NF525 in France, and the Invoicing Rules Where You Rent

For a rental company, invoicing is not back-office housekeeping. It is one of the few things a tax inspector will actually ask to see, and the rules are national: what applies in France is not what applies in the United Kingdom, Italy or Spain. This guide starts with the French framework, NF525, then sets out what other countries ask of invoices, with their official sources, and ends with what Corsiva OS does and what it does not do.

It is general information based on the official sources listed at the end, as of October 2026, not tax advice. What actually applies to you depends on where you trade and how your business is structured, and your accountant remains the right person to confirm it.

France: what the NF525 framework covers

NF525 is a French certification, and the rule behind it is French: Article 286, I, 3° bis of the General Tax Code. The tax administration's official guidance (BOFiP) states that any VAT-registered business "qui effectue des livraisons de biens ou des prestations de services à destination de clients particuliers et qui enregistre les règlements reçus en contrepartie au moyen d’un logiciel ou d’un système de caisse" must use software meeting conditions of inalterability, security, retention and archiving of data. In plain English: if you sell to private customers and record their payments in till software, that software must meet four conditions.

• Inalterability — once recorded, data cannot be edited or deleted without leaving a trace.
• Security — the data is protected against fraud and manipulation.
• Retention — records are kept and can be produced for the tax authority.
• Archiving — periodic closes freeze the data in a traceable way.

Under the same guidance, compliance with these conditions "est justifié par un certificat délivré par un organisme accrédité ou par une attestation individuelle de l’éditeur" (is proven by a certificate issued by an accredited body or by an individual statement from the software publisher). NF525 is a certification of this kind: according to the tax administration, AFNOR certification is accredited by COFRAC “pour le référentiel NF 525”. The guidance also makes clear that the rule does not oblige anyone to use till software in the first place. Check what the NF525 framework requires of your invoicing software before you commit (France). Corsiva OS is neither NF525-certified till software nor an approved e-invoicing platform (plateforme agréée), and it is not connected to any approved platform.

Why an issued invoice should not change

Whatever the country, one discipline shapes all the others. Once an invoice has gone out, it stands. If you find a mistake, the usual practice is not to correct the original but to issue a credit note, then a corrected invoice, and keep both on file. Numbering runs in an unbroken sequence, so a missing document shows up on its own rather than waiting to be discovered.

In rental, that discipline earns its keep quickly. A single booking can produce a pre-payment, a security deposit hold, extras added on return and a closing balance. When every one of those movements is recorded in order and tied to the file it belongs to, you can answer a tax inspector and an unhappy customer with the same set of documents. The same goes for damage charged to the renter: the invoice should follow the quote and the evidence, not replace them.

Your country's framework

Most of the countries we cover are moving to e-invoicing, real-time reporting or digital VAT records, each on its own timetable. Here is what their administrations say, in their own words, and what Corsiva OS does not do in each case.

• United Kingdom — according to HMRC, "Making Tax Digital for VAT requires all VAT-registered businesses to keep records digitally and file their VAT Returns using software" (VAT Notice 700/22, section 1.2). Corsiva OS does not file VAT Returns with HMRC: use MTD-compatible software for that.
• Ireland — this guide does not cover Irish invoicing rules: check with your accountant what Revenue expects of your records and invoices.
• Italy — the Agenzia delle Entrate states that since 1 January 2019 invoices between parties resident or established in Italy "potranno essere solo fatture elettroniche" (can only be e-invoices), and that e-invoices "vanno sempre inviate ai propri clienti attraverso il SdI (Sistema di Interscambio), altrimenti sono considerate non emesse" (are otherwise treated as not issued). Corsiva OS does not send invoices to the SdI: the e-invoice goes through the channel you have chosen (your commercialista or your invoicing software). Corsiva OS prepares the numbered PDF and can send a copy. Our Italian guide (in Italian) goes further.
• Spain — under the VERI*FACTU rules, the Agencia Tributaria states that companies subject to corporate tax must have their invoicing systems adapted "antes del 1 de enero de 2027", and the other taxpayers concerned "antes del 1 de julio de 2027". Corsiva OS does not send any invoicing records to the Spanish Tax Agency (VERI*FACTU): check with your adviser which system you need to use. Our Spanish guide (in Spanish) goes further.
• Germany — the Federal Ministry of Finance states that since 1 January 2025 every business must be able to receive an e-invoice, and that "Dazu reicht bereits ein E‑Mail‑Postfach aus" (an email inbox is enough); a plain PDF is not an e-invoice. Corsiva OS produces PDF invoices; it does not produce structured e-invoices (XRechnung, ZUGFeRD). Austria has its own rules. Our German guide (in German) goes further.
• Croatia — the Tax Administration notes that in 2026 "samo obveznici upisani u registar obveznika PDV-a obvezni izdavati i fiskalizirati eRačune prema navedenim primateljima eRačuna temeljem Zakona o fiskalizaciji" (only VAT-registered businesses must issue and fiscalise eRačun e-invoices to the recipients concerned). Corsiva OS invoices are neither fiscalised nor eRačun e-invoices: Corsiva OS is not connected to the Croatian Tax Administration's fiscalisation system. Our Croatian guide (in Croatian) goes further.
• Switzerland — amounts can be shown in Swiss francs, using a fixed exchange rate that you enter; check the rest with your fiduciary.

The rule of thumb: find out what your own tax authority expects before you pick a tool, and ask any vendor to state in writing what its invoicing does and does not cover in your country.

How long you have to keep it all

Retention periods depend on the type of document, on your country and on your tax position, so confirm yours rather than assume. In practice you are looking at several years for commercial and tax records, which means the archive has to stay readable, retrievable and complete for that entire stretch. A backup nobody can search is not an archive.

A rental business generates a lot of paper: agreements, condition reports, payment receipts, invoices. Keeping all of it in one organised, exportable place rather than spread across folders and inboxes is what makes the difference on the day someone asks. Being able to pull one specific invoice, exactly as it was issued, is a fair measure of whether the system holds up. Our software comparison sets out the criteria worth weighing when you assess tools on this point.

GDPR: the customer data behind every invoice

Invoicing handles personal data by definition — the customer's identity, contact details, often a copy of a driving licence and an ID document. The GDPR asks you to put that on a proper footing: say why you collect it, keep it only as long as you can justify, limit who can see it, secure it properly, and tell people what you hold. Demanding clients notice how their file is handled.

• Minimisation — collect only what the rental and the invoice genuinely require.
• Individual rights — be ready to answer access, correction and erasure requests within the limits of the law. An invoice you are legally required to keep does not disappear on request, and you should be able to explain why.
• Security — access control, strong authentication and a clear record of who can see what.

Where your data is processed

Where your data physically sits is not a technicality: ask any vendor where data is stored and which subcontractors process it. For Corsiva OS, the answer is public. Website: Vercel Inc. Corsiva OS app: application servers at Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany, processing within the European Union), database at Scaleway SAS (France), files (ID documents, photos, other documents) at Cloudflare, Inc. (United States, R2 service), emails sent by Resend (United States). Transfers outside the European Union are covered by the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or by the European Commission's standard contractual clauses. Details are in the Corsiva OS terms and conditions, GDPR annex (Art. 43.7 and 43.8).

What is at stake for a rental company

Vehicle rental, and premium rental most of all, ticks every risk box at once: large sums, big security deposits, several payment flows per booking, customers from all over. Invoicing that does not hold up makes a tax audit longer and harder; a clean chain — quote, agreement, invoice — does the opposite. Audits get shorter, disputes get simpler, and you look like an operation that knows its business.

It matters more still when you rent vehicles on behalf of their owners. An automatic 70/30 owner payout is only ever as reliable as the invoices underneath it; get that wrong and every month-end turns into an argument. Invoicing discipline is not a box sitting off to one side — it runs through the whole back office.

Taking the manual work out of invoicing with Corsiva OS

Corsiva OS is the management software for car rental companies, up to premium fleets and demanding clients, built by people who do the job themselves: Corsiva runs four rental branches in Savoie, France. The back office is built around the invoicing record rather than around the paperwork:

• Invoices numbered in sequence — Corsiva OS produces your rental invoices as PDFs, numbered in sequence, and can email a copy to your accountant or to your accounting software. This is not an e-invoice within the meaning of any national regulation: Corsiva OS is not connected to any platform or tax authority.
• Stripe payments, security deposits held on the card, and pre-payment — every movement of money stays attached to the document it belongs to. Payments are processed by Stripe, with 3-D Secure; Corsiva stores no card data.
• Mobile condition reports and electronic signature — the evidence travels with the invoice, which is what settles a dispute.
• Automatic 70/30 owner payout — owner accounts reconcile themselves, on a basis both sides can follow.
• White label and multi-branch — several branches run under one set of rules and one archive.

The interface is available in French, English, German, Spanish and Italian. Corsiva OS comes in three plans: Lite at €59, Business at €98 and Ultra at €199 excl. VAT per month on a one-year commitment, or €70, €117 and €237 without one. Pricing is indicative and non-contractual. What each plan includes is on our pricing page, and the team can go through your own setup via the contact page.

In summary

Records you cannot rewrite, an archive that outlives the retention period, careful handling of personal data and a clear answer on where that data sits form the base that protects a rental business and reassures its customers. NF525 is the French answer to the invoicing question; the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany and Croatia each have their own. Whichever tool you choose, start by checking which invoicing rules apply where you actually trade, and keep your national e-invoicing or reporting channel with your accountant.

Sources

• France: BOI-TVA-DECLA-30-10-30, obligation to use secure till software (25 March 2026), BOFiP-Impôts
• France: bodies accredited by COFRAC to certify till software (NF 525), impots.gouv.fr
• United Kingdom: VAT Notice 700/22, Making Tax Digital for VAT, HMRC (GOV.UK)
• Italy: La fattura elettronica, Agenzia delle Entrate
• Italy: Come si invia una fattura elettronica al cliente, Agenzia delle Entrate
• Spain: VERI*FACTU FAQ, scope and deadlines, Agencia Tributaria
• Germany: FAQ on the mandatory e-invoice, Bundesministerium der Finanzen
• Croatia: Izdavanje i primanje eRačuna i fiskalizacija eRačuna, Porezna uprava
• Corsiva OS terms and conditions, GDPR annex (Art. 43.7 and 43.8)