FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do you have a question about the certification process, a particular certification, a label or a training couCSR?
Find the most frequently asked questions by theme. If you can't find the answer to your question, please don't hesitate to contact us.
QUESTIONS ABOUT
Certification by INFOCERT.
INFOCERT is the French specialist in software certification.
As the technical secretariat of AFNOR Certification and an inspection body, INFOCERT develops numerous NF marks, a guarantee of quality, safety and trust, including NF525, which provides a lasting competitive advantage.
INFOCERT has hundreds of certified partners all over the world, from world-renowned publishers to smaller companies with integrated IT departments.
Certification is a procedure whereby an independent body - recognized by accreditation - guarantees that a product, service, system, process, etc. meets a set of requirements.
The organization then issues a certificate of compliance.
A certificate of conformity enables you to justify that an independent and impartial third party has, at a given moment and according to specific requirements, certified that your product, service, system, etc. complies with a regulation, standard, etc.
The NF mark is one of Europe's leading certification marks .
Its mission is to help consumers make better choices and consume better, and to guarantee them a level of excellence in products and services certified to NF standards, validated by the sector's stakeholders.
The INFOCERT mark is a certification mark awarded after INFOCERT obtained COFRAC accreditation for its certification activities, in particular for the certification of Electronic Archiving Software.
The right to use an NF mark is a right of use which is collected, generally annually, for the implementation of :
- Defending the accreditation mark - against misuse, etc.
- Promotion of the accreditation mark - in France and internationally.
- How the accreditation mark works.
This third-party verification will give you peace of mind when it comes to enforcing regulations, and protect you from potential sanctions. This is particularly true for NF525, in the event of tax audits being carried out on your customers' premises.
Certification of your software will enable you to improve your commercial visibility by benefiting from the reputation of the NF mark, but also to justify the quality and excellence of your product, service, system, etc.
Using certified software enables you to meet regulatory requirements, and gives you peace of mind thanks to the presumption of conformity linked to INFOCERT's intervention as a third-party witness.
On the other hand, choosing "self-tested" software means you run the risk of the publisher's conflict of interest (as both judge and jury).
The Compliance WG is a working group that meets remotely, once a month, with the aim of :
- Update NF203 certification standards.
- Update NF525 certification standards.
- Monitor software regulations and legal requirements.
- Prepare for future tax and accounting reforms.
- Take part in meetings with external speakers - DGFiP, etc.
- Keep abreast of future developments and certification issues.
Bringing together over 50 companies, software publishers and professional associations, it's a great way to keep abreast of the latest news and upcoming changes.
QUESTIONS ABOUT
The software certification process.
- Validation of expectations and certification scope.
- Enrolment in the certification process - return of signed quotation and payment of first part of quotation.
- Participation in a training session to anticipate compliance work.
- Compliance of your software with our certification rules.
- Compliance audit.
- Send audit report and decide on software compliance.
- Implementation of annual monitoring.
To be certified is to be part of a process of transparency, improvement and continuous evolution of your software.
The duration of the process is linked to the time it will take you to bring your software into compliance with the specifications. This time can vary from 1 to several months, and a certificate of effective progress can be sent to you while your product is being brought into compliance.
The certification audit generally lasts two days.
The cost of certification depends on the specifics of your software and the certification you are aiming for, so please contact us for more information.
The cost of certification includes: the price of the specifications, the work done upstream - analysis and management of the application, management of schedules, etc., participation in the training couCSR, the cost of the audit, the audit report, the administrative processing of compliance, and the issue of the certificate.
The validity of your certificate of conformity is renewed every year, thanks to continuous monitoring - an average of one audit day, depending in particular on functional changes to your software and/or regulations.
In the event of legislative changes, changes to the reference system or a major new version of your software, the duration of the audit may be extended as required.
As soon as your registration has been formalized, you will receive an attestation of effective progress, if you wish, to prove that you have entered the certification process.
Pending compliance and certification, you can then start justifying your registration to potential customers, for example.
Yes, certification rules are available for purchase.
If you would like a quotation for the certification rules, please contact us at contact@infocert.org.
QUESTIONS ABOUT
Electronic invoicing reform.
In France, all companies will be affected by this reform. By January 1, 2026, all companies will be obliged to issue and receive dematerialized invoices.
This reform will shake up the habits of all companies.
E-invoicing is synonymous with the end of paper. Soon, to retrieve or send an invoice from or to a supplier, you'll have to deposit / retrieve the invoice directly from a dematerialization platform, and this invoice will have to meet certain criteria that will make it a structured file, no longer a PDF invoice.
The reform has several objectives.
- The first stems from a European directive on VAT, and aims to reduce and combat VAT fraud.
- The second objective is to simplify business life and boost competitiveness by reducing the administrative burden.
- The third objective is to improve real-time knowledge of business activity.
- And last but not least, the dematerialization of invoices will also make it possible to reduce reporting costs and facilitate declarations with, in time, pre-filling.
To prepare for the introduction of electronic invoicing, INFOCERT advises all companies to either obtain certification to help them prepare their software for the reform - NF203 and/or NF525 for example.
INFOCERT also offers training couCSRs to help you and your teams prepare for the roll-out of this reform.
Obligation to receive electronic invoices :
- September1, 2026 for ALL French companies.
Obligation to issue electronic invoices :
- September1, 2026 for large and mid-sized companies,
- Then on September1, 2027 for other companies - small, medium-sized and micro-businesses.
E-invoicing is the sending of invoice data - only for business-to-business sales in France - via an information flow. It represents the end of paper, replaced by a structured file.
E-reporting is the sending of data not to professionals, but to the authorities , for reporting purposes. The concept of e-reporting underpins several subjects, including the transmission of sales to private individuals.
QUESTIONS ABOUT
POS Software certification.
NF525 certification is the solution developed by INFOCERT and AFNOR Certification in response to the so-called "anti-VAT fraud" law.
In order to comply with this law, INFOCERT, in conjunction with AFNOR Certification, has developed a set of standards which, in addition to the 4 conditions for certification of cash management software - Inalterability, Security, Data Retention and Archiving (ISCA)- include the main regulatory requirements in terms of accounting, taxation, control of computerized accounting, commercial law, etc.
As a reminder, in the event of the use of software that does not comply with regulatory requirements, Article L-80 of the Book of Tax Procedures provides for the following penalties:
- A fine of €7,500 per collection system and 30 days to comply. Then another €7,500 fine and another 30 days, and so on. And all this, up to and including rejection of the accounts.
- The user will also have to pay all fees corresponding to non-compliant receipts plus an 80% penalty forfraudulent maneuvering.
- For the publisher or integrator, the fine is 15% of sales, and the user is liable for joint and several payments.
The law makes it a criminal offence to issue a false attestation or certificate, punishable by 3 years' imprisonment and a €45,000 fine.
An NF525-certified product must enable: secure recording of cash receipt data, electronic signature of voucher records, printing of the signature and certificate number on the ticket, creation of a technical event log, archiving and storage of cash receipt data, absence of functions that hide cash receipt data, etc.
Certification of your software to NF525 will ensure that your software is state-of-the-art in terms of what is expected of cash management software, and that it will evolve in line with the criteria expected by e-reporting.
QUESTIONS ABOUT
PDP certification
The PDP Ready label was created in response to the need to receive a compliance audit report enabling the definitive registration of Partner Dematerialization Platforms (PDPs).
To provide PDPs with the audit report they need, iNFOCERT has launched the PDP Ready label. Following an audit in several phases, the labeled PDP will receive its report, which it can submit for final registration of its Platform.
The PDP compliance audit conducted by INFOCERT will follow a step-by-step procedure, with validation of certain expectations as part of a "PDP compliance trajectory" program.
As such, the audit procedure will consist of :
- an admissibility phase,
- a meeting to launch and validate the audit program,
- the transmission of an attestation of start-up in the PDP compliance path,
- sending an audit plan,
- of four successive audit parts,
- a certificate of compliance is sent out, indicating the company's progress towards compliance,
- a full report and a notice of compliance.
The compliance audit of partner dematerialization platform candidates is divided into 4 phases, during which various modules will be evaluated.
CONTACT US
If you have any questions on a training, labeling or certification project, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Quick links
- (+33) 1.40.17.04.05
- contact@infocert.org
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