Accountant for audiovisual and film production

An accountant specialised in audiovisual production masters the mechanisms specific to the sector that a general firm does not handle: CNC film and audiovisual tax credits, approval, payroll for intermittent spectacle workers and the recognition of works in proportion to revenue. At Hayot Expertise, we connect the financing of the work, social matters and tax to secure your cash flow and your approvals.

A production company resembles no other service business. Revenue does not spread evenly across the year: it is built project by project, with pre-sales, co-production contributions, public aid and tax credits that weigh heavily on the budget. Shooting expenses are committed early, revenue arrives late, and almost all teams are hired as intermittent workers.

This reality calls for three skills that we bring together: command of the tax credits and CNC approval, faultless intermittent payroll, and accounting of works faithful to the production cycle. Generic tracking misses eligible amounts, weakens approvals and exposes the company to social reassessments.

A useful distinction. A production company creates works approved by the CNC, opening the right to the film or audiovisual tax credit and employing intermittent workers: this is not the same accounting as a web and media agency, which invoices services without approval or capitalised work. If you are developing a video game project, another CNC scheme applies, the video game tax credit.

Tax credits sit at the heart of the financing. They are not just a rate: each work falls under a regime, ceilings and an approval procedure to anticipate from the production estimate stage.

Film and audiovisual tax credit (CGI art. 220 sexies)#

The tax credit under article 220 sexies of the CGI, in its version in force since 21 February 2026, depends on the nature of the work.

In audiovisual, the credit is framed by per-minute caps: from 1,250 euros to 10,000 euros per minute for fiction depending on the cost tier, 1,450 euros per minute for documentary and show adaptation, 6,000 euros per minute for animation. The tax credit is capped at 30 million euros per cinematographic work, and total public aid cannot exceed 50% of the production budget, raised to 60% for difficult and low-budget works.

International tax credit (CGI art. 220 quaterdecies)#

The C2I under article 220 quaterdecies targets the executive production in France of foreign works. The base rate is 30%, raised to 40% for fiction works with at least 15% of shots involving digital processing and more than 2 million euros of digital processing spend. Eligibility requires at least 250,000 euros of spend in France, or 50% of the budget if it is below 500,000 euros, and at least 5 days of shooting in France for fiction. The cap is 30 million euros per work, the scheme applying to spend committed until 31 December 2028.

Our reading. The most underused lever is not the rate, it is the eligible base. In the budgets we take over, eligible items are forgotten or misallocated, and non-eligible spend wrongly inflates the base. Securing the base from the production estimate stage is often worth more than chasing a point of rate.

CNC approval, a schedule not to be missed#

For these credits, the CNC issues a provisional approval before the work is completed: it opens the right to apply the spend from the request onward. On delivery, a final approval definitively confirms eligibility. Failing a final approval, the tax credit already applied must be repaid. We set the filing schedule with your production management to avoid this repayment mechanism. When the project also involves innovation, we draw on our innovation financing service, CIR, CII and JEI.

Payroll is the second pillar. Technicians fall under annex 8 of the unemployment insurance rules, artists under annex 10, and all are hired on fixed-term contracts of usage. Opening rights requires 507 hours over the preceding 12 months, an artistic fee counting as 12 hours under annex 10.

The occasional employer who is not a professional show promoter uses the GUSO, the single window for occasional shows: one declaration covers URSSAF, France Travail, Audiens, the Afdas, Congés Spectacles and Thalie Santé, with payment within 15 days. Beyond 6 performances per year, a show promoter licence becomes necessary. Audiens manages the sector's supplementary pension and provident scheme, with automatic affiliation to Congés Spectacles, whose call rate is 15.5% of gross for the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

In practice, we set up the payslips by annex, track the hours opening rights, make the filings to the sector funds reliable and coordinate everything with our payroll and HR service in Paris. You can estimate the cost of a hire with our employer cost calculator.

Since 1 January 2020, the accounting of works applies the PCG (ANC regulation 2014-03) with sector specifics. The work in progress is recorded as an intangible asset under construction (account 231), the completed work as an intangible asset. Amortisation follows the ratio of actual revenue to forecast revenue, and the capitalised cost is net of subsidies and CNC support. This presentation remains a market practice, to be confirmed case by case according to your situation.

We keep cost accounting by production: each work has its tracked cost, which serves at once for steering, for the tax credit calculation and for preparing the final approval.

A production company develops an audiovisual fiction work in French for a platform. The shoot is financed by a pre-sale, a co-production contribution and the tax credit under article 220 sexies. The teams are hired as intermittent workers under annexes 8 and 10. In this type of file, the friction points recur: an eligible item forgotten in the tax credit base, a provisional approval filed too late, intermittent workers' hours poorly tracked, or a tight cash position because the lag between spend and collection of the credit was not anticipated. Our work consists of mapping the base, setting the approval schedule, making payroll reliable and building a cash flow plan per work. This example is illustrative and describes no real client.

• Confusing the scope of spend eligible for the tax credit with the total budget of the work, and thus losing application.
• Filing the provisional approval after spend has started, when it opens the right to apply spend from the request onward.
• Forgetting the public aid ceiling of 50%, raised to 60% for difficult and low-budget works, and unbalancing the financing plan.
• Running intermittent payroll like ordinary payroll, without tracking the 507 hours or the rules specific to annexes 8 and 10.
• Not using the GUSO when it is mandatory for the occasional employer, or ignoring the threshold of 6 performances triggering the licence obligation.
• Recognising the work without cost accounting by production, which makes the final approval and the credit calculation hard to justify.

The underestimated risk. The repayment of the tax credit if there is no final approval. A work that does not reach final approval forces the repayment of the tax credit already applied. This risk, rarely quantified at launch, can weigh heavily on cash flow. We track it project by project, from the provisional filing to the final validation.

• The tax credit under article 220 sexies is assessed in its version in force since 21 February 2026: check the rate applicable to the exact nature of the work.
• The C2I applies to spend committed until 31 December 2028: factor this deadline into the schedule of international projects.
• The Congés Spectacles call rate of 15.5% of gross applies to the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: it may change in the following period.

Hayot Expertise is a chartered accountancy firm located at 58 rue de Monceau, Paris 8th, led by Samuel Hayot, chartered accountant registered with the Ordre des experts-comptables of Île-de-France and statutory auditor registered on the list drawn up by the Haute autorité de l'audit (H2A). We support production companies by bringing under one roof the financing of the work, the payroll of intermittent workers and the accounting of productions, with a digital culture and a 24 to 48 hour responsiveness.

Our approach systematically links the three pillars of the sector, because a decision on the tax credit affects cash flow, and a payroll error can weaken an approval. Discover our chartered accountancy in Paris 8, our support for startups and tech when your structure is young, and estimate your director's remuneration with our remuneration simulator.

This article presents the applicable framework for information purposes. A decision specific to your work requires examining your situation, your documents and the law in force. Let us talk about your production project.