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Building My Business in France: The Resources I Wish I'd Had as an Expat
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items I'm European, but I come from another country in Europe, and building my business in France from zero wasn't simple. I didn't know where to start or who to ask, and French administration is a language of its own even before you factor in the actual l...
Sections
5
Registration and legal formalities
Admin and invoicing
Banking and insurance
Community and extra support
Travel and transport
Registration and legal formalities
Starting a business in France means finding your way through registration steps and legal paperwork that can feel unfamiliar even if you already speak French. These are the tools and platforms that helped me set up my tax and social security accounts...
URSSAF is the French organization that collects social security contributions from people who work for themselves. When you register a business in France, whether as a micro-entrepreneur, a freelancer, or through a company, you register with URSSAF a...
Le service en ligne Auto-entrepreneur
Impots.gouv.fr is the official website of the French tax authority. It's where you declare and pay your taxes in France. If you have your own business, there's one thing worth knowing before you start: you need two separate accounts, not one. Your personal space (...
Impots.gouv
Formalités INPI is the official portal where you register your business in France, whatever structure you choose. Every declaration that used to go through different local offices now goes through this single site, from creating your business to upda...
Formalités d'entreprises
Guichet Pappers is a free Chrome extension that pulls up official information on any French company directly in your browser, things like SIRET number, legal status, and filings, without needing to search for it separately. When I need to check a sup...
Guichet Pappers - Chrome Web Store
Legalstart is an online platform that helps you create and manage your business in France, from choosing the right legal structure to drafting contracts and other legal documents. It's built for people without a legal background, guiding you step by ...
Legalstart.fr | Création et gestion d'entreprise, dépôt de ...
Pappers.fr is the free French company registry site that sits behind the Guichet Pappers extension. Search any company by name or SIRET number and see its legal status, registration date, financial filings, and company officers, straight from the official Fren...
Pappers
Admin and invoicing
Running a business in France means staying on top of invoicing, deadlines, and paperwork that never really stops. It also means knowing which structure fits your income. These are the tools and the program I rely on to keep the admin side manageable ...
Indy is an all-in-one platform built for French freelancers and self-employed entrepreneurs. It brings invoicing, quotes, expense tracking, bookkeeping, and your URSSAF and tax declarations into a single dashboard, so you're not juggling between diff...
Indy
Optimic is a program created by Amélie Richard, a finance professional with years of experience in accounting firms and as a CFO. It walks you through the fiscal and legal options open to a self-employed person in France, whether you work as a micro-...
Optimic business émoi : augmente ton revenu net sans ...
Tiime is invoicing and accounting software built for French freelancers and small business owners. It lets you create and send professional invoices and quotes in a few clicks, and keeps track of what's paid and what isn't without extra spreadsheets....
Tiime
I use Indy for my own invoicing, and before that I was with Tiime. Qonto isn't the one I use day to day, but I know friends who moved to France from Canada and other European countries who chose it, since it's already available where they came from. ...
Gérez toutes vos finances depuis votre compte pro
Banking and insurance
Opening a bank account in France as a foreigner is not always straightforward. Health coverage works differently here too, with the mutuelle filling the gap the basic system leaves open. These are the resources that made both easier for me.
Indy also gives you a free business bank account as part of its free plan, on top of the invoicing and admin tools I already use it for. If you are getting started and don't want another subscription to manage, this means you open your account and ha...
Indy
AESIO mutuelle is a French health insurance provider that covers what the state health system leaves out, things like dental, optical, and specialist fees. As a self-employed person, choosing a mutuelle is one of the decisions you have to make early ...versione21.com, and I will get you a free month.
AESIO mutuelle Reviews
Community and extra support
Moving to a new country and building a business there is easier when you are not doing it alone. This is where I found other expats and entrepreneurs going through the same thing. It's also where I keep the tools that help with the rest, writing with...
If you are a woman and looking for a community of ladies in business in France
Ladies in Business in France
Fiverr is a marketplace full of freelancers for almost anything, translations, a French CV, logo design, help setting up your website or invoicing templates. Building a business in a new country comes with small tasks outside your expertise, and havi...
Fiverr
MerciApp is an AI tool that checks your spelling and grammar in French. For an expat building a business or running a business in France, writing precise French matters every day, in emails, proposals, and any content you publish. MerciApp corrects y...
MerciApp
Travel and transport
Living and working in France often means traveling, whether for business or to go back and see family. These are the resources I use to plan trips and get around without the stress in the country and with nearest countries ( train might be faster tha...
SNCF is the French national railway, and the TGV high speed line connects all major cities in a few hours. For business travel, it's often faster and less stressful than flying, no airport lines, city center to city center, reliable enough to build a...
Réservez votre billet de train pas cher dès maintenant
Eurostar connects Paris to major European business hubs like London, Brussels, and Amsterdam, all in a few hours by train. For expats building a business with clients or partners across borders, it means you can reach another country's capital withou...
Book Europe Train Tickets and Holidays