Accounting and tax for French subsidiaries of foreign groups

French accounting standards are not IFRS or US GAAP. Your subsidiary keeps its books under the French chart of accounts (Plan Comptable Général). Your group reports under its own standards. Someone has to produce the French accounts and explain the gap with your group figures.

Every filing is in French. Tax returns, payroll declarations and annual accounts are filed online with French authorities, in French. Letters from the tax office are in French too.

The calendar is dense. VAT returns, monthly payroll declarations, corporate tax installments, annual accounts. Missing a deadline means penalties and late interest.

The law reserves the work to registered accountants. In France, only a chartered accountant registered with the Ordre des experts-comptables can keep the books of a company as an outside provider. Your group accountant can review the figures, but the French bookkeeping has to be done either by your own staff in France or by a registered firm.

Bookkeeping and closing. Monthly bookkeeping under French standards, bank reconciliations, closing entries, annual accounts.

Corporate income tax. Annual corporate tax return, quarterly installments, tax position explained to your finance team.

VAT. Monthly or annual VAT returns depending on your regime, intra-EU invoicing rules, VAT on services billed by or to your parent company.

Payroll. French payslips and monthly payroll declarations (DSN), through our partnership with PayFit. See our page on French payroll.

Annual accounts and legal filings. Preparation of the annual accounts, approval documents, filing with the commercial court registry.

Reporting to headquarters. Monthly or quarterly reporting in the format your group uses, with a clear reconciliation between French figures and group figures.

Intercompany flows. Management fees, cost recharges, intercompany loans: we make sure each flow is invoiced, documented and booked correctly on the French side.

One contact, in English. You speak directly with the chartered accountant in charge of your file. No account manager in between.

A fixed calendar. We agree on closing dates and reporting deadlines at the start, aligned with your group calendar.

Figures your CFO can read. Every reporting package comes with a short commentary: what moved, why, and what needs a decision.

Modern tools. We work on Pennylane for bookkeeping and PayFit for payroll. Your team can access supporting documents online. We can also adapt to your group's tools.

MONTABEN Expertise & Conseil is led by Abdenasseir Bennacer, French chartered accountant (Diplôme d'Expertise Comptable), registered with the Ordre des experts-comptables of the Île-de-France region.

He has nearly twenty years of experience, in smaller accounting firms and in international firms, including Deloitte and Grant Thornton. He has worked with foreign companies and French subsidiaries of foreign groups setting up and operating in France, explaining French accounting and tax rules in English to English-speaking executives.

Statutory audit. Depending on its size and its group, your French entity may need a statutory auditor (commissaire aux comptes). Independence rules prevent the same firm from keeping the books and auditing them. We work alongside your auditor and prepare everything they need.

Legal work. Company law changes, contracts and employment disputes are handled by lawyers. We work with partner lawyers and can introduce you.