Accounting support in France

In 2025, France remains one of the most regulated countries in Europe in terms of accounting and reporting. According to INSEE and Banque de France, over 78% of small and medium-sized companies outsource their accounting support, and 54% of startups and newly created companies choose to completely outsource their accounting within the first 3 years. This is due to the strict French GAAP standards, the need for regular reporting, and significant fines for errors.

In this article, I will explain what accounting formats exist in France, how the support process works, what a typical case looks like in practice, and how we help businesses avoid mistakes, fines, and disruptions.

The main types and formats of accounting support in France

Full Accounting Outsourcing

The most common option in 2025. Includes:

• French GAAP accounting;
• bank reconciliation;
• preparation of VAT returns (TVA);
• preparation of annual reports (liasses fiscales);
• tax optimization and planning.

Advantages: minimal burden on the company, full support in audits, access to French expert-comptable.

Mixed Accounting

Part of the accounting is kept by an internal accountant, part by a French external accountant:

• primary and payroll – in-house,
• VAT, annual balance sheet, taxes – external expert.

Internal Accountant

Applied to medium and large businesses. The company hires its own accountant, but still has to sign the final report through an expert-comptable – this is a requirement of French law.

Digital Accounting (partial outsourcing)

Accounting through solutions like Pennylane, Dougs, Indy:

• suitable for microentrepreneurs and SARL with a small number of transactions;
• automation + remote supervision.

Stages of accounting support

Stage 1 — Onboarding and business analysis

We assess:

• business model;
• company form;
• number of transactions;
• presence of VAT obligations (TVA intracommunautaire);
• availability of employees.

Example: e-commerce with 5 thousand transactions/month requires accounting with automatic import from Shopify + integration with the bank.

Stage 2 — Accounting setup

• creation of a chart of accounts (Plan Comptable Général);
• bank connection (Bank feeds);
• CRM/ERP integration.

Stage 3 — Monthly support

• bank posting;
• primary documents;
• invoicing and receivables management;
• preparation and submission of TVA.

Stage 4 — Annual support

• balance sheet (bilan);
• profit and loss statement (compte de résultat);
• liasses fiscales (2050–2059 forms);
• tax planning.

Stage 5 — Audit and inspections

If a company is subject to an audit or receives a request from the tax office (contrôle fiscal), we prepare a full package:

• sales and purchase books,
• bank statements,
• primary income,
• explanation of cash flows.

Typical case

Client: Ukrainian IT company that opened a SARL in Lyon.
Problem: the bank requested confirmation of VAT obligations, and the tax office requested an explanation of the nature of the transactions.

Our steps:

• We converted 312 invoices to French GAAP format.
• We prepared a TVA declaration with clarifications for the previous 3 months.
• We provided the tax office with a fichier des écritures comptables (FEC) — a mandatory electronic file.
• After that, the tax office closed the inspection without penalties.

Result:

• low-risk status maintained,
• corporate credit line opened at bank,
• reduced tax burden by €18,400 due to correct expense allocation.

Support for various forms of companies

SARL / EURL (analog of LLC)

• the most popular form for small businesses;
• annual reporting of medium complexity;
• directors can be employees or associates.

Example: SARL importing cosmetics requires monthly TVA declarations and separate margin accounting.

SAS / SASU (analog of AO)

• flexible management structure;
• often used for startups and ventures;
• more complex payroll model (président has a different status than the director of SARL).

Example: SAS of a startup with 8 employees requires payroll + URSSAF + contribution formation.

Autoentrepreneur (analog of FOP)

• turnover limit: €188,700 (trade) / €77,700 (services) in 2025;
• simplified accounting system, but mandatory storage of checks and bank movements.

Example: marketing consultant – quarterly turnover declaration + micro-BNC mode.

How do we help companies with accounting support in France?

Law firm “Prikhodko & Partners” offers comprehensive support:

1. Full outsourcing of accounting (French GAAP; TVA declarations; annual reports; payroll, URSSAF, CPAM)
2. Audit and preparation for inspections (pre-audit; preparation of FEC; responses to requests from the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques)
3. Selection of a French expert-comptable (we have a partner network of 17 licensed accounting firms in Paris, Lyon, Nice and Bordeaux)
4. Selection of an in-house accountant (search & vetting; CV verification; integration into the client’s internal processes)
5. KIC and international tax issues (In 2025, more than 40% of our French clients had KIC structures. We: model tax consequences; develop compliance mechanisms; prepare reports for the Ukrainian tax authority)
6. Digitalization (we implement Pennylane, Sage, Quickbooks France for automation).

The law firm “Prikhodko and Partners” supports Ukrainian and international businesses in France, ensuring: correct accounting; compliance with French GAAP; tax planning; preparation for audits; support for inspections. Do you want to assess your tax risks in France or receive an individual offer for accounting support? — Write, and we will prepare a step-by-step action map for you.