Chartered accountant fees 2026: simulator and benchmarks by profile

Quick answer. Fees charged by an Ordre-registered French chartered accountant ("expert-comptable") have been freely set since Article 24 of Ordinance no. 45-2138 of 19 September 1945. In 2026, a single-shareholder SASU or EURL without employees ranges between 150 and 350 euros excl. tax per month, a very small business (TPE) between 280 and 600 euros, and an SME above 700 euros monthly. The exact scope must be set out in the engagement letter, governed by Decree no. 2012-432 (Code of Ethics).

The French chartered accounting profession ("expertise comptable") is a regulated liberal profession structured by Ordinance no. 45-2138 of 19 September 1945. That ordinance founded the Ordre des experts-comptables (OEC), granted it a monopoly on bookkeeping, centralisation, opening, verification and rebuilding of third-party accounts, and enshrined the principle of free fee setting. In 2026, the framework remains untouched: no official scale, no regulated tariff, no cap. As a result, prospective clients compare heterogeneous quotes without a clear reading grid.

The market has also been deeply transformed over the past five years. Widespread adoption of collaborative cloud tools (Pennylane, Tiime, Dext, Sage Active, Cegid Loop) has reduced the share of manual data entry, which historically accounted for 40 to 60 percent of billable bookkeeping time. The mandatory e-invoicing reform prescribed by Ordinance no. 2021-1190 and clarified by Decrees 2022-1299 and 2024-266 brings France into an e-invoicing and e-reporting regime starting September 2026 for invoice reception and gradually for issuance, depending on company size. This reform shifts firm value toward review, tax advisory and HR support.

At Hayot Expertise, a firm registered with the Paris Île-de-France Ordre des experts-comptables, we have served Paris-based small and mid-sized businesses for over a decade. We draft around thirty engagement letters every year and we know which lines drive a budget. The purpose of this article is to give you that reading grid, profile by profile, without disclosing internal tariffs but by publishing actual market benchmarks observed in 2026.

The rule is set by Article 24 of Ordinance no. 45-2138: fees are freely set. They must, however, comply with three principles laid down by the Code of Ethics of accounting professionals, introduced by Decree no. 2012-432 of 30 March 2012:

1. Proportionality — the fee must be commensurate with the nature, scope and difficulty of the work performed.
2. Transparency — the engagement letter, which is mandatory, must describe scope, billing model, duration and termination conditions.
3. Dignity of the profession — tariff dumping that would jeopardise service quality is prohibited, as are aggressive commercial practices.

These principles are enforced by Regional Councils of the Ordre (CRO) through their disciplinary authority. Fees are neither subject to a scale nor entirely unbounded: a firm pricing markedly below cost may face observations from its regional chamber.

Professional standards applicable to engagements#

Engagements performed by a chartered accountant are framed by Professional Mastery Standards (NPM) issued by the CNOEC. Three of them shape the priced missions you will compare:

• NP 2300 — Compilation engagement on annual accounts. The accountant compiles the accounts from client-provided documents and issues an attestation. The most common engagement for very small and small businesses.
• NP 2400 — Limited review of annual accounts. Analytical review and moderate assurance. Fees are typically 1.5 to 2 times those of a compilation.
• NP 3100 — Contractual audit. In-depth procedures, reasonable assurance, opinion on accounts. Reserved for specific situations (LBO, sale, structured bank financing).

Each standard implies a different volume of hours and therefore a different fee. When requesting a quote, always ask which standard applies — this is the first transparency check.

Accountant fees are not computed as a percentage of revenue. They are computed as worked hours multiplied by a weighted average hourly rate based on the seniority of staff allocated to your file. In 2026, on the Greater Paris market, observed average hourly rates are:

For a typical TPE file billed at 4,800 euros excl. tax per year, the usual breakdown is: 60 percent of time on entry and lettering by a junior, 25 percent on review by an associate, 10 percent on year-end by a supervisor, 5 percent on signing by the partner. A 49-euro monthly online offer mathematically corresponds to about 30 minutes of junior time per month — impossible to maintain genuine bookkeeping at this volume, which explains the surprise charges at year-end.

Other fee components#

Beyond billable time, four elements shape the fee:

• Professional indemnity insurance — the accountant commits their signature and PII coverage, whose average premium represents 4 to 8 percent of firm revenue.
• Tools — a firm equipped with Pennylane, MyUnisoft or ACD Cegid Loop passes on a technology cost of 30 to 80 euros per file per month.
• Mandatory continuing education — 40 hours per partner per year, funded by the firm.
• Payroll costs of partners and staff — a senior associate at a 42,000 euro gross salary costs the firm about 60,000 euros fully loaded.

This is why a firm cannot sustainably bill below a floor of roughly 2,500 euros excl. tax per year for a minimum file, outside one-off promotional offers.

The following grid consolidates 2026 Île-de-France market observations. Brackets include bookkeeping, review, year-end closing and the corporate tax bundle. Payroll, annual legal duties and one-off advisory are excluded.

The following services are usually billed separately on top of the base package:

• Payslips: 25 to 45 euros excl. tax per slip, 150 to 400 euros setup per collective bargaining agreement.
• Annual legal follow-up (AGM, accounts approval, court filing): 350 to 800 euros excl. tax per year.
• Company incorporation (SASU, SAS, SARL): 800 to 1,800 euros excl. tax in fees plus court and legal-notice costs.
• Statutory amendments: 350 to 800 euros excl. tax per deed.
• URSSAF or tax audit assistance: 150 to 280 euros excl. tax per hour or fixed file fee.
• One-off advisory (executive compensation, financing study, valuation): 1,500 to 6,000 euros excl. tax.

To compare two or three proposals fairly, follow this protocol. Any reputable firm should provide these inputs without resistance.

1. List your exact profile — legal form, tax regime (corporate or income tax), VAT regime (exempt, simplified, normal real), headcount, sector, projected revenue.
2. Count your monthly transactions — number of purchase invoices, sales invoices, expense reports and bank lines over three representative months.
3. Define the desired scope — full bookkeeping, shared bookkeeping via a collaborative tool, or review only based on a FEC (audit file of accounting entries).
4. List peripheral missions — payroll, annual legal duties, tax advisory, monthly VAT, corporate tax, CVAE, DAS2 filings.
5. Ask which professional standard applies — NP 2300 compilation, NP 2400 limited review, or simple bookkeeping without attestation.
6. Require a detailed engagement letter — scope, out-of-scope, hourly rates for additional missions, annual review terms, duration and termination conditions.
7. Compare on total annual cost — sum package + payroll + legal + 10 percent estimated ad-hoc advisory. This figure should be compared across firms, never the headline monthly rate.

The auto-entrepreneur#

An auto-entrepreneur is not required to keep accrual accounts, only a receipts ledger and, where applicable, a purchases register. Engaging a chartered accountant is rarely cost-effective below 60,000 euros of revenue. Annual support for the personal income tax return (form 2042-C-PRO) can be billed at 350 to 700 euros excl. tax, nothing more.

The single-shareholder SASU#

The most common profile among consultants, IT freelancers, coaches and trainers. Observed monthly package between 150 and 280 euros excl. tax for bookkeeping, VAT, balance sheet, form 2065 and the NP 2300 attestation. Above 250,000 euros of revenue or when material dividends are paid, fees rise to 280-350 euros excl. tax as tax advisory becomes recurring.

A growing SME with payroll#

A 25-employee SME with 8 million euros of revenue will sit between 18,000 and 28,000 euros excl. tax per year, payroll included. Payroll alone represents 7,500 to 13,500 euros excl. tax (25 slips x 30 euros x 12 months + setup + final settlements). The engagement may upgrade to a limited review (NP 2400) when the SME seeks structured bank financing.

A BNC liberal professional#

Doctor, lawyer, physiotherapist or BNC consultant: form 2035 is simpler than the 2065 bundle, but tracking professional expenses and dealing with CARPV or CARPIMKO requires dedicated expertise. Annual fee range 1,400 to 2,600 euros excl. tax for activity up to 250,000 euros of receipts.

The wealth holding#

Non-animating holding owning equity interests and generating few banking operations: annual package 1,300 to 2,600 euros excl. tax covering bookkeeping, form 2065, table 2058 and accounts filing. If the holding consolidates, receives management fees or hosts contribution-disposal arrangements (Article 150-0 B ter of the General Tax Code), fees scale up materially.

• Comparing a teaser rate to an all-inclusive package. A firm advertising 49 euros excl. tax per month actually bills payroll, legal, balance sheet, VAT filings and every e-mail exchange exceeding 15 minutes. At equal scope, the gap narrows or reverses.
• Signing without a detailed engagement letter. The absence of an engagement letter triggers the firm's liability but exposes you to unpredictable billing. Decline to start work without a signed document.
• Believing in the "free" chartered accountant. A firm not registered with the Ordre is not a chartered accountant in the legal sense. Illegal practice of the profession is sanctioned under Article L. 410-1 of the Labour Code. Always check Ordre registration via the experts-comptables.fr portal.
• Underestimating payroll cost. In a 4-employee TPE, payroll easily represents half of the annual firm bill. It is often the line that disqualifies a seemingly competitive offer.
• Ignoring annual fee indexation. The engagement letter generally provides for annual indexation. Ask which index applies (Syntec, consumer price index) and cap the mechanism.
• Overlooking termination clauses. Carefully review notice periods and file handover terms. Without a clear clause, terminating an engagement can block recovery of the FEC (audit file of accounting entries) for several weeks.

A director of an events SAS recently approached us after signing an 89-euro monthly online package. The actual annual bill exceeded 7,200 euros excl. tax: the teaser package covered neither monthly VAT, nor payroll for 3 employees, nor legal duties, nor the work of cleaning up accounting that had been inconsistently maintained for 9 months. We took over the file under an all-inclusive 5,400-euro engagement letter, with a single contact and a quarterly KPI review.

This example illustrates our core view: transparency is measured not by the headline rate but by the engagement letter signed and the billable time the firm actually allocates to your file. A 300-euro monthly fee corresponds to roughly 3 hours of senior associate time per month. That is largely sufficient for a well-organised SASU without employees, manifestly insufficient for an 8-employee SME. The decisive criterion is not price but the match between scope and the actual complexity of your business.

We also observe that fully online firms have lowered entry-level pricing for very small files (SASU, freelance, LMNP). Beyond 5 employees, the gap narrows and the quality of the relationship becomes decisive. A director holding two strategic reviews per year with their registered chartered accountant in a human-scale firm typically saves more in tax and social optimisation than they spend in fees.

Hayot Expertise advice. Before signing an engagement letter, always request three items: the professional standard applied (NP 2300, NP 2400 or bookkeeping without attestation), the detailed list of out-of-package services with their hourly or unit rate, and a capped annual review clause. If any of those three is missing or unclear, ask for a redraft before signing. A serious firm will agree without difficulty.

• The chartered accountant fee has been freely set since Ordinance no. 45-2138 of 19 September 1945, with no official scale.
• A single-shareholder SASU or EURL without employees costs between 150 and 350 euros excl. tax per month; a TPE between 280 and 600 euros; an SME above 700 euros monthly.
• The engagement letter, made mandatory by Decree no. 2012-432, must detail scope, out-of-scope, hourly rates, duration and termination terms.
• Three standards frame priced engagements: NP 2300 compilation, NP 2400 limited review, NP 3100 contractual audit.
• Payroll, annual legal duties and one-off advisory are almost always billed on top of the base bookkeeping package.
• Compare quotes on total annual cost (package + payroll + legal + 10 percent ad-hoc advisory), never on the headline monthly teaser rate.