What is Chorus Pro?

In practice, in France

Electronic invoicing to the French state, local authorities, and public establishments has been mandatory for some time, and Chorus Pro is the channel it runs through. A business that already works with a town hall, a hospital, or a ministry is well used to it.

The confusion worth clearing up: the B2B reform does not replace Chorus Pro. It creates a parallel system for exchanges between private businesses. An SME that invoices both private customers and a local authority will live with both channels, each with its own rules.

In Odoo

Odoo handles submission to Chorus Pro, including the fields specific to public procurement: engagement number, service code, and contract reference.

These fields cannot be guessed — they come from the public entity and must be entered on the customer record or the order. A rejected public-sector invoice is almost always rejected for one of these three fields, not for its format.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the B2B reform makes Chorus Pro obsolete: the two coexist.
• Confusing Chorus Pro with the public invoicing portal, which plays a directory role in the B2B system and serves a different purpose.
• Omitting the engagement number: it is the leading cause of rejection, and it costs weeks of payment delay.