Doing business in France: a guide for foreign companies

Which firm should you choose?

The honest answer is that no single firm is best for everyone. The choice depends on three factors: the size of the French operation, whether you need one provider or several, and how much partner time you expect to get.

A foreign group landing its first entity rarely needs Big Four machinery. It needs someone who picks up the phone, speaks English, and knows what a Dutch holding or a US parent will be asked for.

Keypoint sits in the independent, international-focused tier alongside firms like Primexis and Vachon. What separates them in practice is breadth and access. Some cover accounting only and refer out for tax or legal. Keypoint keeps the full scope in house.

Read next: The full one-stop-shop comparison · Advisory & support

Setting up an entity in France

A foreign company registers a French entity through the Guichet Unique run by INPI, France’s national registry. The file includes company statutes, proof of a registered office, a deposit of share capital, identification of directors and beneficial owners, and a legal announcement.

Once the file is complete, registration itself is fast. Where foreign founders lose weeks is upstream: translating and certifying documents, opening a French bank account to deposit capital, and getting the statutes right for a non-resident shareholder.

Expect a few weeks from a complete file to a registered company in most standard cases, and longer if the bank account or the parent-company paperwork drags.

The state registration cost is modest. The real budget is the advisory and translation work around it.

Read next: Company, subsidiary or branch formation · Registered office & administrative assistance

Which legal structure: SAS, SARL or branch?

Most foreign-owned companies in France pick the SAS. It is flexible on governance, works cleanly with a corporate shareholder, and its president can be a foreign company.

The SARL is more rigid and tends to suit smaller, owner-managed setups.

The branch is not a separate company at all; it is an extension of the foreign parent, which keeps the parent on the hook for liabilities and for some French reporting. That trade-off, lighter setup against heavier exposure, is the real decision.

People searching for the French equivalent of an LLC usually land on the SAS, since it offers limited liability with a corporate parent. The fit depends on who owns it, how it will be financed, and whether the parent wants distance from French liability.

Read next: Company, subsidiary or branch formation · Legal advice & assistance

Hiring and payroll in France

A foreign company can hire its first employee in France without first setting up a local entity, but it cannot skip the French obligations. It must register as a foreign employer with French social security and run compliant French payroll from the first month, including monthly social declarations through the DSN.

That surprises a lot of teams: no entity does not mean no payroll compliance.

Employer social contributions add roughly 40 to 45 percent on top of gross salary, and the applicable collective bargaining agreement sets rules on pay, leave and notice that a foreign HR team will not know by default. Once you have more than a handful of hires, most groups create an entity to simplify the structure.

Read next: Payroll & human resources

Accounting, financial statements and audit

A French subsidiary keeps its statutory books under French GAAP and files annual accounts. Most foreign-owned subsidiaries also produce a reporting package for the parent under IFRS or US GAAP, which is where dual-standard experience earns its keep.

A statutory auditor (commissaire aux comptes) becomes mandatory once a company exceeds at least two of three thresholds at year-end: 5 million euros in balance sheet total, 10 million euros in net turnover, or 50 employees.

Here is the part foreign groups miss: a small French subsidiary can still need an auditor if it counts as a significant subsidiary of a group whose parent is itself audited, because lower thresholds apply at that level.

So a 12-person French entity that would be exempt on its own can be pulled into the requirement by its parent. Worth checking before you assume you are below the line.

Read next: Accounting & financial statements · Statutory audit & auditing

Tax, VAT and the R&D tax credit (CIR)

Corporate income tax in France is 25 percent. There is a reduced 15 percent rate on the first 42,500 euros of profit, but it comes with a catch most foreign groups hit: the company has to be held at least 75 percent by individuals.

A French subsidiary owned by a foreign parent company usually fails that test, so it pays 25 percent from the first euro. Standard VAT is 20 percent, with reduced rates of 10 percent and 5.5 percent depending on the activity.

On the upside, the Research Tax Credit (CIR) returns 30 percent of eligible R&D spending up to 100 million euros a year, and 5 percent beyond. It is open to foreign-owned companies subject to French corporate tax, and SMEs can have it refunded in cash rather than carried against future tax.

For a foreign scale-up running R&D in France, that often funds a meaningful slice of the team. Transfer pricing between the French subsidiary and the foreign parent is the other side of the coin, and it needs documentation.

Read next: International tax · Research & innovation tax credit (CIR)

About Keypoint International

Keypoint International is an independent accounting, audit and advisory firm in Paris, working with foreign groups that set up and run operations in France. The firm started in 2003 (then VM International) with that exact focus, which is still rare on the French market.

Most foreign companies arriving in France coordinate four or five providers at once: a lawyer for the structure, a notary for the formalities, a payroll bureau, an accountant, a tax adviser. Keypoint folds all of it into one relationship in English, with partner-level access rather than a support ticket.

Several partners trained at Big Four firms, the team carries dual France and Canada qualification and US GAAP experience, and the firm is a member of the Ordre des Experts-Comptables and registered with the CNCC. When a question falls outside accounting, there is a vetted network on hand, including an English-speaking notary, lawyers, real estate agents and banks.

• Setup, accounting, tax, payroll, audit and legal under one roof
• More than 20 years working only with international groups (since 2003)
• French GAAP, IFRS and US GAAP reporting in parallel
• Member of the Ordre des Experts-Comptables, registered with the CNCC

Who this is for: CFOs and founders of foreign groups in the scoping phase who want one accountable contact for the entire French setup, in English, rather than managing a notary, a payroll bureau, a tax adviser and a lawyer from another country.

Independent firm vs Big Four for a foreign setup

Both are legitimate choices. The split is mostly about scale. A Big Four firm makes sense for very large multinationals that need a global brand on the audit and consolidated reporting across many countries. For a foreign group building its first French operation, an independent firm tends to win on access, price and turnaround.

The verdict is not that one is better. It is that they fit different stages. If you are opening your first French entity, the independent route usually gives more for less.

France business facts at a glance (2026)

General figures for a foreign-owned company operating in France in 2026. Rates and thresholds can change and depend on your situation, so treat these as a starting point.