Pre-appointment questionnaire for a French accountant: 2026 preparation guide

Updated 30 May 2026 — Written by Samuel HAYOT, expert-comptable (chartered accountant) registered with the Ordre des experts-comptables.

Completing a pre-appointment questionnaire before your first meeting with a French expert-comptable (chartered accountant) is the most underestimated step by business owners. Yet it determines the quality of the exchange, the accuracy of the quote, and the relevance of the lettre de mission (engagement letter) that will follow. A firm that receives your information in advance can move straight to advice from the first minutes of the meeting, rather than spending the time collecting basic data.

In 2026, the vast majority of independent French accounting firms offer a free first consultation, typically lasting 45 to 90 minutes. Preparing well changes what you actually get from that time.

In brief: the pre-appointment questionnaire is a form sent by the firm before your first meeting. It gathers the essential information about your business — legal form, tax régime, headcount, turnover, tools in use — so the firm can prepare a focused discussion and a mission proposal calibrated to your actual situation.

A pre-appointment questionnaire is not a bureaucratic formality. It is a scoping tool that benefits both parties.

For you, it structures your thinking about your own needs before the conversation begins. For the firm, it allows the right profile to be assigned — generalist, tax specialist, property expert, payroll manager — and relevant questions to be prepared. Without this groundwork, the first 45 minutes of the meeting are spent gathering data that could have been shared in ten minutes by email.

According to the Ordre des experts-comptables, the relationship between a firm and its client is formalised through a lettre de mission (engagement letter) in line with Article 11 of Decree n° 2012-432 of 30 March 2012. This letter, signed after the meeting and agreement on the quote, will be more accurate and complete when the information gathered in advance is precise.

A well-completed questionnaire allows the firm to:

• identify the true scope of the engagement;
• detect urgent fiscal, social, or legal matters;
• estimate workload (document volume, headcount, complexity);
• orient the discussion towards strategic advice rather than data collection;
• propose a tailored quote or engagement letter from the first contact.

The information to gather varies by situation. Here are the three most common profiles and corresponding documents.

Important: never conceal an accounting or tax backlog in your questionnaire. It is the most critical piece of information for the firm, because it determines intervention priorities. A good firm will handle the situation without judgment — but it needs to know about it to organise the work and provide an honest quote.

This question arises in almost every first contact. The answer depends on your stage, but there is a common baseline.

For all profiles, three elements are essential: a description of your activity (sector, legal form, annual or projected turnover), an indication of your current or intended tax régime, and an honest account of your bookkeeping status (up to date, backlog, financial year in progress, no accounts yet).

If you are in the start-up phase, your business plan does not need to be finalised. Even a working draft allows the firm to identify the fiscal and social trade-offs to address before registration — a moment when certain choices are still reversible.

If you are an existing business, the last two balance sheets are sufficient for an initial discussion. The firm will use them to assess profitability, financial structure, and the key ratios for your sector.

Here is the recommended preparation sequence, from initial contact through to the day before the meeting.

Step 1 — Return the questionnaire within 24 to 48 hours. A long delay signals poor organisation to the firm and slows down scheduling. If certain questions are unclear, complete what you can and flag the gaps.

Step 2 — Gather documents according to your profile. Refer to the table above. You do not need everything in hand; what matters is knowing what is missing and mentioning it.

Step 3 — List your urgent matters by priority. Ongoing tax audit, late filing, imminent hire, planned disposal: note these before the meeting. These are the subjects that should occupy the discussion.

Step 4 — Note your readiness for electronic invoicing (facturation électronique). In 2026, mandatory e-invoicing between businesses is being progressively rolled out in France (large companies and mid-sized businesses from 1 September 2026; SMEs, micro-businesses, and sole traders from 1 September 2027, subject to final implementing decrees). The firm needs to know your current tools.

Step 5 — Prepare the questions you want to ask the firm. See the dedicated table below. Do not leave this to chance.

Step 6 — Clarify your budget. You are not required to give a precise figure, but indicating a range avoids proposals that are entirely off-target. A basic monthly package for a small French business (TPE) typically falls between 60 and 200 euros excl. VAT for bookkeeping alone (verify scope and volume).

Step 7 — Verify that your contact is registered with the Ordre. Registration is verifiable on the Ordre des experts-comptables website. This is the minimum condition for the engagement letter to have regulatory standing.

During the first meeting, a structured firm seeks to understand five dimensions: your activity and its sector specifics, your current accounting organisation, your immediate tax and social obligations, your projects over the next 12 to 24 months, and any tensions or risks identified in your file.

The most common questions are: what exactly is the nature of your activity, and do you have cross-border transactions? Do you have business partners or capital links with other entities? Is your bookkeeping up to date? Do you have employees, and are DSN (payroll declaration) filings submitted on time? Have you received any correspondence from the tax authority or URSSAF in the past 12 months? What are your investment or financing plans in the short term?

These questions guide the rest of the meeting towards analysis and advice — provided you have already shared the basic data via the questionnaire.

The meeting is also your opportunity to assess the firm. Here are the essential questions, organised by theme.

A well-prepared first meeting lasts between 45 and 90 minutes. The lower end applies to a simple, well-documented file (sole founder, service business, no employees). The upper end covers more complex situations (multiple shareholders, mixed activity, accounting backlog, business acquisition).

The typical breakdown for a 60-minute meeting is: 10 to 15 minutes to verify and complete questionnaire information; 15 to 20 minutes to analyse the situation and identify urgencies; 10 to 15 minutes to present the engagement proposal and fees; 10 to 15 minutes for your questions; and 5 minutes to agree on next steps. A firm that sends a draft engagement letter within 48 hours of the meeting is a sign of good internal organisation.

If the first meeting extends beyond 90 minutes, it often means the questionnaire was not completed, or the file contains urgent complexities that need immediate attention.

In our onboarding meetings, the best-prepared files share three characteristics: the business owner knows their tax régime and can explain it (rather than having inherited a default status), they have a clear list of urgent matters ranked by priority, and they have already identified one or two points where they are dissatisfied with the current situation. These three signals allow the firm to move quickly to analysis and a concrete proposal.

Conversely, files that require the most time in the first meeting are those where the owner does not know which VAT régime applies, does not have access to recent balance sheets, or discovers during the meeting that they have a multi-year backlog. These situations are not disqualifying, but they require a preliminary diagnostic phase that pushes the engagement proposal back.

The underestimated risk: arriving without documents and expecting the accountant to reconstruct the situation from scratch. This is possible but extends the set-up period, increases the catch-up cost, and delays the first filings. In cases of verified tax backlog, every week matters.

Changing accounting firms is a delicate moment. The incoming firm must assess the work done and the true state of the accounts before committing to a scope and a fee.

Before this type of meeting, three elements are essential: the planned or actual date of termination with the previous firm, the exact state of the accounts (financial year in progress at what date, VAT and DSN filings up to date or not), and the list of software used for invoicing and accounting.

The termination notice must respect the contractual notice period set out in the engagement letter. Article 28 of Decree n° 2012-432 governs the procedure in the event of a dispute, particularly if the previous firm wishes to exercise a retention right over deliverables it has produced.

For further guidance on switching firms and the related steps, see our guide How to outsource your accounting in France.

This article is for information purposes only. It does not replace the analysis of your specific situation by a qualified expert-comptable, which alone allows an engagement letter tailored to your obligations and objectives to be established. Sources: Decree n° 2012-432 of 30 March 2012 (Article 11), Ordre des experts-comptables, entreprendre.service-public.fr.