Freelance Accountant in France | SASU, EURL or Umbrella Company

In short. A freelance accountant compares, with your own figures, the four setups available to a consultant or independent worker in France: micro-entreprise, EURL, SASU and umbrella employment (portage salarial). The right one turns on three variables, your billings, your deductible costs and any unemployment rights in progress. It is settled by simulating the disposable income in each case, not by a rule of thumb.

Every freelancer and independent consultant has a unique risk profile and life objectives. Should you incorporate (SASU/EURL) or choose the simplicity of umbrella employment (portage salarial)? At Hayot Expertise, based at 58 rue de Monceau (Paris 8) and led by Samuel Hayot, a chartered accountant registered with the Ordre des experts-comptables d'Île-de-France, we model the numbers to maximise your final net disposable income.

Read more: SASU vs EURL: which structure to choose?

The micro-entreprise is not an option at this level of billings: the 2026 cap is €83,600 for services and unregulated BNC activities, and €203,100 for the sale of goods. Above those caps you must move to a company. These figures are illustrative orders of magnitude and ignore income tax, CFE business rates and the cost of running the structure.

"Freelance" is not a legal status in France: it is a way of working that you can carry out under four different legal forms, each with its own trade-off between net income and protection.

1. Micro-entreprise (auto-entrepreneur). The simplest to open (online in 24 hours) and run. Social contributions are charged on gross turnover (21.2% for BIC services, 25.6% for unregulated liberal BNC activities in 2026), but real expenses are not deductible and turnover is capped at €83,600 for services and BNC activities in 2026. Great to start with or for a side activity; poorly suited once your costs or turnover climb.

2. EURL. A single-member SARL. The majority manager is a self-employed worker (TNS/SSI): real expenses are deductible and profit is taxed at corporate tax (15% up to €42,500, then 25%). Dividends above 10% of share capital attract social charges. Ideal for an established consultant with recurring billings.

3. SASU. The favourite of IT consultants and transition managers. The sole director-shareholder is attached to the general social-security scheme. The classic strategy: a modest salary plus dividends taxed at the 31.4% flat tax. A SASU with no salary lets a job-seeker keep their ARE unemployment benefit while getting started.

4. Umbrella company (portage salarial). You work independently but with employee status: a payslip, unemployment rights and the general scheme. The umbrella company invoices your client, takes a management fee (8 to 12% of billings) and pays you a salary. The conversion rate from billings to net pay is the lowest (45 to 50%), but simplicity and security are highest.

Umbrella employment (portage salarial) provides executive employee status, a payslip (ideal for renting an apartment or obtaining a mortgage), unemployment cover and simplicity of administration. In return, the conversion rate between billed turnover and net salary is the lowest (umbrella company management fees 8 to 12% + employer charges + employee contributions).

Recommended when:

• Short missions (< 12 months) with no certainty of renewal
• You need a mortgage within 12 to 24 months
• You want to preserve unemployment rights
• Transition period between two salaried positions

Creating a SASU or EURL enables significantly better income optimisation:

• Deduction of actual business expenses (shared office rent, IT equipment, software, client meals, travel)
• Recovery of VAT on professional purchases
• Dividend payments at a controlled tax rate (31.4% flat tax)
• Ability to reinvest cash surpluses (PER retirement plan, life insurance, property via a holding company)

Recommended when:

• Stable turnover > €60,000/year for at least 2 years
• You want to maintain your ARE unemployment benefit (possible with a SASU without salary)
• You want to reinvest profits (property, retirement)
• You have significant professional expenses (> 15% of turnover)

VAT on service fees

Any VAT-registered consultant invoices at 20% and remits collected VAT less deductible VAT on purchases. The return is monthly or quarterly. A micro-business under the VAT exemption threshold does not charge VAT (competitive advantage with individuals, disadvantage with businesses).

Deductible business expenses

In a company structure, business expenses are deductible from taxable profit. Main items:

• Home office: up to 10% of total rent if a dedicated office exists
• Phone and internet: 50 to 100% depending on professional use
• Meals: a daily meal allowance within the annual administrative limit; client meals deductible when justified
• Travel: the French mileage scale (barème kilométrique) or actual costs with receipts

Unemployment benefit (ARE) and company creation

A job seeker receiving ARE can create a SASU without paying themselves a salary and continue receiving their ARE, up to 60% of the rights remaining at the date of creation (for contracts ended since 1 April 2025); beyond that, continued payment requires the approval of the regional joint body. Once they start drawing a salary, ARE is reduced pro rata. This strategy allows starting an activity while limiting the financial risk.

We never push you towards a particular structure. At our first free advisory meeting:

1. Personalised simulation: we calculate your net disposable income to the nearest euro comparing micro-business, EURL, SASU and umbrella employment for a given turnover.
2. Legal form selection and articles drafting by our legal team if you opt for company formation.
3. Year-round expense and remuneration optimisation via our modern accounting tools.
4. Annual review: we recalculate the optimal strategy at the end of each financial year based on actual turnover.

• Forgetting to set aside VAT: collected VAT belongs to the state; do not spend it
• Not saving for retirement: a SASU director without a salary validates no pension quarters. A PER retirement plan is essential.
• Underestimating TNS charges in an EURL: the self-employed manager pays ~45% in contributions on income, even without drawing a salary (SSI minimum contributions)
• Confusing accounting profit and available cash: corporate tax due and VAT to remit reduce your actual cash position

Most freelance journeys follow a predictable path, and the value of an accountant is timing each move:

• Starting out (< €40k): the micro-entreprise or an umbrella company keeps things simple while you validate demand.
• Stabilising (€40k to €70k): real expenses, VAT recovery and pay optimisation start to outweigh simplicity, usually the point to incorporate as a SASU or EURL.
• Established (€70k to €150k): the salary-versus-dividend mix becomes the main lever, alongside a PER to rebuild retirement rights.
• High earner (> €150k of retained profit): a patrimonial holding above your operating company lets you reinvest dividends at 1.25% and prepare property or long-term wealth.

We watch your numbers and tell you when each threshold is genuinely worth crossing, not a year too late.

Once your structure is in place, we run the full accounting cycle so you can focus on billing:

• Monthly bookkeeping on Pennylane, with automatic bank sync, expense categorisation and receipt capture through Dext.
• Tax and social filings: monthly or quarterly VAT, corporate-tax instalments, SSI declarations, the annual tax package and your personal income-tax return.
• Payroll on Silae if you pay yourself a salary: payslips, monthly DSN and certificates.
• Year-end close: balance sheet, profit-and-loss account, statutory notes and tax package.
• A monthly dashboard: cash tracking, turnover trend, projected corporate tax and an alert if you approach a threshold.

• IT consultants and developers on long missions (18+ months) with high day rates (€500 to €1,200/day), for whom the SASU vs EURL choice is decisive. A SASU lets you keep your ARE during launch, then optimise through dividends.
• Creative freelancers (designers, copywriters, photographers, videographers) with more variable income: the micro-entreprise can fit up to €50 to 60k of turnover before EURL or SASU takes over.
• Transition managers on 6 to 18 month assignments with very high day rates (€1,000 to €2,000/day) and a real need to build retirement savings: a SASU with a PER and, later, a holding is often optimal.
• HR, strategy and marketing consultants with mixed income (consulting, training), where the right status depends largely on keeping ARE and on turnover stability.
• Expats and foreign freelancers invoicing French or international clients from France, who need a structure that is clean for both French compliance and cross-border income.

Case 1, IT consultant, €100,000 annual billings. Through a SASU optimised on dividends (a €30,000 gross salary, the balance distributed after corporate tax), total net income lands around €53,900. Through an umbrella company (10% management fee, contributions of about 48% on the resulting base), net pay is around €46,800. The SASU comes out roughly €7,100 a year ahead, for an accounting cost of about €2,400, so the return is immediate.

Case 2, creative freelancer, €60,000 annual billings. As a micro-entreprise taxed under BNC rules, contributions run at the 2026 rate of 25.6%, so €15,360, leaving €44,640 before income tax (which is then assessed on €39,600 after the 34% allowance). As an IS-registered EURL with real expenses of about 15% of billings, €30,000 of manager pay carries roughly €13,500 of TNS contributions, leaving €7,500 of taxable profit, €1,125 of corporate tax and €4,373 of net dividends after the 31.4% flat tax, so about €34,373 before income tax. At this level of billings and with few deductible costs, the micro-entreprise clearly wins, which is exactly why a personalised simulation beats any rule of thumb.

Company formation: our fees start at €800 excl. VAT for a SASU (articles of association, capital deposit, INPI one-stop-shop filing), plus the actual filing disbursements (legal notice and registry, around €200). A SARL or EURL, heavier on drafting, starts at €1,200 excl. VAT before disbursements. The quote issued before we start is a fixed quote.

• VAT returns: monthly (réel normal) or quarterly (réel simplifié) once you pass the franchise threshold; the micro-entreprise stays VAT-exempt below it.
• SSI / URSSAF contributions: paid monthly or quarterly on professional income for TNS managers and micro-entrepreneurs.
• Corporate-tax instalments: four advance payments across the year for an IS-registered EURL or SASU, with the balance after the year-end close.
• Annual tax package (liasse fiscale): filed within the deadline following the financial year-end.
• Personal income tax: dividends reported on your return (31.4% flat tax or, on election, the progressive scale); salary is taxed at source.

Missing a deadline triggers penalties and interest, so we calendar every obligation and remind you well ahead.

• Numbers before structure: we never recommend a status before simulating it on your own figures, turnover, deductible costs, household situation and any unemployment rights in progress.
• A modern digital stack: Pennylane for real-time accounting, Silae for payroll, Dext for receipts (full visibility from your phone).
• 10 years in Paris 8: based at 58 rue de Monceau, in person or by video, with a dedicated contact who knows your file, no call centre.
• Proactive support: we flag opportunities during the year (profit running ahead of your corporate-tax instalments, the right window for a PER contribution or a dividend distribution).