Becoming a Freelancer: Status, Charges and First Steps

Becoming a freelancer is not just about filling in a registration form. In the files we support, the real issue is never administrative: it is knowing whether the activity holds up economically, which status will not penalise you in eighteen months, and how to avoid discovering your contributions the day URSSAF claims them. This article follows the path in the order in which it is actually lived, with up-to-date 2026 figures and the trade-offs we see most often.

To become a freelancer, first validate viability (day rate, billable days, start-up cash), choose a status that fits your volume (micro-enterprise to start, a company once revenue and costs rise), register the activity on the INPI single window to obtain a SIRET, then invoice and set aside contributions and tax from the first euro. In a micro-enterprise, the overall social contributions rate on BNC service activities affiliated to the general scheme is 25.6% of revenue as of 1 January 2026.

The most common mistake is not choosing the wrong status. It is choosing a status before checking that the activity generates enough income. A freelancer is paid for what they invoice, not for what they work: prospecting, training, admin and quiet periods are not billed.

Three questions to settle before any formality:

• How many days can you realistically invoice per year? For consulting work, you rarely go beyond 180 to 200 billable days, the rest going to prospecting, admin and rest.
• What net income are you aiming for? This is the starting point for setting your day rate, not a consequence of it.
• What cash do you have to start? First invoices are collected with a 30 to 60 day lag, sometimes more. A three-to-six-month working capital buffer prevents you from underselling your first assignments.

Our view: a freelancer who starts without having tested their offer on a first assignment takes a risk that no legal status will fix. When possible, validate real demand before leaving salaried employment, for example by combining a first assignment with your job or during your notice period.

There is no best status in the absolute. There is a status suited to a level of activity, a cost structure and a long-term plan.

The micro-enterprise: simple, but capped#

The micro-enterprise remains the most common entry point. Lighter accounting, contributions calculated as a percentage of collected revenue, online declaration: it is the fastest format to set up. Its limits appear with growth.

The annual revenue ceilings in 2026 are 203,100 euros for resale and 83,600 euros for services and BNC liberal professions. Beyond that, you move to an actual-basis regime.

On contributions, the micro-entrepreneur rate for services and unregulated liberal professions (BNC) affiliated to the general scheme is 25.6% of revenue as of 1 January 2026. This rate, initially announced at a higher level, was lowered to 25.6% by decree no. 2025-943 of 8 September 2025. Resale activities and regulated liberal professions under another fund apply different rates: check yours according to your exact activity.

The point often forgotten: in a micro-enterprise, actual expenses are not deductible. The contribution percentage applies to revenue, whether or not you incurred costs. If your activity involves significant purchases, subcontracting or heavy travel, this format quickly becomes penalising.

The company (EURL, SASU): heavier, but manageable#

As soon as revenue rises, actual costs are high, or you want to finely manage your pay and social protection, the single-member company regains the advantage. The EURL and SASU allow you to deduct actual expenses, balance pay and dividends and structure a longer-term project.

The trade-off is known: full accounting, heavier reporting obligations, higher running costs. This is precisely where accounting support makes a difference.

Trade-off: the micro-enterprise wins at start-up and as long as costs are low. The company becomes relevant when revenue approaches the ceilings, when your real costs exceed the flat-rate allowance, or when social protection and transmission enter the equation. The switch is planned, not endured.

As long as you stay under the basic exemption thresholds, you do not charge VAT and do not reclaim it. In 2026, these thresholds are 85,000 euros for sales and 37,500 euros for services, with increased thresholds of 93,500 euros and 41,250 euros. Above the increased threshold, VAT applies without waiting for the following year.

The exemption is comfortable at start-up, but it has a downside we always flag: as long as you do not charge VAT, you also do not reclaim it on your purchases. For an activity with investments or heavy expenses, voluntarily leaving the exemption can be a rational choice. The matter deserves a calculation, not a reflex.

The day rate is not copied from a peer. It is built from your target net income, working back up the chain of deductions and unbilled time.

In practice, the logic is as follows:

1. Start from your target annual net income.
2. Add social contributions (in a micro-enterprise, 25.6% of revenue for BNC services under the general scheme in 2026), then income tax.
3. Add your real business expenses (software, insurance, travel, equipment).
4. Divide the total by a conservative number of billable days (rarely more than 180 to 200 per year).

Common case: the beginner's day rate set too low#

A consultant aiming for 40,000 euros net per year, basing it on 200 billable days, quickly finds, once contributions, tax and expenses are added, that the required day rate is well above their initial intuition. The classic trap is to reason in terms of an equivalent salaried income and to forget that the freelancer self-funds their social protection, tools and assignment-free periods. A day rate set too low is hard to recover: clients negotiate down, never up.

Once viability is validated and the status chosen, the registration formality goes through the INPI single window. There you declare your activity, choose your regime and obtain a SIRET number, essential to invoice, open a dedicated account and start your declarations.

Two tax options to know from the outset:

• ACRE, which gives entitlement to a partial exemption from social contributions in the first year, subject to conditions. In a micro-enterprise, it reduces the rate applicable in the first year.
• The income tax flat-rate payment (versement liberatoire), which lets you pay tax alongside contributions, subject to a reference taxable income condition. It is not always advantageous: it deserves a simulation.

The operational start comes down to a few disciplines:

• Invoice correctly. A freelance invoice carries mandatory information (identity, SIRET, date, continuous numbering, description, amount, VAT or exemption statement). Clean numbering from the first invoice avoids corrections.
• Open a dedicated account. Even when not strictly mandatory, separating professional and personal flows simplifies all monitoring and declarations.
• Declare on time. In a micro-enterprise, the revenue declaration is monthly or quarterly, even at zero.
• Set aside from the first euro. Put the contribution percentage and estimated tax aside on a separate account. This is the rule that prevents the most cash-flow surprises.

The underestimated risk: the gap between collected revenue and contributions called. A freelancer who spends all their receipts ends up short of cash when contributions fall due. Setting aside is not an option, it is the condition for surviving the first year.

• The VAT exemption thresholds (85,000 / 37,500 euros) and the micro ceilings (203,100 / 83,600 euros): crossing them changes your obligations mid-year.
• The contribution rate applicable to your exact activity: 25.6% for BNC services under the general scheme, but other rates for resale and regulated professions.
• The e-invoicing timetable: receiving electronic invoices will become mandatory for all businesses from 1 September 2026, with issuance phased in afterwards by size.

• Estimate the target day rate from the net income sought, contributions and expenses.
• Calculate a realistic number of billable days (180 to 200 max).
• Build a start-up cash buffer of three to six months.
• Choose the status suited to the volume (micro or company) and check it against the ceilings.
• Decide on ACRE and the flat-rate tax payment after simulation.
• Register the activity on the INPI single window and obtain the SIRET.
• Open a dedicated bank account.
• Set up compliant, numbered invoicing.
• Set aside contributions and tax from the first receipt.