How much does an accountant cost for a French SCI in 2026?

Quick answer. The cost of an accountant for a French SCI (société civile immobilière) depends above all on its tax regime. An income-tax SCI letting unfurnished property, which files a form 2072 return, requires lighter accounting work: often in the range of EUR 600 to 1,500 excl. VAT per year. A corporate-tax SCI, subject to accrual commercial accounting, building depreciation and a form 2065 return, sits higher, frequently EUR 1,200 to 2,500 excl. VAT per year. Fees are unregulated: these ranges are indicative and vary with the number of properties, lots and partners.

An SCI has, by nature, no employees and no commercial activity. This radically changes the accounting bill compared with a standard operating company. There is generally no payroll, no VAT collected on residential rents, and no inventory to value. The cost therefore concentrates on two blocks: bookkeeping and the filing obligations specific to the chosen tax regime.

What you read here does not repeat the generic fee grid: for pricing principles common to all structures, refer to our full guide to accountant fees in 2026. Here we focus on what drives the price specifically for an SCI. The first factor, by far, is the tax regime.

An income-tax SCI falls under the translucent regime of Article 8 of the French General Tax Code (CGI). The company is not taxed itself: each partner is personally taxed on their share of the result, reported as property income (revenus fonciers). In practice, the SCI files a result return, form 2072 (simplified 2072-S-SD or full 2072-C-SD), and commercial accounting is not, in principle, required by the Commercial Code. Cash-basis accounting often suffices; more formal accounting remains advisable, and may be required by the articles or where a partner is a corporate-tax entity.

A corporate-tax SCI shifts into another world. It must keep accrual commercial accounting, compliant with the French general chart of accounts, exactly like a trading company. It depreciates the building (excluding land, which is not depreciable), deducts actual expenses, and files a tax package built around form 2065 each year. This added burden mechanically explains higher fees. The choice of regime is not neutral: it commits the SCI for a long time, which is why we cover the income-tax versus corporate-tax SCI trade-off separately.

A key warning: the option for corporate tax can be revoked up to the fifth financial year following the one in which it was exercised; beyond that, absent renunciation, it becomes irrevocable. You therefore commit your SCI for the long term, including on the annual accounting cost.

1. Annual bookkeeping. This is the base. For an income-tax SCI letting unfurnished property, the bank journal and tracking of rents and expenses often suffice. For a corporate-tax SCI, you must record accruals, calculate and post depreciation, and justify each entry.
2. Preparing the tax return. Form 2072 for the income-tax SCI; form 2065 and the full tax package for the corporate-tax SCI. The latter takes substantially longer to produce.
3. The number of properties and lots. Each property adds rents to allocate, service charges to track, and sometimes works to capitalise. A single-property SCI costs less than a multi-lot SCI.
4. The number of partners. Allocating the result among partners, tracking partner current accounts and providing individual statements slightly increase the workload.
5. Exceptional transactions. Acquisition, resale, refinancing, gifting of shares, switching to corporate tax: these events generate one-off fees, separate from the annual package.
6. No payroll. This is a genuine saving: an SCI without employees has no payslips or social declarations, items that weigh heavily on an operating company's accounting budget.

Income-tax SCI versus corporate-tax SCI: obligations and indicative cost#

Amounts are indicative; fees are set freely by each firm.

Items and fixed fees: what the engagement covers#

For fixed-fee billing principles, see our article on fixed-fee accounting support and the accountant fee ranges.

Family income-tax SCI with one or two properties. The most common and least costly case. Patrimonial holding is stable, rents are regular, and exceptional events are rare. A moderate annual fixed fee suffices, especially if letting stays unfurnished.

Corporate-tax SCI with building depreciation. Depreciation reduces taxable profit but requires rigorous component-by-component tracking (structure, roof, fittings), with recapture of depreciation on resale. This work justifies a higher fixed fee.

Multi-lot SCI. Several flats, several co-ownerships, sometimes works to capitalise: the volume of entries rises and the fee follows. Complexity, not just the number of properties, sets the price.

SCI letting furnished property. Caution: an SCI letting furnished property carries on a commercial activity and becomes liable to corporate tax as a matter of right, under Article 206-2 of the CGI, whether or not the SCI owns the furniture. It then leaves the property-income regime and enters accrual accounting, with the corresponding cost. To compare regimes upfront, read our analyses as an accountant specialised in SCIs.

Three mistakes recur. First, underestimating the cost of corporate tax: people focus on the depreciation benefit without anticipating the higher annual accounting cost or the taxation of professional capital gains on resale (with depreciation recaptured). Second, switching to furnished letting without measuring the automatic move to corporate tax and its lasting consequences. Third, overlooking the capital-gains distinction: an income-tax SCI falls under the individual real-estate capital-gains regime, with allowances for holding period (income-tax exemption at 22 years, social levies at 30 years); a corporate-tax SCI falls under professional capital gains, without those allowances and with depreciation recaptured. This divergence matters far more than the annual fee gap. Our broader work on the real-estate, SCI and LMNP sector details these trade-offs.

Recently, a family SCI holding two flats let unfurnished entrusted us with its accounting. The file, under income tax, did not warrant a high fixed fee: form 2072, tracking of rents and expenses, allocation of the result between the two partners. The founders hesitated to opt for corporate tax, drawn by depreciation. We costed both scenarios: the annual tax saving under corporate tax was real, but wiped out on resale by depreciation recapture and the loss of holding-period allowances, on top of a higher annual accounting fee.

Our conviction: for an SCI, the cost of an accountant should never be analysed in isolation. It is part of a global wealth equation, where the tax regime set at the outset weighs on fifteen or twenty years. Choosing corporate tax to save a few hundred euros of tax per year, while locking into an almost irrevocable option and a recurring accounting surcharge, is rarely the right call for a long-term patrimonial holding. See also our overview of the missions of an accountant and the tax advantages of an SCI.

Hayot Expertise advice. Before choosing your regime, have both scenarios costed over the real holding period, not over a single year. Ask for a clear fixed fee that separates annual bookkeeping, the return and exceptional transactions. If you are considering furnished letting, build the move to corporate tax into your budget from the start. Our firm, registered with the Order of Chartered Accountants, supports SCIs under both regimes through its bookkeeping and accounts review and our Paris 8 accounting practice.