Electronic Invoicing: Compliance Upgrade for a Construction ERP - Foliatech Use Case
Electronic Invoicing in the Construction Industry:
How AxioBat anticipated the reform without compromising its industry-specific ERP
A joint feedback experience between a Construction Software Vendor and an Accredited Platform
The electronic invoicing reform (EIR) impacts all French companies. However, in the construction sector, it collides with a business reality that very few players truly master: progress billing, retention holdbacks, prorated costs, direct subcontractor payments, multiple deposits, public contracts, and more. These are all highly specific use cases that make compliance significantly more complex than in other industries.
It is in this context that Foliatech, publisher of the Axiobat construction ERP, and Iopole, an Accredited Electronic Invoicing Platform, built a partnership that has already proven its value: Axiobat’s Belgian clients have been live in production since January 1st, 2026.
Axiobat: The 360° ERP for Construction SMBs
Foliatech is an independent IT group founded in 2014 in Lyon, with an R&D center in Casablanca. For the past 12 years, the group has been designing management solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. With Axiobat, Foliatech has built a 360° ERP designed by and for construction professionals: HVAC, electrical, plumbing, insulation, renovation, structural works, masonry, carpentry, multi-trade contractors, and maintenance.
Axiobat covers the entire lifecycle of a construction project: from CRM to invoicing, including cost estimation by work package and trade lot, progress billing and retention holdbacks, supplier purchase orders, project scheduling, subcontractor management, and profitability dashboards. The solution is deployed in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Morocco, with presence across 24 French-speaking countries.
Key figures:
- 70 employees, including more than 60% in-house R&D engineers
- More than 120,000 active users
- 98.5% customer satisfaction
- 9 out of 10 clients renew their trust
R&D, customer support, and training (Qualiopi-certified training organization since 2022) are fully internalized (zero external dependency on critical functions).
Foliatech’s vision is clear: provide field-driven business leaders with real-time operational visibility and turn regulatory constraints into a competitive advantage. Before the reform, invoicing was handled via PDF or email. The EIR changes the landscape, but Axiobat’s promise of simplicity remains unchanged.
The Regulatory Shock from a Construction ERP Perspective
Why the reform is more complex in construction
Invoicing in construction has nothing in common with a standard service invoice. Each project generates highly specific financial flows that the reform must absorb:
- Progress / milestone invoices: billed based on percentage of work completed, not upon delivery
- Retention holdbacks: 5% retained for one year after project handover, with later release
- Prorated costs: allocation of shared project expenses among contractors
- Direct subcontractor payments: the project owner pays subcontractors directly upon instruction from the main contractor
- Multiple deposits: several advance payments under the same contract before final invoicing
- Public procurement contracts: invoicing through Chorus Pro with dedicated dematerialization rules
- Multi-site invoices: a single supplier delivering across several projects simultaneously
The risk was real: that the reform would impose an invoicing model incompatible with these business realities. We needed a partner capable of understanding and absorbing this complexity, not bypassing it.
The questions we asked ourselves
As soon as the reform was announced, we identified the key challenges for our product roadmap:
- How do we guarantee compliance without adding friction to our clients’ user experience?
- How do we avoid turning our ERP into a tax compliance factory?
- How do we cover all countries where we operate (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Morocco) as well as future markets?
- How do we ensure that construction-specific requirements are fully supported, rather than sacrificed for a generic model?
- Which partner should we choose to carry this responsibility over the long term?
The Strategic Decision: Stay Focused on Your Core Business
"Our business is the job site, not permanent tax monitoring. We quickly understood that we needed a specialized European player capable of addressing this need across all the countries where we operate."
— Adil Ettouhami, COO, Foliatech
Building an Accredited Platform in-house was never considered. The risks were too obvious:
- Adding friction to the user experience of construction professionals, who need speed
- Slowing down site invoicing with poorly integrated compliance layers
- Creating deep technical debt by embedding an evolving regulatory scope
- Diverting the product roadmap away from industry innovation toward regulatory maintenance
Foliatech benchmarked 5 Accredited Platforms before selecting Iopole. Several criteria made the difference:
- A 100% focus on electronic invoicing: this is Iopole’s sole focus, and this specialization is a guarantee of seriousness and depth
- Founders with strong and recognized expertise in electronic invoicing across Europe
- A high-level technical team, an essential requirement for smooth API integration with a software vendor like Foliatech
- A culture of transparency and trust: no sales pitch when something is missing, but direct and honest communication
- Native European coverage, essential for Belgium, Luxembourg, and future markets
The Chosen Model: Separating Business Logic from Compliance
Foliatech remains in control of:
- UX and the construction-specific user experience
- Business logic: quotations, progress billing, project progress, retention holdbacks
- End-to-end job site workflows
Iopole handles:
- Compliance and continuous regulatory monitoring
- Format management (Factur-X, UBL, CII)
- Regulatory statuses and invoice lifecycle
- E-reporting and transmission to tax authorities
- Security, archiving, and interoperability with other accredited platforms
Implementation: Adapting the Reform to Construction
A. Mapping Construction Workflows
The integration started with Belgium, where the obligation to issue and receive electronic invoices came into force on January 1st, 2026. Sending and receiving flows were activated simultaneously (the Belgian regulatory framework required it for all companies at the same time). This first go-live, completed in less than 3 months, validated the integration model before tackling the French project.
The France project took between 3 and 6 months, as it required deeper work: e-reporting (not required in Belgium), management of specific regulatory statuses (rejection reason codes, disputes, VAT-rate-linked collections), and above all exhaustive handling of construction use cases — retention holdbacks, prorated costs, direct payments.
Priority workflows:
- Progress billing and milestone invoices
- Deposit invoices
- Supplier invoice intake for job sites
- Subcontracting and direct payment
- Retention holdbacks and prorated costs
B. UX Adaptation
The objective was clear: zero disruption in the user experience. Construction professionals continue invoicing exactly as before within Axiobat. Compliance is handled in 2 simple steps from the interface:
1. Entry of manager identity information and supporting documents (KYC/KYB)
2. Signature of the Iopole mandate
Once these steps are completed, the electronic invoicing address is activated. The user has nothing else to do.
3. Invoice Reception
Invoice reception happens automatically within the Axiobat user interface as soon as an invoice has been received by iOPOLE from the supplier for that user.
The user simply needs to accept or reject it directly from Axiobat.
4. Invoice Sending
Invoice issuance from Axiobat is done with a simple click on the “Submit” button, provided that the client is properly registered in the directory and their SIRET number is filled in their Axiobat profile.
C. The Integration Method with Iopole
The project was carried out in close collaboration with Iopole’s technical team, led by Nicolas Choupin. The approach followed a structured process:
- Joint scoping of construction workflows and associated formats
- API integration in sandbox environment: testing on real invoices
- Validation of construction-specific use cases (retention holdbacks, prorated costs, direct payments)
- Progressive production rollout with Belgian clients (January 2026)
- Participation in the French electronic invoicing pilot program
- Preparation for France rollout with a joint Axiobat x Iopole client webinar
REPLAY: Axiobat + IOPOLE Webinar, "Get ready for electronic invoicing 2026 with peace of mind" : https://youtu.be/Rk5OgEezNBk?si=8gPxMmDg3pcTbEXN
Over the months, regular exchanges with Nicolas Choupin — advanced technical workshops, frequent synchronization meetings, and candid discussions around challenges — created a working dynamic where the boundary between the two teams gradually disappeared. Nicolas ultimately became an integral part of the Foliatech project, to the point where we almost forgot he was actually part of Iopole.
This close collaboration was truly tested during the Belgian go-live. Foliatech had engaged relatively late in the development of the Belgian electronic invoicing project, with a fixed January 1st, 2026 deadline that would not move. The holiday period was particularly intense, but Iopole stood side by side with Foliatech to solve every issue in real time and deliver on schedule. The result: a successful production launch on day one, with no delay.
Result: A Fully Compliant Construction ERP, Without Compromise
- Axiobat officially recognized as an Electronic Invoicing Compatible Solution
- Belgian clients satisfied and live in production since January 1st, 2026: on Axiobat as well as other Foliatech products
- French clients currently in pilot phase, rollout in progress
- No UX disruption: construction professionals invoice exactly as before
- Compliance fully handled by Iopole, including regulatory monitoring
- Multi-country coverage: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Morocco (and future markets)
- Reform anticipated ahead of mandatory deadlines: no “big bang” approach
From a commercial standpoint, anticipating the reform created a double effect: reassuring existing clients about the long-term sustainability of their tool, and making it easier to win new clients looking for an already compliant solution.
What’s Next? The Reform Is Only Just Beginning
The French electronic invoicing reform is only a first step. In March 2025, the Council of the European Union adopted the ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) legislative package, which plans a profound transformation of the VAT system at the European level.
The ViDA timeline is already set:
- July 2028: single VAT registration (expanded One-Stop Shop) across the EU
- January 2030: new VAT obligations for digital platforms
- July 2030: mandatory B2B e-invoicing for all intra-community transactions and harmonization of national systems
- January 2035: full harmonization of all European electronic invoicing systems
In practical terms, this means regulatory changes will continue for at least a decade. New formats, new statuses, and new reporting obligations will regularly emerge in France as well as in other European countries where construction companies operate.
"Electronic invoicing is not a one-off project with an end date. It is a permanently evolving regulatory scope. That is precisely why we chose a specialized partner like Iopole: so that every change can be absorbed without impacting our clients or our product roadmap."
— Adil Ettouhami, COO, Foliatech
For construction professionals, the message is simple: choosing today a solution that has already anticipated the reform and relies on a dedicated electronic invoicing partner means ensuring future compliance tomorrow, in France as well as across Europe, without having to change software or even think about it.
Axiobat and Iopole take care of it.
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