Payhawk simplifies financial workflows by automatically processing incoming supplier eInvoices and matching them to the correct records.
During the French eInvoicing mandate rollout, suppliers may send both a structured eInvoice and a PDF copy, leading to potential duplicates.
How Payhawk processes eInvoices
When an eInvoice enters the system, Payhawk follows a specific logic to ensure it is handled correctly depending on the use case:
eInvoices are assigned to a user based on the recognized buyer contact, an open purchase request match, cost-centre routing, or the account's default owner.
If an eInvoice matches a Payhawk card transaction, it automatically attaches to that transaction as an expense document.
If no transaction match is found, the eInvoice is treated as unpaid and appears as a new bill under the Submit tab.
For an employee out-of-pocket expense, the eInvoice arrives as a new bill rather than attaching to the reimbursement claim automatically. Payhawk does not suppress the bill when the invoice shows an amount due of zero, and it does not use the payroll or employee-ID field to match it. You merge it onto the employee's reimbursement claim manually.
If you use an ERP alongside Payhawk, eInvoices may appear in both systems. This ensures a complete record in Payhawk for card management while maintaining existing ERP workflows.
Identifying and resolving duplicates
Payhawk flags duplicates when the supplier, invoice number, and amount match. To keep your records clean, especially for employee reimbursements or duplicate PDF bills, you must resolve these entries correctly.
Moving or merging over deleting
It is critical to move a duplicate eInvoice document onto the expense you want to keep using the Move to another expense option, instead of deleting the eInvoice.
Move to another expense is a different action from merging expenses, so if you want to relocate an eInvoice document, always use Move to another expense.
Deleting an eInvoice received via the French Portail Public de Facturation (PPF) triggers a 210 Refusée lifecycle status. This informs the network and tax authorities that the invoice is rejected, which is incorrect for valid or already-settled expenses.
For PPF lifecycle statuses, Payhawk tracks the eInvoice document itself and not the expense. The 210 Refusée refusal is sent only when you delete the expense that still holds the PPF eInvoice document. If you first use Move to another expense to move the eInvoice document onto another expense, the original now-empty expense can be deleted safely without triggering a refusal. Deleting whichever expense currently holds the document will trigger the refusal.
If an eInvoice failed to match a card payment and instead created a separate new bill, move the eInvoice document from that new bill onto the existing card expense. Moving the document doesn’t delete a standalone record, hence no refusal status will be sent.
Always ensure the PPF eInvoice is the version preserved as the primary formal record for tax compliance.
Handling accidental refusals
If a 210 Refusée status is sent by mistake, the situation is recoverable. Tax authorities view a refused invoice as if it were never issued. To rectify the record, you must ask the supplier to reissue the document.
Strategic recommendations
While categories like hotels and restaurants may not require mandatory eInvoicing until September 2027, duplicates can still occur. Merging remains the standard way to handle these instances.
To bypass manual merging, transition employees from out-of-pocket spending to Payhawk cards. Card transactions provide a seamless, fully automated reconciliation experience when the eInvoice arrives.
You do not need a separate reception address for employee expenses. The reform describes a dedicated employee-expense address (a SIREN with a suffix), but that assumes separate systems for accounts payable and employee expenses. Payhawk handles both in one place, so a second address would work the same way and adds no value.