Forge log
Forge log
What shipped, what was fixed and what I learned, dated. Numbers too, when they help.
Follow the log by RSS (feed in French) Get each log entry in the Forge Log-
Release
Free AI diagnoses open (in French)
A French page presents the free AI diagnosis: a 20-minute video call to find where AI would save a small business time, and what to secure first. You first answer a 5-minute questionnaire; I get back to you within 48 hours. The Forge Log now states its real pace: 2 emails a month.
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Release
The Kits are available
The Late Payment Pack Pro (€9 incl. VAT), the International Freelance Kit (€39 incl. VAT) and the Kit + Pack offer (€44 incl. VAT) are on sale, in version 2.0: 2027 VAT wording included. Polar, the official seller, handles payment and invoicing; download is instant.
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Release
Two new partner links: LegalPlace and Pennylane
On the French pages only. LegalPlace appears at the end of the French guide on setting up a micro-entreprise, after the free route. The Pennylane links in the French software comparison and approved-platform guide become partner links: the order of the tables does not change. Each link carries the “Partner link” label.
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Release
Guide: which approved e-invoicing platform as a micro-entrepreneur
The guide of 6 October now exists in English: what an approved platform (plateforme agréée) is, the criteria that matter when you work alone, and how to choose. Same sources as the French version.
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Release
Guide: a business bank account for a French micro-entrepreneur
The guide of 8 October now exists in English, adapted for a reader settling in France: when a dedicated account becomes compulsory, and three offers read on 8 October 2026. Same sources as the French version.
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Release
Guide (in French): setting up a micro-entreprise in 2026
A new French-language guide. The free route first: the declaration on the official one-stop shop, the documents, how long the SIRET and the Urssaf registration take, turnover ceilings and the VAT exemption, read on 13 October 2026 on service-public.gouv.fr, Urssaf and INPI. With the publisher's own dates: filed on 6 October, SIRET received on the 11th.
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Release
Guide: invoicing a client in France from the US or UK
For freelancers and agencies based outside France: what a French client expects on the invoice, VAT (Directive 2006/112/EC, Articles 44 and 196), currency, e-invoicing on the client's side and late payment. Sources: EUR-Lex, Légifrance, impots.gouv.fr, read on 13 October 2026.
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Fix
VAT 2027: the right reference is art. L. 233-3 du CIBS
From 6 to 9 October, our tools and guides announced “art. L. 223-3 du CIBS” for invoices issued from 1 January 2027. That was the number in the December 2025 ordinance; the ordinance of 27 July 2026 renumbered it to L. 233-3 before it came into force. Generators, Factur-X, guides, Radar and checklist are corrected. Invoices dated before 2027 keep the art. 293 B du CGI wording and were not concerned. The former CGI reference remains accepted until 30 June 2028.
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Release
Guide: the Factur-X invoice, what it is and how to create one
A readable PDF with an XML file inside: what a Factur-X invoice holds, how it differs from an e-invoice under the French reform, the five profiles according to FNFE-MPE, and four steps to create one with the generator, in the EN 16931 profile. We did not find the minimum profile accepted for issuing on impots.gouv.fr: the guide says so and points to the approved platform.
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Release
Reminder letter: 3 email templates and a schedule, by email
Under the reminder letter generator, you can ask for the reminder schedule and 3 ready-to-send emails, from a polite nudge to the final reminder before formal notice. You get them once your email is confirmed, along with the newsletter, which you can leave in one click.
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Release
Four partner links: Indy, Tiime, Abby, Shine
Links to Indy, Tiime, Abby and Shine are now partner links: Clairsmith may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Each one carries the “Partner link” mention and opens in a new tab, with no tracking script or pixel. The order of the comparisons does not change. On the French invoice generator, an Indy block appears after an export; “Masquer” removes it on this browser, where that choice is saved.
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Release
Reminders, quotes, day rate: guidance under each tool
Under the reminder letter: the three levels, how a formal notice differs, late-payment penalties and the €40 fee (French Commercial Code, art. L441-10, business clients). Under the quote: what to include and the validity period. Under the day rate calculator: the formula and a worked example. The three page titles now use the words people search for.
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Release
Guide (in French): a bank account for a micro-entrepreneur
A new French-language guide: when a dedicated bank account becomes mandatory (from day one for a trading activity, or above €10,000 in turnover two calendar years in a row), with the legal articles read on Légifrance, and three offers read on the BoursoBank, Qonto and Shine websites on 8 October 2026. Checklist FRL·008 gains a “dedicated account” box and moves to 1.4.
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Release
Guide: French invoice requirements, the 2026 checklist
Every detail a French invoice must show, explained for freelancers and clients from abroad, with the four e-invoicing details due in 2027, the VAT wording that changes on 1 January 2027 and an annotated example. Each rule links to its official source.
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Release
Guide (in French): choosing an approved e-invoicing platform
A new French-language guide: seven criteria for choosing an approved platform (plateforme agréée), and five free offers read on the publishers' sites on 6 October 2026: Indy, Tiime, Abby, Pennylane, Dougs. All five are on the tax administration's official list (22 September 2026 version). Checklist FRL·008 gains an “approved platform” box and moves to 1.3.
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Release
On-device memory: your details carried from one invoice to the next
The invoice and quote generators can now remember, in your browser only, your seller details, your client book, your frequent services and your numbering: next time, the seller is filled in, the client suggested after a few letters and the next number proposed. No account and nothing sent; .json backup, import and one-click erase.
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Release
Client details filled in from the SIREN
In the invoice and quote generators, the “Check and fill” button looks up a French client's SIREN in the Annuaire des entreprises (the French government's public API) and fills in its registered name, head-office address and VAT number, calculated from the SIREN. A closed or unknown business is flagged. Only the SIREN is sent, on click, straight to the government service: nothing goes through Clairsmith. Checklist FRL·008 moves to 1.2 (2027 VAT wording, changed the same day).
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Research
VAT 2027: the exemption wording follows the invoice date
On 1 January 2027, French VAT moves from the General Tax Code to the Code of taxes on goods and services. The invoice and quote generators now read the exemption wording from a single dated, sourced data file and pick it from the issue date: “art. 293 B du CGI” until 31 December 2026, “art. L. 233-3 du CIBS” after that. Radar entry and 2027 checklist updated.
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Fix
V2.1: redirects, newsletter, structured data
Every old address now redirects, with or without a trailing slash; counters no longer leave stray digits in pages; the 2027 checklist is open to all; the newsletter has its own page; sitemap, structured data and titles reworked, checked automatically on every update (check:seo).
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Release
Day rate, late-payment and reminder engines tested on every change
The day rate, late-payment interest and reminder letter maths now live outside the pages and are tested on every update (test:outils), as is the Factur-X reader, now checked against the test invoices.
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Release
V2 specification
V2 is specified: brand platform, identity, copy, and structured data for pieces, the Radar and this log.
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Research
Late-payment rates for the second half of 2026 checked against the official source
French legal interest rate for business creditors: 2.75% (decree published in the Journal officiel, Légifrance). ECB rate on 1 July 2026: 2.40% (Banque de France). The calculator and the invoice generator now default to 12.40% (ECB + 10 points), with an 8.25% floor between businesses and the €40 fixed indemnity.
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Release
Clairsmith V2 is live: new identity, Radar, Method
New identity (the stamp, serial numbers, dimension lines), Radar, Method and Forge log pages, tools moved to the new interface, kits and content pages on the same template.
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Release
Free service agreement template and new guides
A free service agreement template in English and French, a comparison of invoicing software, and two guides: unpaid invoices and clients abroad.
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Release
English newsletter and explicit consent
English pages now have their own sign-up form, and the consent checkbox is now passed on to Brevo.
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Fix
Payment webhook tested and explicitly on hold
The payment webhook is tested on every change and now answers 503 (instead of 500) until it is configured; sales remain closed.
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Release
A framework for working with AI
Project rules and review agents (quality, compliance, SEO, copy) are written down in the repository: AI assists, and every release is still reviewed and approved by Clément.
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Fix
Pre-launch audit: English URLs and redirects
English pages move to English URLs, with permanent redirects from the old ones; hreflang links and the sitemap are fixed.
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Release
Late Payment Pack and Kit: ready, sales closed
The Late Payment Pack pages and Polar checkout are in place, but nothing is on sale until the business registration number is issued: no buy button is shown.
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Release
Late-payment interest calculator
The calculation is exact to the cent, based on the rate you enter, with the full working and a direct link to the reminder letter.
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Release
E-invoicing checklist
A printable checklist to prepare for e-invoicing, offered after signing up to the newsletter.
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Release
Quote generator
A quote generator built on the invoice engine, with a validity period, an acceptance block and a one-step conversion into an invoice.
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Release
Guides, the newsletter and the International Kit page
First guides in French and English, a newsletter sign-up form with no third-party script, and the International Freelance Kit page, not yet on sale.
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Release
Factur-X reader
Drop a Factur-X PDF or a CII XML file: the reader shows the parties, lines, VAT and totals without sending anything. It does not check whether the invoice is compliant.
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Release
Payment reminder letters and formal notice
Three reminder levels and a formal notice, to copy or print as a PDF.
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Release
V1: clairsmith.app domain, legal texts, home page
The site moves to clairsmith.app with a central configuration, final legal texts, a new home page, an About page and a bilingual 404 page.
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Fix
The day-rate calculator shows its result again
In production, the Content Security Policy blocked the calculator script, so no result appeared. Scripts are now served as external files, with the CSP unchanged.
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Fix
Invoice generator fixed on mobile
Invoice lines made the page too wide on phones. They now stack on small screens, and every field has an accessible label.
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Release
Factur-X EN 16931 (engine tested with Mustang)
For French invoices, the generator builds a Factur-X PDF (EN 16931 profile) in your browser, without going through a server. The engine is tested on every change with Mustang and veraPDF, against test invoices and deliberately broken files.
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Release
Day-rate calculator
First piece shipped: the day-rate calculator, which runs entirely in the browser.
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Release
Invoice generator for France, the UK and the US
A fully in-browser invoice generator with the notes each country requires (including the French VAT exemption scheme) and a printable preview.
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Release
First version of the site
The bilingual site goes up (Astro, Cloudflare Pages) with legal pages and security headers, then takes the name Clairsmith.
No entry for this piece.