Missions of a Chartered Accountant in 2026 — Complete Catalogue

Updated 12 May 2026. For a Paris-based director, hiring a chartered accountant (expert-comptable) is not an indivisible commission. The profession covers sixteen distinct services, four of which are strictly governed by Professional Standards (NEP — Normes d'Exercice Professionnel) issued by the Higher Council of the Order of Chartered Accountants, and twelve falling under specialised advisory regulated by the code of ethics. Each engagement requires its own engagement letter (article 11 of Ordinance No. 45-2138 of 19 September 1945), with a written scope, identified deliverables and negotiated fees. This catalogue allows you to arbitrate: order a single targeted mission, a bundle of complementary services, or an extended outsourced CFO engagement. The fee ranges shown are those we observe in Paris in 2026, outside atypical cases.

Article 2 of the 1945 Ordinance — qualification of the chartered accountant#

Article 2 of Ordinance No. 45-2138 of 19 September 1945 sets the professional qualification: "the chartered accountant is registered on the Order's roll and, as such, qualified to review and assess the accounts of companies and bodies to which they are not bound by an employment contract". This text underpins the whole catalogue: reviewing and assessing accounts are reserved activities, and the chartered accountant carries professional civil liability on every signed deliverable. No mission may be carried out by a non-registered third party, save for strictly framed exceptions (approved management centres, accounting and management associations). Registration entails a professional indemnity insurance policy, an Order fee, and compliance with Decree No. 2012-432 of 30 March 2012 in its revised form.

Engagement letter required (article 11)#

Article 11 of the 1945 Ordinance and the code of ethics mandate the signature of a written engagement letter before any work begins. The letter specifies the exact scope, the level of assurance provided (none, moderate, reasonable), the expected deliverables, the timeline, the fees, the termination terms and the reciprocal obligations of the client. Without an engagement letter, the chartered accountant faces a disciplinary sanction from the Order, and the client faces a weakening of the evidential value of the deliverables. One engagement letter per service: if you order a financial statement compilation, a payroll mission and tax advice, you sign three distinct documents or one framework letter articulating the three scopes.

Prohibited combination with statutory audit (article 7)#

Article 7 of the 1945 Ordinance and article 22 of the code of ethics establish a major incompatibility: a chartered accountant may not perform a bookkeeping, review or compilation mission for an entity where they serve as statutory auditor. This rule preserves the auditor's independence. In practice, a mixed expertise/audit firm must separate teams and organisations. This boundary is enforced by H2A (France's High Audit Authority, formerly H3C since 2024). The institutional details are covered in our analysis of the Order of Chartered Accountants.

Compilation engagement (NEP 3300)#

The compilation engagement is the most frequent service for small businesses and SMEs outside the scope of statutory audit. Codified by NEP 3300, it consists of preparing the annual accounts from elements provided by the company, implementing coherence and plausibility procedures, an analytical review and a discussion with the director. No assurance is given on the accounts — the mission is not an audit. The deliverable is the compilation report, which explicitly mentions the absence of assurance. Small business fee in Paris in 2026: between €1,500 and €5,000 excluding VAT per year depending on document volume and activity complexity. SME fee: between €5,000 and €15,000 excluding VAT per year. This mission is generally bundled with bookkeeping and routine tax work to form a comprehensive offering.

Review engagement (NEP 2400)#

The review engagement, codified by NEP 2400, mobilises lighter audit procedures: discussion, in-depth analytical review, confirmation requests to third parties. It leads to moderate assurance, expressed negatively ("nothing has come to our attention that leads us to believe that the accounts are not regular and fair"). The deliverable is the review report. Paris fee in 2026: between €5,000 and €25,000 excluding VAT depending on entity size. This mission is the right economic trade-off for a company outside the statutory audit scope but needing to produce accounts with enhanced credibility — bank renewing a credit line, investor in due diligence, commercial partner with strict requirements.

Conventional audit and bookkeeping/review/supervision#

The conventional audit is a contractual full-audit mission, distinct from the statutory audit of a commissaire aux comptes. Reasonable assurance, full procedures (confirmations, physical observations, control tests), report with opinion. Fee: €10,000 to €50,000 excluding VAT per year depending on size. It is "audit-like" without the legal dimension and without public-interest communication. The bookkeeping, review or supervision engagement, based on article 2 of the Ordinance, covers three levels. Full bookkeeping (entry posting, reconciliation, filings) is invoiced between €200 and €800 excluding VAT per month for a Paris small business. Review (critical review of accounts maintained internally by the client) is invoiced between €1,500 and €5,000 excluding VAT per year. Supervision (periodic oversight without posting) is rarer today due to accounting tool automation, and remains confined to mature structures with an internal accounting team. The operational execution detail is covered in our analysis of the chief accountant role and the cycle mechanics are explained in the financial year in connection with accounting principles.

Auditor of contributions in SAS (L227-1 para. 5 CC)#

The auditor of contributions (commissaire aux apports) is appointed when forming an SAS or increasing capital through in-kind contributions (article L227-1 paragraph 5 of the Commercial Code). Their mission is to value the contributions — real estate, business goodwill, securities, patents — and to flag any overvaluation risk that could harm shareholders or creditors. The appointment is mandatory as soon as the value of an in-kind contribution exceeds €30,000 or represents more than 50 % of share capital after the operation. Paris fee in 2026: between €1,500 and €10,000 excluding VAT depending on asset complexity. The deliverable is the contributions valuation report, filed with the registry as part of the incorporation or statutory amendment file. A chartered accountant registered on the Order's roll may be appointed auditor of contributions, alongside statutory auditors.

Auditor of transformation#

The auditor of transformation intervenes when a corporate form is changed: SARL transformed into SAS (article L223-43 CC), SAS transformed into SA (article L227-3 CC), SA transformed into another form (article L225-244 CC). Their mission is to verify that equity is at least equal to share capital, and more broadly to issue a report on the company's situation at the transformation date. Paris fee in 2026: between €800 and €5,000 excluding VAT depending on entity size. Appointment is made by shareholders unanimously or, failing that, by court decision.

Fees and timelines#

For these two one-off missions, intervention typically runs two to six weeks between the engagement letter signature and the report filing. The quote depends on three variables: the nature of the contributed assets or equity to validate, the availability of documentation (title deeds, leases, customer contracts, loan agreements), and the complexity of the legal perimeter (consolidated group, holding, foreign structure). For a director in a structuring phase, these missions are often coupled with annual legal advice and a wealth audit — a topic we cover in our guide to setting up and structuring a business.

Free valuation under CSOEC framework#

Business or goodwill valuation is a free mission, executed under a specific engagement letter. The Higher Council of the Order publishes a multi-method framework: asset-based approach (revalued net assets), flow-based approach (DCF, capitalisation of earnings), comparable-based approach (transaction multiples, stock market multiples). The chartered accountant produces a valuation report presenting the retained range, the methods applied and the underlying assumptions. Paris fee in 2026: between €3,000 and €15,000 excluding VAT for a small business or SME. This mission is the prerequisite step for any sale or transmission. The methodological detail is covered in our guide to goodwill valuation.

Vendor Due Diligence (VDD)#

Financial VDD is a pre-sale audit commissioned by the seller to produce a deliverable enforceable against potential buyers and to shorten the negotiation timeline. The chartered accountant analyses the past three financial years, restates non-recurring items (normative EBITDA), examines net cash, off-balance-sheet commitments and revenue quality. Paris fee in 2026: between €20,000 and €100,000 excluding VAT depending on target size and required depth of analysis. The standard deliverable is a 40-to-120-page VDD report, accompanied by a structured data room. VDD combines with the information memorandum and the valuation to form the sale-side triptych, detailed in our guide to drafting an information memorandum.

Limited ESG / CSRD mission#

Since the transposition of the CSRD directive by Ordinance No. 2023-1142 of 6 December 2023, chartered accountants can intervene on a sustainability perimeter, either as a contractual ESG mission (sustainability management report, greenhouse gas statement, ESG dashboard) or as limited assurance on the sustainability report when the entity is outside the scope of the statutory sustainability auditor (H2A territory for large companies). Paris fee in 2026: between €5,000 and €50,000 excluding VAT depending on scope. The boundary with the statutory sustainability audit remains shifting, and we recommend precisely framing the scope in the engagement letter.

Tax optimisation and administrative representation#

Tax advisory is a free mission, most often invoiced on a time basis. It covers tax regime optimisation (corporate tax, income tax, micro regime), arbitrage between dividends and salary for the director, R&D tax credit (CIR) and innovation tax credit (CII) piloting, annual tax filings (forms 2065 or 2031, CVAE, CFE), and representation before the tax administration in case of audit or contentious request. Paris hourly rate in 2026: between €150 and €400 excluding VAT depending on the seniority of the team member and the file complexity. An average annual tax mission for a Paris SME represents between €3,000 and €12,000 excluding VAT, excluding litigation.

Payroll, DSN, collective agreements#

Social advisory and payroll cover payslip production, social contribution calculation, monthly DSN filing, collective agreement compliance, assistance with contract terminations (mutual termination, dismissal, settlement), and workplace accident/occupational disease file management. Paris payroll fee in 2026: between €18 and €40 excluding VAT per payslip per month depending on parameterisation complexity (variables, bonuses, sick pay). For a director hesitating between keeping payroll in-house or entrusting it to their firm, we cover the trade-off in our analysis of payroll outsourcing.

Annual legal — minutes, statutory amendments, INPI#

Annual legal work covers the approval of accounts at the ordinary general meeting, drafting minutes, filing accounts with the registry, monitoring the share movement register, declaring beneficial owners on the INPI single window, and routine statutory amendments (registered office transfer, change of manager, capital increase without contribution). Paris annual fee in 2026: between €800 and €3,500 excluding VAT depending on operation volume. Securing annual legal work is often underestimated by directors: a late account filing exposes to a court-ordered penalty, and a failure to declare beneficial owners to an administrative fine.

Cash management, budgeting, reporting#

The outsourced CFO (DAF externalisé) engagement is an extended mission, halfway between classic chartered accounting and transitional management. It covers weekly or monthly cash piloting (13-week cash flow forecast), annual budget preparation, monthly revenue/margin/EBITDA reporting, business KPI monitoring and management committee facilitation. Paris fee in 2026: between €500 and €3,000 excluding VAT per month depending on meeting frequency, reporting depth and entity size. This is the offering we specifically deliver via our outsourced CFO service for Paris startups and SMEs.

Management control and dashboards#

Outsourced management control consists of structuring analytical axes (by project, client, business unit, product), designing and maintaining operational dashboards (Excel, Power BI, Tableau, Lightdash), and informing pricing and margin trade-offs. For SaaS software publishers, this mission is critical given the specific metrics (MRR, ARR, CAC, LTV, payback, NRR). The methodological framework is detailed in our guide to SaaS pricing and margin strategy.

Business plan and fundraising#

Business plan preparation is a one-off mission, generally triggered by a bank request, a fundraising round or an expansion project. The deliverable includes a 3- or 5-year forecast (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow), a project narrative (market, product, team), a sensitivity analysis and a structured financing file. Paris fee in 2026: between €2,000 and €10,000 excluding VAT depending on complexity, iteration count and the format required by the investor or bank.

Director wealth audit#

The director's wealth audit is a mapping mission: review of professional and personal wealth, marital regime analysis, real estate wealth tax (IFI) simulation, projection of wealth tax and inheritance tax, spouse protection scenarios. Paris fee in 2026: between €3,000 and €15,000 excluding VAT depending on wealth complexity. This audit is the prerequisite to any transmission strategy, and it is typically renewed every three to five years or upon any structuring event (marriage, birth, divorce, real estate acquisition, partial sale).

Dutreil and holding structures#

The chartered accountant supports the structuring of optimisation schemes: Dutreil pact for family transmission (collective and individual holding commitments, 75 % duty exemption), formation of a patrimonial holding with contribution-disposal, family LBO setup, share dismemberment. Paris global transmission file fee in 2026: between €5,000 and €25,000 excluding VAT depending on complexity. This mission frequently combines with a tax lawyer, without encroaching on the exclusive scope of the legal profession (drafting deeds). The operational details of a transmission are covered in our guide to family business transmission.

Restructuring and insolvency procedures#

The chartered accountant may intervene upstream of difficulties (weak signal detection, flash cash audit), in the preventive phase (ad hoc mandate, conciliation before the president of the commercial court), and in supporting insolvency procedures (safeguard, judicial reorganisation, liquidation). Paris hourly rate in 2026: between €200 and €500 excluding VAT depending on urgency and team member seniority. For directors facing an insolvency procedure of a client or supplier, we refer to our guide on detecting a judicial reorganisation procedure.

Lucrative commercial activity#

Article 22 of the code of ethics prohibits a chartered accountant from exercising a parallel commercial or industrial activity that would be incompatible with the independence and dignity of the profession. Holding shares in a commercial company is regulated: a chartered accountant may be a shareholder of an operating company, but may not exercise an active commercial role alongside their liberal profession.

Statutory audit cumulation on the same entity#

Article 7 of the 1945 Ordinance and the H2A ethics rules strictly prohibit combining a bookkeeping, review or compilation mission with a statutory audit mission on the same entity. This rule protects the statutory auditor's independence. A firm practising both chartered accounting and statutory auditing must implement effective separation between teams, tools and hierarchies. Sanctions for prohibited cumulation are heavy: suspension, removal from the roll, nullity of the auditor's report.

Lawyer, broker, real estate agent#

A chartered accountant may not simultaneously practise the legal profession (reciprocal incompatibility), the real estate profession (except in very specific cases of property administration as part of an accounting mission), nor hold an insurance or banking brokerage mandate, except within the narrow scope authorised by Decree 2012-432 (brokerage ancillary to chartered accounting, linked to wealth products).

Creation — business plan + bookkeeping + legal#

For a Paris business creator in 2026, the standard bundle combines three missions: forecast business plan for bank and investors (€2,000 to €10,000 excluding VAT one-shot), full bookkeeping or review depending on volume (€200 to €800 excluding VAT per month), and annual legal for account approval and statutory amendments (€800 to €1,800 excluding VAT per year). Total first-year budget: between €5,000 and €18,000 excluding VAT depending on project complexity.

Small business/SME in cruise mode — compilation + advisory#

For a small business or SME in routine activity, the standard base combines the compilation engagement (€1,500 to €8,000 excluding VAT per year), bookkeeping or review depending on organisation (€200 to €800 excluding VAT per month), payroll where relevant (€18 to €40 excluding VAT per payslip per month), annual tax advice (€1,500 to €5,000 excluding VAT) and annual legal (€800 to €3,500 excluding VAT). Routine budget: between €8,000 and €30,000 excluding VAT per year, outside one-off missions. This level of support is what we deliver in Paris via our Paris 8 chartered accounting team.

Growth/sale — review engagement + VDD + valuation#

The trade-off — single mission or bundle#

The frequent error we observe is ordering an "all-inclusive" mission without mapping real needs. Three scenarios:

1. The director has a one-off need (valuation, VDD, transformation audit) — single mission, targeted engagement letter, known budget.
2. The director wants regular ongoing support (bookkeeping, compilation, tax, payroll, legal) — structured bundle with framework letter, annual fixed-fee invoicing.
3. The director wants a strategic copilot (outsourced CFO, business plan, reporting, committees) — extended mission with regular governance and monthly invoicing.

The choice is made on three criteria: horizon (one-off vs recurring), decisional dimension (production vs advisory), and expected cost-benefit ratio.

The underestimated risk — without engagement letter, without framework#

The most frequent risk remains the absence of a written engagement letter. Without a letter, the scope is fuzzy, deliverables are contestable, fees are not secured, and the chartered accountant's professional civil liability may be engaged on a scope they had not accepted. Conversely, a client without an engagement letter has no structured contractual recourse in case of disagreement. Our systematic practice at Cabinet Hayot Expertise is to sign one engagement letter per service, or an annual framework letter articulating all missions, with detailed fee annexes.