Independent consultant: day rate, costs and optimization in 2026

Quick answer. An independent consultant practices as a sole trader (micro-BNC up to 83,600 EUR of receipts, 34% flat allowance, or full accrual filing) or via a company (EURL, SASU). The average day rate is built backwards from your target net income, grossed up for contributions, tax and costs, then divided by the number of genuinely billable days (often 200 to 220 a year). Choosing an EURL (self-employed manager) or a SASU (employee-equivalent president) drives social protection, contribution cost and dividend taxation.

Consulting today takes many forms: intellectual services billed per day, fixed-price engagements, time-and-materials, or even umbrella employment. Behind these models, three decisions durably shape your net income: legal structure, day-rate setting, and the salary-versus-dividends trade-off.

In 2026 the framework is stable but demanding. The micro-BNC threshold stands at 83,600 EUR of receipts for 2026-2028, with a 34% flat allowance. The VAT registration threshold for services remains 37,500 EUR. The flat tax (PFU) on dividends is 31.4%. One change from the 2026 Finance Act is worth knowing: the option for the progressive income-tax scale is now revocable, which makes the yearly PFU-versus-scale arbitrage more flexible.

Recently, a digital-transformation consultant consulted us after two years under micro-BNC: his growth was pushing him past the thresholds and he hesitated between staying a sole trader, forming an EURL or a SASU. His initial mistake was setting his day rate by aligning with the market, without tying it to his target net income or his real cost ratio. The result: a net income below his expectations once contributions were assessed.

Sole trader (BNC)#

Consulting falls under non-commercial income (BNC). As a sole trader, two regimes coexist:

• Micro-BNC: available as long as your annual receipts stay under 83,600 EUR. The authorities apply a 34% flat allowance (minimum 305 EUR); you are taxed on 66% of receipts. Bookkeeping is limited to a receipts log. In exchange, no actual expenses are deductible.
• Full accrual filing: above the threshold, or by election, you file a 2035 return and deduct actual expenses (rent, equipment, travel, subcontracting, fees). This becomes advantageous as soon as your costs exceed the 34% allowance.

In both cases you are self-employed (TNS) and your business assets are not ring-fenced, unless you rely on the limited-liability sole-trader status that applies by default since 2022.

Operating through a company: EURL or SASU#

Forming a company protects your personal assets and opens the salary-versus-dividends trade-off:

• EURL: the sole-member manager is self-employed. Contributions run roughly 40 to 45% of net remuneration. An EURL held by an individual is subject to income tax by default, with an option for corporate tax.
• SASU: the president is an employee-equivalent (general regime, no unemployment insurance). Contributions on remuneration are heavier, but social protection is closer to that of an executive. The company is subject to corporate tax.

A day rate is not guessed: it is built backwards from your net income target. Here is the method we apply:

1. Set your target annual net income (what you actually want to receive).
2. Add your social contributions: depending on the structure, apply a cost coefficient to remuneration (markedly higher in a SASU than an EURL for the same net).
3. Add tax: income tax or corporate tax, depending on your structure.
4. Add fixed costs and expenses: professional liability insurance, accounting, tools, travel, training, premises.
5. Estimate your genuinely billable days: from 365 days, remove weekends, holidays, public holidays, training, prospecting and bench time. Often 200 to 220 days remain.
6. Divide the total to cover by that number of days: you get the floor day rate below which your target is not met.

This logic protects you from the classic error of thinking in "turnover" rather than "net income available". A headline day rate can look comfortable yet leave, after contributions and costs, a disappointing income.

The decisive split is dividends: in an EURL, the portion of dividends exceeding 10% of capital, share premiums and the partner current account bears self-employed contributions; in a SASU, dividends escape social contributions and bear only the flat tax. A consultant wishing to pay out a large share as dividends will therefore look closely at the SASU, while one prioritising a lower contribution cost on remuneration may prefer the EURL. No answer is universal: it depends on profit level, social-protection needs and the share you actually intend to consume.

Umbrella employment (portage salarial)#

Umbrella employment lets you bill engagements while keeping employee status (payslips, general-regime social protection). In exchange, the umbrella company charges management fees. It is a useful option to test an activity or secure a launch, before moving to your own structure.

Starting out: ACRE and benefits#

At creation, ACRE grants a partial exemption from social contributions in the first year, subject to income conditions. If you are an indemnified jobseeker, you can combine your project with partial retention of the return-to-work allowance (ARE) or opt for the business start-up or takeover aid (ARCE), which pays part of your rights as capital. These schemes combine under conditions: a point to validate precisely before registration.

• Disguised employment: billing a single client, on their premises, under their direction and with their tools, exposes you to reclassification as an employment contract. Secure your independence through multiple clients and organisational autonomy.
• Dividends and the 10% threshold: in an EURL, distributing without watching this threshold triggers unexpected self-employed contributions.
• VAT: under 37,500 EUR of receipts you are exempt (no VAT charged or recovered); above, you become liable for 20% VAT and may deduct it on your costs.
• Provisioning for tax and contributions: an independent must set money aside on every collection, on pain of painful adjustments.

As a chartered accountant registered with the Order, we support many consultants, from a first freelance contract to structuring a consulting firm. One observation recurs: the right structure depends less on dogma than on a personalised three-year calculation.

For the digital-transformation consultant mentioned above, the simulation showed that at his profit level, a SASU with moderate remuneration topped up by flat-taxed dividends left a higher net available than the EURL, while improving his social protection. But the conclusion would have been reversed had he needed to consume his entire result each year: the SASU's heavier contributions on remuneration would then have weighed more.

The right reflex is therefore not to copy a peer's choice, but to connect your day rate, your cost ratio and your need for available income in a quantified projection.

Hayot Expertise advice. Before setting your day rate or choosing your structure, build a three-year simulation including contributions, tax, costs and real billable days. Compare the net available under micro-BNC, EURL and SASU for your activity level, and anticipate the share of remuneration and dividends you wish to consume. A diagnosis ahead of registration avoids costly choices that are hard to correct later.