contracting in france

[aucomptoir]

Hello. Does anyone have experience contracting in France and setting up limited companies? I have landed a freelance contract with a Fr company who want me to invoice them each month. But the invoice must be from a Fr company, ie, my own. I don't know how the system works here; do i set up a LTD company in the same way i would in the UK? How do i go about it?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Euro-commuter]

Hello. Does anyone have experience contracting in France and setting up limited companies? I have landed a freelance contract with a Fr company who want me to invoice them each month. But the invoice must be from a Fr company, ie, my own. I don't know how the system works here; do i set up a LTD company in the same way i would in the UK? How do i go about it?

Thanks for any suggestions.

No, you don't. I knew no contractors who had their own company: it's expensive and time-consuming to set up, and does nothing for you.

The status that you want is "Profession Libérale" which is usually described in English as "Self-Employed Knowledge Worker".* I would suggest taking advice from a French accountant (who will probably have this status himself, as will your doctor and lawyer).

If by chance you read French, Freelance-Europe is a good guidance site.


But if you are not actually setting up in France, you might not want to go through this. Tell them you're not registered there and you want to invoice from the UK (they'll probably refuse: you'd have to charge VAT and they couldn't easily reclaim it). Then settle for a French umbrella, they are called "société de portage".

Or go through a UK management company, see e.g. CUK article . I didn't have to think about this because I was already resident in France when I started contracting there.


Fleetwood could have told you all about it.


* as distinct from Agriculteur i.e. farmer (who grows things), Artisan (who makes physical things), or Commercant (who buys and sells).

[aucomptoir]

Thanks. I live in France now so I'll take the local option.

[Euro-commuter]

Thanks. I live in France now so I'll take the local option.

Then it's simple, all you have to do is register at the CFE (Centre de Formalités des Entreprises) at the local URSSAF: they'll register you with everybody else, and give you a number. Voilà voilà.

See http://www.freelance-europe.com/;
Left-side menu: Informations/Le Guide du Freelance;
Plan des Chapitres: Comment se mettre à son compte? (click on the bullet).

[aucomptoir]

Thanks a million. That is a huge help.

[Zorba]

If we could have more stickies, that post would deserve it. I've been looking for a handy site of that kind for a while. Merci mille fois!

Z