French words you need to know no as an entrepreneur

By Valérie Aston on 27 January 2021 · Viewed 2288 times ·

Learning to manage your French ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº can be confusing as you are bombarded with many French words, not to mention acronyms! In this article, I have listed a few French words which you need to know about, to better understand how your ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº works. Bonne lecture!

Le Chiffre d’Affaires

This is how much you have sold over the last month or year. It refers to your turnover. It can also be called “les ventes de marchandises” for physical goods or items sold or “les prestations des services” for services.

La Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée (TVA)

Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée (VAT in English) is a small tax collected by the French government for ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôºes going over a turnover of €34,400 for services and over €85,800 for trade (buy and resale, gites, restaurants). If you are below these levels of turnover, you will not be TVA registered and you will have to add the mention  “TVA non-applicable - article 293 B du CGI” on your invoices.  There are three rates of TVA: standard rate of 20% for services and goods, reduced rate of 10% for unprocessed agricultural products, firewood, housing improvement works and 5.5% for food products and books.

Le Regime Social

The Regime Social relates to the social charges that you will be paying to URSSAF. The social charges are going towards your health cover, a training fund, your pension and the generic French system. The social charges rate also called regime will vary according to the type of ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº you have.  For instance régime micro social for micro entrepreneur, régime réel or régime normal for entreprise individuelle or incorporated ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôºes (EURL/SARL, SAS/SASU).

Le regime Fiscal

The Régime Fiscal summarises your ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº set up with the tax office (i.e. TVA registered or not) and your income tax or incorporation tax. As a sole trader (micro entrepreneur or entreprise individuelle), you are liable to personal income tax on your ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº income.  If you have an incorporated ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº (EURL/SARL, SAS/SASU), you may be liable to income tax or incorporation tax on your profits. It is up to you to make this decision. I recommend speaking to an accountant to make this choice based on your personal circumstances (i.e. level of income, family situation, other sources of income).

La couverture santé

As an entrepreneur your health cover will be managed by Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (CPAM) also known as Sécurité Sociale. Your ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº registration will generate the creation of the French social security number and your carte vitale. Be aware that this process is lengthy and may take 4 to 6 months. In the meantime, you are covered by a temporary French social security number, but this means paying upfront for your health expenses, before being reimbursed by CPAM later on.

French words you need to know no as an entrepreneur

Valerie Lemiere: Start Business in France

About the author: Valérie Aston

I've been helping people who want to start or already have a small ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº set up in France since 2009. After graduating from a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, I worked as a senior marketing consultant in the UK and France for various International companies. I worked as a conseillère en création d'entreprises (senior ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº advisor) for here in France and run this independent ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº on a daily basis.