To Establish a Business in France
A Hint to Learn French
If you want to establish a business in France, you must first consider a number of questions. They are, in fact, quite evident, but they do need practical answers.
What do you want to do or sell in France?
With what means, either personal or business, can you afford to do so?
In other terms, what is your budget and what revenues do you wish to earn?
Then, you will have to answer the following question:
Which kind of entity should I set up to reach my market and my aims?
– A liaison office, in French “bureau de liaison”, as a trade representative office
– A branch that is already a legal entity with the possibility to invoice in France with a VAT number
– A registered company which is a subsidiary of your home company
When you have decided upon which route to take, there will be a number of formalities to accomplish before you get your commercial and legal address. Then, you will have to learn about the accounting and tax regulations in France in order to set up a proper business, according to French law. The organization of the payroll and the legal social returns, in particular, must be thoroughly examined.
All these questions are easy to understand but may contain a number of practical difficulties to solve.
We are, as a consultant at the first stage, and then as a chartered accountant, at your disposal to help you to answer them.
If necessary, we will use the assistance of our legal partners for specific contractual agreements.
For all of this, you don’t need to speak French because we can assist you in English. However, for many things, it would be helpful if you can understand and speak a little bit in French, before you hire your own fluent employees.
We are just like everyone else, we like it when somebody coming to France tries to speak a few words in our language, just as you would like it!