Our sector expertise
Pharmacy & Health Chartered Accountant
Accounting firm specializing in pharmacy, parapharmacy and healthcare professionals. Pharmacy management, VAT on medicines, ROSP, retrocessions. Hayot Expertise.
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Your accountant specialized in the pharmaceutical sector#
Hayot Expertise supports community pharmacists, full and assistant pharmacists, parapharmacies and laboratories in their accounting and management. The pharmaceutical sector is one of the most regulated in France: multi-rate VAT, remuneration reform, ROSP, third-party payment… we control each parameter.
The accounting specificities of the pharmacy#
VAT in pharmacies
The community pharmacy applies 4 VAT rates:
- VAT 2.1%: reimbursable medicines
- VAT 5.5%: medical devices, condoms
- 10% VAT: non-refundable medicines, preparations
- 20% VAT: parapharmacy, cosmetics, optics
Our firm secures your multi-rate VAT management to avoid any adjustment.
Pharmacist remuneration
The reform of the remuneration of community pharmacists includes:
- Smoothed decreasing margin on medicines
- Dispensing fees (per box and per prescription)
- ROSP: Remuneration based on Public Health Objectives
- Generic substitution: impacts on the margin
Third-party payment management
- Reconciliation of Social Security (CPAM) and mutual insurance flows
- Monitoring of rejections and unpaid invoices
- Management of teletransmissions (SESAM-Vitale)
Our services for pharmacists#
Accounting & Pharmacy Taxation
- Accounting adapted to the pharmacy accounting plan
- Management of multi-rate VAT
- Annual balance sheet and tax return
- Tax declarations (IS, VAT, CFE, CVAE)
Acquisition and sale of pharmacy
- Evaluation of goodwill (sector methods: % turnover, x EBITDA)
- Acquisition audit (due diligence)
- Legal set-up: SEL, SPFPL, Pharmacy Holding
- Financing: bank file, equipment leasing
Social management and payroll
- Collective agreement for community pharmacy
- Overtime and on-call
- Specific pharmacy seniority bonus
- Pay slips for preparers, assistant pharmacists
Reporting and management
- Official dashboard: Turnover by department (prescription, OTC, parapharmacy), margin by family
- Monitoring of retrocession and group purchases
- KPI: average basket, attendance, margin rate
Customer case: Paris pharmacy#
Profile:
- SEL pharmacy, turnover €2.5M
- 8 employees (3 pharmacists + 5 preparers)
Our support:
- Recovery audit and evaluation (€2.2M)
- SPFPL + SEL assembly for acquisition
- Implementation of analytical accounting by department
- Optimization of incumbent remuneration
- Tax savings: €15,000/year
Why choose Hayot Expertise?#
✅ Official expertise: 4-rate VAT, pharmacy accounting plan ✅ Acquisition/Disposal: More than 10 transactions supported ✅ Management: Connected pharmacy dashboard ✅ Social: Controlled pharmacy collective agreement
Pharmacy accounting firm
Acquiring a Pharmacy in France: Financial and Legal Considerations#
France's pharmacy market is heavily regulated — and highly valuable. The average Paris pharmacy (officine) sells for €800,000 to €2 million, while large urban pharmacies can exceed €4 million. Acquisition is almost always via an LBO structure: a SELARL purchases the business assets, financed by a professional bank loan (typically 7–10 year duration at 3.5–5% in 2026) with the pharmacy's trading cash flow servicing the debt.
Foreign pharmacist acquisition pathway: EU-qualified pharmacists can register with the Ordre des Pharmaciens (section D for community pharmacy owners) under EU directive mutual recognition. Non-EU pharmacists must go through the Commission d'Autorisation d'Exercice (CAE). Crucially, French law requires that community pharmacies be majority-owned by pharmacists actively practising within the pharmacy — pure financial investors cannot own more than 25%.
SELARL de pharmacien: the standard acquisition structure. Maximum external investor ownership: 25% (recently increased from 0% under loi DDADUE reforms). We structure SELARL pharmacy acquisitions end-to-end: shareholder agreements, Ordre application, bank financing documents, management accounts during the acquisition process, and post-closing financial integration.
📞 Request a discovery meeting - 58 rue de Monceau, 75008 Paris
Useful resources for your sector#
Our guides and articles for pharmacies and health professions:
- SASU vs EURL: which status to choose?
- Optimize your remuneration: Salary vs Dividends in SASU
- Growth strategy, valuation & M&A
- Executive wealth management
- Liberal professions sector
Working with an English-speaking pharmacist accountant removes the language barrier when navigating Ordre des Pharmaciens obligations, ROSP calculations, and SELARL acquisition financing. We advise both French-resident and non-resident pharmacists on the full financial lifecycle of a French pharmacy. Contact us for a free initial assessment.
Sector Ecosystem
The French pharmacy market (~20,000 dispensing pharmacies) faces drug shortages and rising operating costs, pushing professionals towards advanced financial optimisation and consolidation through groupings (SPFPL, SEL, multi-pharmacy holdings).
29-32%
Average gross margin
x 5.5
Average valuation (EBE)
~15%
OTC share of revenue
50% of margin
Dispensing fees
Neighbourhood pharmacyShopping-centre pharmacyPharmacy groupingsPara-pharmaciesGenerics specialists
Practical framework
Practical guide: succeeding in your first pharmacy acquisition
01
1. Audit the historical margin trend
During financial due diligence, do not just look at turnover. Analyse the margin evolution over the last 3 financial years: a sudden drop may reveal lost influence over local prescribers (nearby doctors retiring) or a degraded commercial policy.
02
2. Set up a SPFPL holding
Never buy in your own name. Creating a holding (SPFPL — Société de Participations Financières de Profession Libérale) lets you repay the acquisition loan with dividends from the pharmacy (parent-subsidiary regime upstream), without personal taxation hits, and with deductible loan interest.
03
3. Negotiate WCR with your wholesalers
Your chartered accountant must model your working-capital need precisely. Build into your business plan the payment terms negotiated with the répartiteur (wholesaler) and with French national health insurance, so you do not suffocate during the first six months of operation.
Your guarantees
National coverage, Parisian expertise
Wherever you are in France, we deploy a 100% digital interface to deliver fast, highly-structured accounting and financial steering.
Regulated firm
Samuel Hayot is a French chartered accountant and statutory auditor registered with the Paris professional bodies.
National reach
The firm is based in Paris 8 and operates with a delivery model designed for businesses located across France.
Modern stack
Pennylane, Dext, Silae and an automation-first setup built for visibility and speed.
Direct contact
Visible phone number, simple contact path, fast engagement letter and tighter qualification of the mandate.
Need a quick read on your situation?
30 complimentary minutes with Samuel Hayot to challenge your reporting and surface your priority levers.
Perspectives
Related articles
French pharmacy: regulated margins, dispensing fees and inventory accounting
Regulated margin scale, 2026 dispensing fees, VAT at 2.1%, 10% and 20%, third-party payer receivables and inventory: the accounting mechanics of a French community pharmacy.
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Valuing a French pharmacy: inventory, margin and adjusted EBITDA before acquisition
A practical guide to valuing a French pharmacy before acquisition: revenue mix, gross margin, adjusted EBITDA, inventory and debt capacity.
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How to avoid the French flat tax (PFU) in 2026: legal strategies
Progressive scale, PEA, life insurance, PER, contribution-disposal to a holding (Article 150-0 B ter): legal levers to reduce the 30% flat tax on dividends and capital gains.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I convert my individual pharmacy into a SELARL?
Yes, very often. Moving to a Société d'Exercice Libéral (SELARL or SELAS) under corporate tax (IS) stops the personal income-tax treatment on the full profit (BNC actual regime). You are then taxed only on the salary actually drawn, freeing cash to service acquisition debt or reinvest in the pharmacy.
How is the value of a pharmacy calculated for a sale?
Historically valued as a percentage of turnover TTC (e.g. 70-90%), pharmacy valuation now relies almost systematically on a multiple of EBE (Excédent Brut d'Exploitation — roughly EBITDA), generally between 5 and 6 times restated EBE, to reflect the real profitability of the business and its debt-servicing capacity.
Can an assistant pharmacist easily become a partner?
Absolutely. SPFPL (pharmacist holding companies) and SEL structures let you bring qualified non-owner pharmacists into the capital progressively (through minority buy-ins) to prepare succession or retain talent in a market facing an acute shortage of assistants.
How complex is VAT in a French pharmacy?
Very complex. A pharmacy handles up to 4 VAT rates simultaneously: 2.1% on reimbursed social-security drugs, 5.5% on medical devices, 10% on non-reimbursed drugs, 20% on para-pharmacy, plus separate veterinary product treatment. Your accountant's job is to parameterise the LGO (Logiciel de Gestion d'Officine) cash systems perfectly when extracting the Z-reports.
What is the CAVP?
CAVP is the Caisse d'Assurance Vieillesse des Pharmaciens — the pharmacist pension fund. It covers the base and supplementary retirement schemes. Its contributions (substantial) must be correctly provisioned in your professional cash plan, especially when first becoming an owner-pharmacist (titulaire).
Article written by Samuel Hayot
Chartered Accountant, registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Regulated French firmUpdated 01 April 2026
Regulated French accounting and audit firm based in Paris 8, built to support companies across France with a digital and decision-oriented approach.