CPA for transport and logistics

If you run a foreign transport or logistics company operating in France, an international fleet operator with French drivers, or a foreign investor entering the French logistics market, French regulatory and accounting requirements in this sector are significantly more complex than in most other European countries. From the unique TICPE fuel tax rebate to mandatory collective agreements for French drivers and strict transport licensing rules, working with a French chartered accountant who understands your cross-border context is essential.

Yes. A specialist transport and logistics accountant manages what actually drives your margin, where a generalist stops at statutory accounts: the diesel excise (ex-TICPE) refund (about EUR 5,446 per long-distance truck in 2026), 100% VAT recovery on tolls and diesel, the annual heavy-vehicle tax, IDCC 0016 driver payroll (driving time, per diems, amplitude guarantee), cost-per-kilometre and a tight working-capital cycle. For a foreign group, that is the difference between a defensible French file and an URSSAF reassessment.

To operate road transport for hire or reward in France, your company needs a Licence de Transport Interieur (LTI), or for international routes a Licence communautaire europeenne (LCE). Key requirements:

• A gestionnaire de transport (transport manager) certified with a French or EU-recognised professional competence certificate (CPC) must be appointed
• The company must meet financial standing requirements (minimum capital or financial guarantee per vehicle)
• Good repute requirements for the company and its directors
• Vehicles must be registered or authorised in France for domestic French operations

Foreign companies operating in France under their home country licence have strict limits on cabotage: the number of French domestic transport operations they can perform (currently 3 operations within 7 days under EU rules before they must leave or set up locally).

For foreign logistics companies wanting to permanently operate in France, setting up a French subsidiary and obtaining the LTI is the proper route. We work with legal partners to coordinate the commercial, accounting and licensing setup.

The accise sur le gazole (formerly the TICPE) is France's domestic excise duty on diesel. Transport companies running heavy goods vehicles (GVW 7.5 tonnes and above, registered in the EU) can recover part of it on professional diesel. The procedure changed in 2026: for fuel consumed from 1 January 2025, the claim is no longer filed with the customs authority (DGDDI). It is now handled by the DGFiP and reported on the annexe 3310-TIC of your VAT return, with an annual summary statement (état récapitulatif annuel, ERA) detailing the refund per vehicle, due by 31 January of the following year.

The 2026 refund rate is EUR 15.56 per hectolitre in mainland France (EUR 14.21/hl in Corsica); since 1 January 2026 the rate is uniform across the mainland, as regions no longer vote a surcharge. For a long-distance truck burning about 35,000 litres a year, that is roughly EUR 5,446 recovered; for a fleet of 10 vehicles, on the order of EUR 50,000 a year. The refund is booked as income (account 7588), not as a purchase discount.

Transport tax levers at a glance#

Claiming the TICPE rebate correctly requires:

• Maintaining proper fuel purchase records (invoices per vehicle and per period)
• Reporting the claim on the annexe 3310-TIC of the VAT return and preparing the annual ERA per vehicle
• The claim being linked to the company's French VAT registration (a dedicated procedure applies to operators with no French VAT-filing obligation)

For foreign logistics companies operating French-registered vehicles, this rebate is often missed because home-country accountants are unfamiliar with the French claim process. We handle TICPE rebate declarations as part of our transport sector accounting service.

French transport payroll is governed by two main collective agreements (conventions collectives) depending on the type of transport:

• CCN Transport Routier de Marchandises (IDCC 0016): Covers goods transport by road. Applies to most freight and logistics operators
• CCN Transport Routier de Voyageurs (IDCC 0016 variant): Covers passenger transport

These collective agreements define:

• Minimum salary grids by driver category (national, regional, occasional)
• Guaranteed minimum income (salaire minimum garanti) even for variable-pay drivers
• Frais professionnels (professional expenses): Per diem allowances for meals, overnight stays and daily absences that are partially exempt from social charges
• Overtime calculation rules that differ from standard French labour law
• Night-work supplements, Sunday and holiday premiums

For a foreign logistics company hiring French drivers, these collective agreements are mandatory and non-negotiable. Mistakes in applying the salary grids or expense allowances lead to URSSAF penalties and potential back-payment claims from employees.

We handle French transport payroll including the correct application of CCN Transport, URSSAF declarations, DSN monthly filings and driver expense reimbursements.

Under French accounting rules, fleet costs are recorded as follows:

• Owned vehicles: Depreciated over 4-7 years (depending on type) on the company's balance sheet. Heavy trucks typically over 5 years
• Leased vehicles (credit-bail): Under French PCG, operating leases are off-balance-sheet (unlike IFRS 16); financial leases are capitalised
• Fuel costs: Fully deductible operating expense (before TICPE rebate recovery)
• Tolls and motorway charges: Deductible operating expenses; VAT fully recoverable on commercial vehicles (HGVs, vans) when the receipt shows the vehicle registration and company details
• Vehicle purchase VAT: Input VAT is not recoverable on passenger vehicles; commercial vehicles (lorries, vans) allow full VAT recovery

For foreign groups with French transport subsidiaries, these accounting rules affect both local P&L presentation and consolidated group reporting.

Transport and logistics businesses face a structural cash flow challenge: fuel, payroll, tolls and maintenance are paid immediately, while clients pay on 30-60 day terms. Combined with fuel price volatility, this creates liquidity risk.

We help foreign transport companies operating in France:

• Track fleet costs and payroll against billing to understand real operating margin
• Monitor accounts receivable aging (French law gives you the right to charge statutory late payment penalties automatically)
• Manage TICPE rebate as a regular cash recovery item
• Plan for French tax payment deadlines (quarterly IS instalments, monthly VAT, URSSAF)

Transport is a working-capital-heavy business: diesel and payroll are paid out immediately, while large shippers (retail chains, industrial groups) often settle at 60 days end of month or later.

Measuring a carrier's working capital requirement#

We calculate and track monthly: carrier DSO, supplier DPO (fuel cards typically at 30 days, leasing paid in monthly instalments) and the resulting cash cycle. Any drift (a shipper moving from 45 to 75 days) triggers an action plan: renegotiation, transport factoring, early payment discounts, or a specialised factoring provider.

Financing tools specific to transport#

• Transport factoring or Dailly assignment of shipper receivables;
• Long-term rental, lease-purchase or finance lease for vehicles, each with a different treatment under French accounting rules;
• Bpifrance guarantees (green loans for fleet energy transition, growth loans);
• ADEME support schemes for heavy-vehicle energy transition;
• URSSAF payment spreading on social charges during a temporary cash squeeze;
• Seasonal campaign pre-financing for harvest, agricultural or construction carriers.

Seasonality patterns by speciality#

Peaks and troughs vary with the segment you serve:

• Retail and e-commerce: November-December peak (Black Friday, Christmas);
• Construction and materials: March-October peak, winter trough;
• Refrigerated transport: summer peak (drinks, ice cream) and a year-end peak (catering, festive food);
• Harvest and agricultural work: short, very intense campaigns.

1. Steering the business on revenue alone#

Volume growth is worthless if diesel, subcontracting or fleet costs absorb all of it. The right indicator is the cost per kilometre compared with your average selling price per kilometre.

2. Underestimating the impact of late invoicing#

Good operations invoiced late produce fragile cash and blur real performance. Our golden rule: invoice within 48 hours of delivery (signed CMR), with automated reminders at day 30, day 45 and day 60.

3. Buying trucks without a cash projection#

A vehicle that looks profitable on paper becomes a liquidity problem when financing, maintenance, real utilisation (km per year) and residual value are poorly anticipated. A 5-year total cost of ownership review should precede every purchase.

4. Losing sight of payroll variables#

When management cannot connect social costs to field activity (overtime, travel allowances, bonuses), decisions get slower and less reliable. CCN Transport driver payroll is one of the first items URSSAF inspectors reassess.

5. Leaving the fuel excise refund on the table#

For a fleet of 10 heavy trucks, the diesel excise (ex-TICPE) refund is worth around €50,000-60,000 per year. Too many operators leave that cash unclaimed for lack of fuel card set-up and follow-through on the 3310-TIC annex of the VAT return.

• Company setup (SAS or SARL) and French VAT/URSSAF registration
• French transport payroll under CCN Transport, including driver expense allowances
• TICPE fuel rebate declarations and recovery
• Fleet cost accounting and depreciation schedules
• Monthly bookkeeping under French PCG standards
• Cash flow reporting and management accounts in English
• French corporate tax filings

For transport companies operating international road freight to/from France, the CMR document (Convention relative au contrat de transport international de marchandises par route) is the mandatory international consignment note. Every international road freight shipment covered by the CMR convention must be accompanied by a properly completed CMR note (3 originals: sender, carrier, recipient).

Accounting implications of CMR:

• The CMR note confirms delivery of goods and triggers the right to invoice under French revenue recognition rules
• Claims periods under CMR (7 days for visible damage, 21 days for invisible damage after delivery) create provisions in French accounts when claims are received but not yet settled
• CMR insurance: French transport companies must maintain CMR liability insurance covering their statutory liability (€8.33 SDR per kg gross weight). Premium costs are fully deductible.

EU transport operators performing cabotage in France (domestic French transport after an international delivery) must respect the 3 opérations en 7 jours limit. Cabotage operations must be billed separately from the international leg (different VAT treatment and different regulatory regime).

From an accounting standpoint, foreign EU operators performing French cabotage must:

• Register for French VAT for services physically performed in France
• Apply French VAT at 20% to domestic transport operations
• Comply with détachement rules: drivers posted temporarily from another EU country for cabotage must receive French minimum wage during the cabotage legs, and the employer must complete a prior notification (déclaration de détachement) on the French SIPSI portal

Missing the detachment obligations is one of the most frequently penalised infractions in French transport inspections (DREAL road checks).

French transport is subject to both the EU Driver Working Time Directive and the French code du travail provisions for heavy vehicle drivers. Practically, this means:

• Maximum 9 hours of daily driving (extendable to 10h twice per week)
• 45-hour rest after 6 driving days
• Mandatory tachograph data recording

For payroll calculation, tachograph data must reconcile with time sheets. Discrepancies between tachograph records and payroll declarations are a primary audit trigger for both URSSAF (social contribution assessment) and the Inspection du Travail. We cross-reference tachograph data with payroll calculations to ensure full reconciliation.

Cost per km mixes fixed items (independent of distance) and variable ones. Indicative orders of magnitude for long-distance haulage:

Indicative 2026 total: 19t rigid EUR 0.90 to 1.20/km, 40t artic EUR 1.20 to 1.60/km. This is the ratio to compare with your average selling price per km.

For tax optimisation, the choice between purchase and lease depends on your current-year profitability: high-profit years favour accelerated depreciation (outright purchase with degressive rates); lower-margin years may favour operating lease (smooth expense recognition).

Background: Meridian Freight Ltd, a Birmingham-based road freight operator, set up a French SAS (Meridian France) in Lyon to serve French domestic and cross-border routes post-Brexit. Fleet: 12 French-registered trucks, 18 French-employed drivers.

Year 1 payroll: 18 drivers × average gross salary €32,000 = €576,000 gross. Under CCN Transport routier, employer contributions came to 44% = €253,440. Total labour cost: €829,440. This was €92,000 more than the UK-model budget projected (UK NI: 13.8% vs French charges: ~44%).

Driver expense allowances: under the CCN, drivers on overnight trips receive indemnités de déplacement (€38.30/day in 2026). These allowances are exempt from URSSAF social charges up to the CGI limit, but only when properly documented (trip reports with departure/arrival times and overnight stops). For Meridian's 14 overnight drivers, correct documentation saved €48,000/year in URSSAF contributions vs treating allowances as taxable pay.

Excise (ex-TICPE) rebate: 12 trucks × 35,000 litres/year average = 420,000 litres × €0.1556/litre (2026 rate) = ≈ €65,000/year recovered. We report it on the annexe 3310-TIC of the VAT return and prepare the annual ERA.

Year-1 result: after depreciation (€65,000 on trucks at 5-year linear), TICPE recovery, and allowances: IS profit €18,400. IS at 15% = €2,760.

Key lesson: labour cost was the critical budget error. French transport payroll is dramatically more expensive per driver than UK because of CCN minimum grids, high employer charges, and mandatory expense allowances. We model this correctly during the business plan phase so clients aren't surprised.

For supply-chain operators running goods across French borders, VAT on transport services and the structure of subcontracting (sous-traitance affretement) are where errors quietly accumulate. The place-of-supply rule changes how you invoice: a transport service billed to another VAT-registered business is generally taxed where the customer is established, while domestic French legs (including the cabotage operations covered above) carry French VAT at 20%. Getting this wrong distorts both the VAT return and the real margin per route.

Affreightment is central to the cross-border model: most carriers buy and sell transport capacity at the same time. Each subcontracted leg is a purchase invoice with its own VAT treatment, and each sold leg is revenue. If subcontracting is not tracked as a distinct cost line, the income statement shows turnover that has already been spent on other hauliers, masking the thin margin that actually remains.

Practical points we watch for foreign-controlled French operators:

• Whether intra-EU transport services should be invoiced with French VAT or reverse-charged to the customer
• Reconciling subcontracted legs (affreightment in) against billed legs (transport out) on a per-route basis
• Keeping the CMR consignment note and the matching invoice aligned so revenue is recognised on the correct date
• Separating the international leg from any French domestic operation, since each follows a different VAT and regulatory regime

For groups with a French entity inside a wider European structure, these flows also feed the consolidated reporting, so the local treatment has to be defensible both to the French administration and to the parent.

Contact our transport specialists: 58 rue de Monceau, 75008 Paris | Request a quote