a direct link between invoices and transfers, and the humble reference on a SEPA credit transfer is becoming important data.
E-invoicing mandates at a glance
- Italy: mandatory B2B e-invoicing through the SDI platform since 2019.
- Belgium: structured B2B e-invoices via the Peppol network mandatory since 1 January 2026.
- Poland: the KSeF system has applied to large taxpayers since 1 February 2026 and to most other businesses since 1 April 2026.
- France: since 1 September 2026, all businesses must be able to receive e-invoices and large and mid-sized companies must issue them; SMEs must issue from 1 September 2027.
- Germany: businesses have had to be able to receive e-invoices since 2025; issuing becomes mandatory from 1 January 2027 for companies with turnover above €800,000, and for everyone from 1 January 2028.
- Spain: the VeriFactu billing-software requirements apply from 1 January 2027 for companies and 1 July 2027 for the self-employed.
- EU (ViDA): e-invoicing and digital reporting for intra-EU transactions from 1 July 2030.
The overlooked link between e-invoices and payments
An e-invoice has a lifecycle: issued, received, approved, disputed… and paid. In some countries that last step is regulated. In France, for example, suppliers of services must report their payment data to the tax authority: the invoice number, the date the payment was received and the amount received per VAT rate, usually by setting the invoice status to "paid" on their e-invoicing platform.
Even where there is no such reporting, the logic is the same everywhere: when invoices become structured data, businesses want to match every incoming payment to a specific invoice automatically. And that is where your transfers come in.
Why your payment reference now matters
When you pay a supplier, they see an amount, your name… and the reference of your transfer on their bank statement. If it just says "September payment" or "Invoice", they have to guess which invoice it settles, reconcile it by hand, and may chase you for an invoice you already paid.
A transfer that carries "INV 2026-0142", on the other hand, is reconciled automatically. This works both ways:
- When you pay suppliers by bulk transfer, include their invoice number: you make their reconciliation (and, in France, their reporting) easier and avoid needless reminders.
- When you collect by SEPA direct debit, put your own invoice number in the reference: your bank reconciliation and your "paid" statuses become almost automatic.
Where to put the invoice number in a SEPA XML file
In a credit transfer file (pain.001) or a direct debit file (pain.008), two fields travel all the way to the other party:
- The remittance information (
Ustrdfield): up to 140 characters. This is the ideal place for one or more invoice numbers, e.g. "INV 2026-0142 2026-0157". - The end-to-end reference (
EndToEndIdfield): up to 35 characters, passed unchanged to the payee's bank. Handy for a unique ID per payment.
Mind the character set: SEPA only allows unaccented letters, digits, spaces and a few symbols (/ - ? : ( ) . , ' +). Characters such as _, # or & are stripped. So prefer invoice numbers like "INV-2026-0142" over "INV_2026#142".
Checklist: get your payments ready for e-invoicing
- Add an "invoice number" column to your supplier payment spreadsheet and copy it into each transfer's reference.
- One transfer per invoice whenever possible. If you group several invoices, list every number in the reference (within 140 characters).
- Standardise your own invoice numbers so they survive a SEPA transfer unchanged.
- Double-check the bank details on incoming e-invoices before adding them to your payment file: a changed IBAN is still the number one fraud vector.
- On the collection side, set up reconciliation between bank statements and invoices so you can mark invoices as paid quickly.
How EasyBankFlow helps
EasyBankFlow turns your Excel or CSV file into a SEPA XML file ready to upload to your bank: the reference column fills the Ustrd field (140 characters) and the ID column fills the EndToEndId field (35 characters). Characters not allowed by the standard are cleaned automatically, so your file is not rejected.
- Convert your payment file to SEPA XML (pain.001 credit transfers or pain.008 direct debits);
- check your IBANs and find the matching BICs with the IBAN → BIC tool;
- check your file's structure with the SEPA XML validator.
Another deadline not to miss: structured addresses become mandatory in SEPA files from 15 November 2026 for payments outside the EEA.
FAQ
Does e-invoicing change the format of my SEPA transfers?
No. SEPA credit transfers and direct debits still use the pain.001 and pain.008 formats. What changes is how much the information you put in them matters, especially the invoice number in the reference.
Does e-invoicing replace bank transfers?
No. E-invoicing covers how invoices are issued and exchanged. Payment still happens through your usual channels, most often a SEPA transfer or direct debit.
I'm not in France: why should I care?
Because the trend is European: Belgium, Poland and Italy already require e-invoices, Germany and Spain are next, and ViDA will cover cross-border EU trade from 2030. And if you invoice or pay French companies, clear invoice references on your payments already make their life easier.
In short
E-invoicing does not stop at the invoice: it ends with a payment that must be linked to a specific invoice number. By systematically including that number in the reference of your SEPA transfers and direct debits, you save reconciliation time, support your partners' reporting and get ready for the next deadlines.