France¶

FEC - Fichier des Écritures Comptables¶

An FEC Fichier des Écritures Comptables audit file contains all the accounting data and entries recorded in all the accounting journals for a financial year. The entries in the file must be arranged in chronological order.

Since January 1st, 2014, every French company is required to produce and transmit this file upon request by the tax authorities for audit purposes.

FEC Import¶

To make the onboarding of new users easier, SotaERP Enterprise’s French fiscal localization package includes the FEC Import feature (module name: l10n_fr_fec_import), which enables the import of existing FEC files from older software.

To enable this feature, go to Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings ‣ Accounting Import, enable FEC Import, and Save.

Next, go to Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ FEC Import, upload your FEC file, and click on Import.

Note

Importing FEC files from different year takes no particular action or computation.

Should multiple files contain any “Reports à Nouveaux” (RAN) with the starting balance of the year, you might need to cancel those entries in the User Interface. SotaERP makes those entries (RAN) useless.

File formats¶

FEC files can only be in CSV format, as the XML format is not supported.

Note

The FEC CSV file has a plain text format representing a data table, with the first line being a header and defining the list of fields for each entry, and each following line representing one accounting entry, in no predetermined order.

Our module expects the files to meet the following technical specifications:

Encoding: UTF-8, UTF-8-SIG and iso8859_15.
Separator: any of these: ; or | or , or TAB.
Line terminators: both CR+LF (\r\n) and LF (\n) character groups are supported.
Date format: %Y%m%d

Fields description and use¶

#	Field name	Description	Use	Format
01	JournalCode	Journal Code	`journal.code` and `journal.name` if `JournalLib` is not provided	Alphanumeric
02	JournalLib	Journal Label	`journal.name`	Alphanumeric
03	EcritureNum	Numbering specific to each journal sequence number of the entry	`move.name`	Alphanumeric
04	EcritureDate	Accounting entry Date	`move.date`	Date (yyyyMMdd)
05	CompteNum	Account Number	`account.code`	Alphanumeric
06	CompteLib	Account Label	`account.name`	Alphanumeric
07	CompAuxNum	Secondary account Number (accepts null)	`partner.ref`	Alphanumeric
08	CompAuxLib	Secondary account Label (accepts null)	`partner.name`	Alphanumeric
09	PieceRef	Document Reference	`move.ref` and `move.name` if `EcritureNum` is not provided	Alphanumeric
10	PieceDate	Document Date	`move.date`	Date (yyyyMMdd)
11	EcritureLib	Account entry Label	`move_line.name`	Alphanumeric
12	Debit	Debit amount	`move_line.debit`	Float
13	Credit	Credit amount (Field name “Crédit” is not allowed)	`move_line.credit`	Float
14	EcritureLet	Accounting entry cross reference (accepts null)	`move_line.fec_matching_number`	Alphanumeric
15	DateLet	Accounting entry date (accepts null)	unused	Date (yyyyMMdd)
16	ValidDate	Accounting entry validation date	unused	Date (yyyyMMdd)
17	Montantdevise	Currency amount (accepts null)	`move_line.amount_currency`	Float
18	Idevise	Currency identifier (accepts null)	`currency.name`	Alphanumeric

These two fields can be found in place of the others in the sence above.

12	Montant	Amount	`move_line.debit` or `move_line.credit`	Float
13	Sens	Can be “C” for Credit or “D” for Debit	determines `move_line.debit` or `move_line.credit`	Char

Implementation details¶

The following accounting entities are imported from the FEC files: Accounts, Journals, Partners, and Moves.

Our module determines the encoding, the line-terminator character, and the separator that are used in the file.

A check is then performed to see if every line has the correct number of fields corresponding to the header.

If the check passes, then the file is read in full, kept in memory, and scanned. Accounting entities are imported one type at a time, in the following order.

Accounts¶

Every accounting entry is related to an account, which should be determined by the field CompteNum.

Code matching¶

Should a similar account code already be present in the system, the existing one is used instead of creating a new one.

Accounts in SotaERP generally have a number of digits that are default for the fiscal localization. As the FEC module is related to the French localization, the default number of relevant digits is 6.

This means that the account codes the trailing zeroes are right-trimmed, and that the comparison between the account codes in the FEC file and the ones already existing in SotaERP is performed only on the first six digits of the codes.

Example

The account code 65800000 in the file is matched against an existing 658000 account in SotaERP, and that account is used instead of creating a new one.

Reconcilable flag¶

An account is technically flagged as reconcilable if the first line in which it appears has the EcritureLet field filled out, as this flag means that the accounting entry is going to be reconciled with another one.

Note

In case the line somehow has this field not filled out, but the entry still has to be reconciled with a payment that hasn’t yet been recorded, this isn’t a problem anyway; the account is flagged as reconcilable as soon as the import of the move lines requires it.

Account type and Templates matching¶

As the type of the account is not specified in the FEC format, new accounts are created with the default type Current Assets and then, at the end of the import process, they are matched against the installed Chart of Account templates. Also, the reconcile flag is also computed this way.

The match is done with the left-most digits, starting by using all digits, then 3, then 2.

Example

Name	Code	Full comparison	3-digits comparison	2-digits comparison
Template	`400000`	`400000`	`400`	`40`
CompteNum	`40100000`	`40100000`	`401`	`40`
Result				Match found

The type of the account is then flagged as payable and reconcilable as per the account template.

Journals¶

Journals are also checked against those already existing in SotaERP to avoid duplicates, also in the case of multiple FEC files imports.

Should a similar journal code already be present in the system, the existing one is used instead of creating a new one.

New journals have their name prefixed by the string FEC-.

Example

ACHATS -> FEC-ACHATS

The journals are not archived, the user is entitled to handle them as he wishes.

Journal type determination¶

The journal type is also not specified in the format (as per the accounts) and therefore it is at first created with the default type general.

At the end of the import process, the type is determined as per these rules regarding related moves and accounts:

bank: Moves in these journals always have a line (debit or credit) impacting a liquidity account.

cash / bank can be interchanged, so bank is set everywhere when this condition is met.
sale: Moves in these journals mostly have debit lines on receivable accounts and credit lines on tax income accounts.

Sale refund journal items are debit/credit inverted.
purchase: Moves in these journals mostly have credit lines on payable accounts and debit lines on expense accounts.

Purchase refund journal items are debit/credit inverted.
general: for everything else.

Note

A minimum of three moves is necessary for journal type identification.
A threshold of 70% of moves must correspond to a criteria for a journal type to be determined.

Example

Suppose we are analyzing the moves that share a certain journal_id.

Moves	Count	Percentage
that have a sale account line and no purchase account line	0	0
that have a purchase account line and no sale account line	1	25%
that have a liquidity account line	3	75%
Total	4	100%

The journal type would be bank, because the bank moves percentage (75%) exceeds the threshold (70%).

Partners¶

Each partner keeps its Reference from the field CompAuxNum.

Note

These fields are searchable, in line with former FEC imports on the accounting expert’s side for fiscal/audit purposes.

Tip

Users can merge partners with the Data Cleaning App, where Vendors and Customers or similar partner entries may be merged by the user, with assistance from the system that groups them by similar entries.

Moves¶

Entries are immediately posted and reconciled after submission, using the EcritureLet field to do the matching between the entries themselves.

The EcritureNum field represents the name of the moves. We noticed that sometimes it may not be filled out. In this case, the field PieceRef is used.

Rounding issues¶

There is a rounding tolerance with a currency-related precision on debit and credit (i.e., 0.01 for EUR). Under this tolerance, a new line is added to the move, named Import rounding difference, targeting the accounts:

658000 Charges diverses de gestion courante, for added debits
758000 Produits divers de gestion courante, for added credits

Missing move name¶

Should the EcritureNum not be filled out, it may also happen that the PieceRef field is also not suited to determine the move name (it may be used as an accounting move line reference) leaving no way to actually find which lines are to be grouped in a single move, and effectively impeding the creation of balanced moves.

One last attempt is made, grouping all lines from the same journal and date (JournalLib, EcritureDate). Should this grouping generate balanced moves (sum(credit) - sum(debit) = 0), then each different combination of journal and date creates a new move.

Example

ACH + 2021/05/01 –> new move on journal ACH with name 20210501.

Should this attempt fail, the user is prompted an error message with all the move lines that are supposedly unbalanced.

Partner information¶

If a line has the partner information specified, the information is copied to the accounting move itself if the targeted Journal is of type payable or receivable.

Export¶

If you have installed the French fiscal localization package, you should be able to download the FEC. To do so, go to Accounting ‣ Reporting ‣ France ‣ FEC.

Tip

If you do not see the submenu FEC, go to Apps, remove the Apps filter, then search for the module named France-FEC and make sure it is installed.

French Accounting Reports¶

If you have installed the French Accounting, you will have access to some accounting reports specific to France:

Bilan comptable
Compte de résultats
Plan de Taxes France

Get the VAT anti-fraud certification with SotaERP¶

As of January 1st 2018, a new anti-fraud legislation comes into effect in France and DOM-TOM. This new legislation stipulates certain criteria concerning the inalterability, security, storage and archiving of sales data. These legal requirements are implemented in SotaERP, version 9 onward, through a module and a certificate of conformity to download.

Is my company required to use anti-fraud software?¶

Your company is required to use an anti-fraud cash register software like SotaERP (CGI art. 286, I. 3° bis) if:

You are taxable (not VAT exempt) in France or any DOM-TOM,
Some of your customers are private individuals (B2C).

This rule applies to any company size. Auto-entrepreneurs are exempted from VAT and therefore are not affected.

Get certified with SotaERP¶

Getting compliant with SotaERP is very easy.

Your company is requested by the tax administration to deliver a certificate of conformity testifying that your software complies with the anti-fraud legislation. This certificate is granted by SotaERP SA to SotaERP Enterprise users here. If you use SotaERP Community, you should upgrade to SotaERP Enterprise or contact your SotaERP service provider.

In case of non-conformity, your company risks a fine of €7,500.

To get the certification, just follow the following steps:

If you use SotaERP Point of Sale, install the France - VAT Anti-Fraud Certification for Point of Sale (CGI 286 I-3 bis) module by going to Apps, removing the Apps filter, then searching for l10n_fr_pos_cert, and installing the module.
Make sure a country is set on your company, otherwise your entries won’t be encrypted for the inalterability check. To edit your company’s data, go to Settings ‣ Users & Companies ‣ Companies. Select a country from the list; Do not create a new country.
Download the mandatory certificate of conformity delivered by SotaERP SA here.

Note

To install the module in any system created before December 18th 2017, you should update the modules list. To do so, activate the developer mode. Then go to the Apps menu and press Update Modules List in the top-menu.
In case you run SotaERP on-premise, you need to update your installation and restart your server beforehand.
If you have installed the initial version of the anti-fraud module (prior to December 18th 2017), you need to update it. The module’s name was France - Accounting - Certified CGI 286 I-3 bis. After an update of the modules list, search for the updated module in Apps, select it and click Upgrade. Finally, make sure the following module l10n_fr_sale_closing is installed.

Anti-fraud features¶

The anti-fraud module introduces the following features:

Inalterability: deactivation of all the ways to cancel or modify key data of POS orders, invoices and journal entries;
Security: chaining algorithm to verify the inalterability;
Storage: automatic sales closings with computation of both period and cumulative totals (daily, monthly, annually).

Inalterability¶

All the possible ways to cancel and modify key data of paid POS orders, confirmed invoices and journal entries are deactivated, if the company is located in France or in any DOM-TOM.

Note

If you run a multi-companies environment, only the documents of such companies are impacted.

Security¶

To ensure inalterability, every order or journal entry is encrypted upon validation. This number (or hash) is calculated from the key data of the document as well as from the hash of the precedent documents.

The module introduces an interface to test the data inalterability. If any information is modified on a document after its validation, the test will fail. The algorithm recomputes all the hashes and compares them against the initial ones. In case of failure, the system points out the first corrupted document recorded in the system.

Users with Manager access rights can launch the inalterability check. For POS orders, go to Point of Sales ‣ Reporting ‣ French Statements. For invoices or journal entries, go to Invoicing/Accounting ‣ Reporting ‣ French Statements.

Storage¶

The system also processes automatic sales closings on a daily, monthly and annual basis. Such closings distinctly compute the sales total of the period as well as the cumulative grand totals from the very first sales entry recorded in the system.

Closings can be found in the French Statements menu of Point of Sale, Invoicing and Accounting apps.

Note

Closings compute the totals for journal entries of sales journals (Journal Type = Sales).
For multi-companies environments, such closings are performed by company.
POS orders are posted as journal entries at the closing of the POS session. Closing a POS session can be done anytime. To prompt users to do it on a daily basis, the module prevents from resuming a session opened more than 24 hours ago. Such a session must be closed before selling again.
A period’s total is computed from all the journal entries posted after the previous closing of the same type, regardless of their posting date. If you record a new sales transaction for a period already closed, it will be counted in the very next closing.

Tip

For test & audit purposes such closings can be manually generated in the developer mode.
Then go to Settings ‣ Technical ‣ Automation ‣ Scheduled Actions.

Responsibilities¶

Do not uninstall the module! If you do so, the hashes will be reset and none of your past data will be longer guaranteed as being inalterable.

Users remain responsible for their SotaERP instance and must use it with due diligence. It is not permitted to modify the source code which guarantees the inalterability of data.

SotaERP absolves itself of all and any responsibility in case of changes in the module’s functions caused by 3rd party applications not certified by SotaERP.

More Information¶

You can find more information about this legislation in the following official documents.