Your questions,
our answers

A proper French accountant must be registered with the Ordre des Experts-Comptables - you can verify any firm on annuaire.experts-comptables.org. Beyond the credentials, look at availability, knowledge of your sector, the digital tools offered and fee transparency. If you don't speak French fluently, make sure the firm can genuinely work in English - as we do at SAREPTA, from our Antibes and Valbonne offices.

Yes, at any time - ideally at the end of your financial year to simplify the handover. The process follows a professional protocol: you terminate your engagement letter (respecting its notice period), we notify the outgoing firm as required by the profession's code of ethics, and we retrieve your file directly from them. We manage this transition end to end, and taking over your file is free. Book a free first meeting to plan it.

Yes. We work in English every day with expatriates, international company founders, freelance consultants and second-home owners on the French Riviera - meetings, emails and explanations of your French obligations, all in English. Our filings to the French administration remain in French, as required. See our dedicated page for English speakers in France.

Fees depend on your legal form, your volume of activity and the services you need (bookkeeping, annual accounts, payroll, advisory). At SAREPTA we always work on a fixed annual retainer established after a first review of your situation - no hourly billing, no hidden fees. The first meeting is free and ends with a personalised, transparent quote.

French law requires every chartered accountant to formalise the relationship in a lettre de mission: it details the services provided, the responsibilities of each party and the fee structure. It protects you - you know exactly what you pay for - and it is the document you terminate (with notice) if you ever change firms.

No - it is not a legal obligation in France. In practice it becomes essential as soon as activity develops: compliant bookkeeping, tax filings and optimization, legal certainty, and delegated responsibility. Only a registered accountant can attest to the regularity of your accounts before banks, investors or the administration.

Every French commercial company (SAS, SASU, SARL, EURL) must keep regular books (journal, general ledger, annual inventory), prepare annual accounts (balance sheet, profit and loss, notes), file a corporate tax return package (liasse fiscale) and deposit its accounts with the commercial court registry. Our accounting service covers all of it.

France is progressively imposing electronic invoicing between French businesses. From September 1, 2026, all VAT-registered companies must be able to receive e-invoices; the obligation to issue them applies on that date to large and mid-size companies, then from September 1, 2027 to SMEs and micro-enterprises. Invoices will flow through accredited platforms. We prepare our clients' compliance ahead of the deadlines.

Accounting books and supporting documents (invoices, contracts, bank statements) must be kept for 10 years from the close of the financial year under the French Commercial Code; tax documents must remain available for 6 years. Digital archiving is legally valid under conditions - our client portal keeps your digitised documents secure and accessible at all times.

Yes. EU and EEA citizens can freely create and run a French company. Non-EU citizens can too, but the formalities depend on their residence situation - some statuses require a specific permit to run a business in France. Our company formation service guides you from entity choice to registration.

The micro-enterprise is the simplest regime for testing a solo activity under revenue thresholds - but social charges are computed on revenue, not profit, and expenses are not deductible. A SASU gives you an employee-like social regime and flexibility for investors; an EURL usually means lower social contributions for the director. The right answer depends on your figures - we run a real simulation before you commit.

Under IS (corporate tax, the default for SAS and SARL), profit is taxed in the company - 25%, with a reduced 15% rate up to €42,500 of profit under conditions - and you control your salary and dividends. Under IR, the result is taxed directly in your hands, which can help in loss-making early years. Some options are hard to reverse; we simulate both before any choice.

Yes - that is how many of our clients work with us daily: documents uploaded to the client portal, electronic signature, video calls and real-time access to your figures. And when a subject deserves a table - annual accounts, a structuring project - you can meet us at our Antibes or Valbonne (Sophia Antipolis) offices.

For an existing company: articles of association and Kbis, the latest tax return package and annual accounts, general ledger and trial balance, current VAT filings, employment contracts and recent pay slips if you employ staff, and your previous firm's contact details for the professional handover. For a company formation: ID, proof of registered address and the elements of your project. We give you a personalised checklist at the first meeting.

Yes. French chartered accountants are bound by professional secrecy on everything they learn in the course of their work - figures, projects, remuneration. The firm also carries mandatory professional civil liability insurance and is supervised by the Ordre des Experts-Comptables. Your data is protected both legally and ethically.