Samuel HAYOT
Chartered Accountant
Pre-sale dividend, cash left in the price, or a holding-company contribution: the fate of excess cash is decided before the letter of intent, and the gap runs into tens of thousands of euros. A French chartered accountant's method.
Before signing a letter of intent (LOI) to acquire a French SME, twenty financial checks must be completed: adjusted EBITDA, normalised working capital, net debt, off-balance-sheet commitments, latent tax exposure, customer concentration. A French CPA's playbook with actionable checklist and 2026 watchpoints.
From Series B onwards, some funds accept buying part of the founder's shares. Well sized, founder secondary secures wealth without breaking alignment. Poorly sized, it sends a negative signal and triggers heavy taxation.
Unfurnished or furnished rental, micro or actual-cost regime, SCI under corporate tax or personal ownership: the accounting and tax obligations of a French landlord vary significantly by structure. This article clarifies the filing regimes, deductible charges, mandatory accounting requirements and the most frequent errors observed in practice — with summary tables and a worked example.
The 2026 briefing for restaurant owners: VAT rates by product and consumption mode, the tax treatment of tips, and the sector-specific payroll costs to plan for.
Accrued unused paid leave, 13th month, annual bonuses: year-end requires recognising payroll liabilities that are often underestimated. Calculation, up-to-date chart-of-accounts entries (account 44811 since 2025) and key points to avoid a distorted result.
How a firm reviews accounts by cycles rather than account by account: lead schedules, supporting evidence, permanent file and annual file. The working paper method explained by a French chartered accountant.
The complete procedure to set up a multi-shareholder SAS in France in 2026: articles of association, shareholder clauses, capital deposit, legal notice, single window, real costs and timelines.
In French LMNP under the régime réel, the right accountant secures depreciation schedules, the annual 2031 tax filing, SIRET registration, CFE and now anticipates the 2025 capital gains reform. Here are the criteria that matter.
A personal holding company remains the most efficient wealth tool for French business owners in 2026. This article covers the parent-subsidiary regime, contribution-and-disposal rollover relief, the OBO, and abuse-of-law risk — with the practical angle of an accounting cabinet that sees these structures every day.
Transaction Services (TS) sit at the heart of every serious M&A process, yet remain opaque for many business owners approaching their first deal. This article explains what TS teams actually deliver — Quality of Earnings, normalised working capital, net debt analysis, and pricing mechanisms — and when to engage them, on the buy side or the sell side.
The 2026 update on VAT reverse charge for construction subcontracting: conditions, VAT-free invoicing, mandatory wording and how it ties in with e-invoicing.
A seniority bonus is never a general legal obligation in France: it depends on your collective agreement. Calculation methods, triggering threshold, payslip line and the common mistakes we see in practice, so you secure it without overpaying or forgetting an employee.
How to explain the gap between your account 512 and the bank statement: the step-by-step method, a reconciliation statement that balances, the debit/credit direction trap and stale reconciling items to clear.
Home address, domiciliation company, coworking, business incubator or your own offices: compare the 5 registered office options (cost, image, flexibility, constraints) to choose well in 2026.
LBO, mezzanine, unitranche, PIK Notes, covenant-lite: a complete anatomy of leveraged finance in France in 2026 — debt pyramid, coverage ratios, Article 212 bis CGI, worked example on a EUR 50m SME, key players and pitfalls. Analysis by Cabinet Hayot Expertise, Paris.
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