Everything you'd want to know before you install.
A detailed look at how DataFirefly Factur-X — E-invoicing PDF/A-3 + XML works, why we built it the way we did, and the thinking behind the features above.
Electronic invoicing is becoming mandatory: get ahead
The French e-invoicing reform sets a precise schedule. From 1 September 2026, all VAT-registered businesses must be able to receive electronic invoices, and large enterprises and mid-caps must issue them. From 1 September 2027, the obligation to issue extends to SMEs, very small businesses and micro-enterprises. Most PrestaShop merchants must therefore receive from 2026 and issue from 2027. Factur-X is the hybrid format recommended in France to cross this milestone with confidence.
Factur-X: a format readable by humans and machines
A Factur-X invoice is a single file that brings together two worlds: a PDF/A-3b your customer can open, read and print like a classic invoice, and a structured XML file embedded inside the PDF that accounting software and platforms can read automatically. No more sending a PDF on one side and a data file on the other: everything is in the same document, which removes any risk of mismatch between the readable image and the processed data.
Structured data compliant with EN 16931
The module builds the XML in CII format (UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice), the standard on which Factur-X is based. The element order strictly follows the schema, the seller identity carries its SIREN (with the appropriate scheme identifier) and its intra-community VAT number, and the VAT breakdown is detailed rate by rate. Three profiles are available: BASIC for a lighter XML, EN 16931 for full conformance to the European core, and EXTENDED.
Robust embedding, independent of your TCPDF version
The visual PDF is rendered via the TCPDF already present in PrestaShop, in PDF/A-3b mode. The XML embedding, however, depends on no internal detail of TCPDF: it is performed by PDF incremental update, a technique that adds the required objects (the embedded file, the /AF array, the /AFRelationship Data relationship, the Factur-X XMP metadata and the PDF/A extension schema) without touching a single byte of the existing document. The result: the solution stays stable whatever version of TCPDF ships with your PrestaShop.
Every invoicing case covered
Order lines, shipping costs (modelled as a document charge) and discounts (modelled as an allowance spread proportionally across the VAT bases) are translated into the XML with their VAT rate. All totals, net total, taxable base, total VAT, gross total, amount due, are recalculated from the lines and the breakdown to respect the BR-CO balance rules of EN 16931. It is the internal consistency of the document that matters, the very thing official validators check.
Three ways to retrieve your invoices
From the back-office order page, a dedicated panel offers immediate download of the Factur-X PDF and of the XML alone. An admin tab lists your orders and allows bulk generation: select a batch and retrieve every invoice in a ZIP archive. On the customer side, an optional link in the account area lets the buyer download their invoice. Finally, automatic generation can be triggered when an order reaches a status of your choice.
Generation and transmission: what the module does
This module covers the generation of compliant Factur-X invoices, the step that demands the most technical rigour. Generating Factur-X requires no certification. Transmission through an Accredited Platform (PA, formerly PDP) and, for certain operations, e-reporting, form a separate layer that sits on top. Version 1.0 focuses on producing compliant files, ready to be transmitted through the platform of your choice or integrated into your accounting flow, a natural complement to our accounting export module.
Compatible with PrestaShop 8 and 9
The architecture relies on ModuleAdminController, Smarty and a manual PSR-4 autoloader (no Composer), which work identically on PrestaShop 8.0, 8.1, 8.2 and 9.0. No specific code branch, no particular Symfony dependency, no painful migration to anticipate when you move to PrestaShop 9.
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