Chartered Accountant for Work Integration Enterprises (IAE) in Paris

An accountant for a work integration enterprise must know one specific rule: the per-post subsidy paid by the State is an operating subsidy to be recorded in account 74, never as turnover. Our firm secures this allocation, the approval with the DREETS, the tracking of full-time-equivalent headcount and, where relevant, the ESUS accreditation.

A structure of work integration through economic activity (IAE) is neither a standard business nor an ordinary association. It carries out a market activity on a real market, while pursuing a social objective: enabling people far from employment to rebuild a working life. This hybrid model translates into a particular economy, where a large share of income comes not from clients but from a flat-rate public subsidy.

In the files we support, the most frequent points of friction all stem from this duality. If the subsidy and the turnover are mixed, the indicators lose their meaning: you think you are reading a high margin rate when it is aid. If the tracking of full-time equivalents (FTE) is not kept finely, the expected amount of the per-post subsidy and the amount actually received end up diverging. And if the approval is not tracked over time, the entire funding becomes fragile.

The Labour Code (articles L5132-1 and following) distinguishes four families of structures, referred to as work integration structures through economic activity, or SIAE:

What these four structures have in common is approval. It is the State, through the DREETS (regional directorate for the economy, employment, work and solidarity) or the DDETS at departmental level, that validates the integration project and signs the agreement. This agreement opens entitlement to financial aid. Without it, no per-post subsidy: the renewal calendar and the management dialogue with the administration are therefore among the deadlines we track just like a tax deadline.

A worker's eligibility for the integration pathway no longer rests on an approval granted file by file. It is now evidenced by the PASS IAE, attached to the person. The structure can validate this eligibility itself through a socio-professional assessment, or rely on an authorised prescriber, including France Travail. The old wording of an approval of workers to be requested systematically should therefore be dropped: this vocabulary is outdated and can mislead as to the real obligations.

Each post occupied by a worker on a pathway corresponds to a per-post subsidy, paid by the State and calculated per full-time equivalent. The 2026 base amounts, in metropolitan France, are set by the order of 31 July 2026 (effective 1 June 2026):

For the ACI, this amount includes 1,278 euros for socio-professional support and technical supervision. To this base is added a modulated share, capped at 10% of the base, which depends on the structure's results. Cash flow therefore hinges on tracking approved FTEs.

The per-post subsidy is an operating subsidy: it is recorded in account 74 (account 741 under the ANC 2022-06 regulation), not in account 70 for turnover.

This rule has three concrete consequences:

• Reliable ratios. Account 70 must reflect market activity alone. Adding the subsidy to it artificially inflates the margin rate, turnover per employee and productivity, misleading the manager, the DREETS and the banker.
• A consistent VAT treatment. A flat-rate balancing subsidy such as the per-post subsidy is in principle outside the scope of VAT, to be distinguished from a taxable price supplement. This classification is checked case by case, especially when the structure also invoices services to clients.
• A taxable income item. The subsidy remains a taxable item, funding high personnel costs. Presenting it in account 74 allows the taxable result to be read correctly without confusing it with turnover.

The solidarity enterprise of social utility (ESUS) accreditation, provided for by article L3332-17-1 of the Labour Code arising from the social economy act no. 2014-856 of 31 July 2014, is reserved for social economy enterprises with significant social impact, with rules framing the pay gap. Integration structures benefit from a favourable regime but must still apply for the accreditation.

Its duration is 5 years, reduced to 2 years where the enterprise is under 3 years old at the date of application. Its benefit is financial: it opens access to solidarity savings and to the IR-PME income-tax reduction for people subscribing to the capital. For a developing structure, it helps raise equity, provided that the statutes and governance are consistent.

A work integration enterprise approved as an EI carries out a recycling activity and employs the equivalent of eight FTEs on a pathway. At the first year-end after we took over the file, we find that the per-post subsidy had been recorded as turnover by the previous provider. The consequence: a high apparent margin rate, falsely reassuring, and a complicated management dialogue with the DREETS for want of readable accounts.

We reallocate the aid to account 74, restate the real turnover, and align the FTE tracking between payroll and accounting. The picture becomes honest: a low-margin market activity, structurally supplemented by the approved subsidy. On this basis, cash-flow steering and funding discussions rest on accurate figures. This example is representative of IAE files and identifies no recognisable client.

• Confusing subsidy and turnover. The per-post subsidy recorded in account 70 distorts every indicator. This is the most widespread and the most consequential mistake.
• Using outdated vocabulary. Speaking of an approval of workers to be requested systematically, when eligibility now runs through the PASS IAE attached to the person.
• Neglecting FTE tracking. A gap between approved FTEs and FTEs actually worked creates unanticipated aid variances at year-end.
• Handling the VAT of the subsidy by default. Applying or setting aside VAT without classifying the flow, when the distinction between a flat-rate balancing subsidy and a taxable price supplement should be documented.
• Forgetting the approval calendar. Letting an agreement renewal deadline lapse, which mechanically suspends entitlement to aid.

Not to be confused. A work integration enterprise (an approved SIAE, with a per-post subsidy and workers on a pathway) is neither an ordinary 1901 law association nor a SCOP. The ordinary association falls within a framework we handle on our dedicated page for associations and foundations; the cooperative owned by its employees falls within our page for cooperatives and SCOPs. Confusing these regimes leads to costly accounting, payroll and tax mistakes.

Our firm, led by Samuel Hayot, chartered accountant registered with the Order of Chartered Accountants of Île-de-France and statutory auditor registered on the list drawn up by the Haute autorité de l'audit (H2A), supports social and solidarity economy structures with one simple requirement: accounts that tell the truth about the model. For an integration structure, this means the correct allocation of the per-post subsidy, FTE tracking consistent with payroll, a written VAT analysis and the anticipation of ESUS accreditation when it makes sense.

We work on bookkeeping and accounts review, payroll for workers on a pathway, the taxation of the structure and, where thresholds require it, statutory audit and audit engagements, for structures whose accounts the firm does not keep. If you are launching an integration project or taking over an existing structure, let us talk about your situation: a conversation identifies the points to secure.

Page updated on 19 June 2026. The amounts and rules cited come from public sources (Légifrance, DARES, France Travail, ANC). This page is for information; a decision specific to your structure requires a review of your situation, your documents and the law in force.