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One of the answers to the difficult
issue of whether to register because there may not be enough clients to
pay for the URSSAF bill every year, let alone to live on, is to create
an association. You can start an association and register it without
very little fuss and as long as any profit you make is either ploughed
back into the association ie on professional insurance, fees for joining
professional bodies, the creation of a counselling space and
professional development, advertising etc., then this may be for you.
The French law 'Loi de 1901' is
designed to allow a group of two or more people to meet and to raise
funds as well as having the advantage of being a legal entity. The law
allowed any group of individuals to set up a legally-recognised
association without incurring too much red tape or expensive
cotisations. Associations can make profits, but only for re-investment
or to cover costs.
The first thing to do is to decide whether or not you want to formally
register your association. The 1901 law allows any group of people to
meet and share common ideas without completing any legal formalities at
all.
If you opt for this formula however, your association will have no legal
statute. This means it won't be able to open a bank account in its own
name, hire people or carry out any other activities that must be
undertaken by what French lawyers call a moral person (personne morale)
If you do decide to declare your association, you need to draw up a list
of statutes setting out exactly what your group intends to do. If
necessary, your local prefecture can provide you with a series of
standard statutes that can be adapted to your association's needs.
It is important that the statutes take into account all of the possible
activities your association may want to carry out. You must set out on a
declaration what your activities and aims are to be. Once you have
formally registered your group it will only be allowed to do what is
mentioned in the statutes, which can only be changed by presenting a new
declaration to the authorities. Therefore it's a good idea to keep the
statutes as general as possible to cover everything you might decide to
do.
You will also have to write down the full name of the association and its
official address, which can be someone's house, an office, any building
where the activities might take place or where you live. You need to
provide the names, addresses, dates and places of birth and occupations
of the people who will be running the group.
The next step is to photocopy everything three times - one copy for you
and two for your local préfecture or sous-préfecture, making sure that
the statutes are signed and dated by at least two members of the
association's 'bureau'.
Finally, go along to your local préfecture to declare your association. It
will appear in the Journal Officiel, which records all legal matters
across the country. This step costs you approximately 35€ and a stamped
self-addressed A4 envelope.
The bureau is the association's management team. Most small associations
have a bureau made up of a President, Secretary and Treasurer, who are
appointed by the members. You can have more than these, of course, but
you will need these three, and each bureau member will have certain
tasks.
The president heads the association, the secretary carries out secretarial
tasks like taking minutes of meetings and sending out correspondence to
members. The treasurer is in charge of the accounts.
AGM
At least once a year, all of an association's members MUST meet to discuss
the group's business, elect bureau members etc. It is also possible to
call extraordinary general assemblies if necessary.
Profits
Associations can make profits, but they must be re-invested in the
association or used to cover the group's costs. Classic profit-making
activities carried out by associations include organising dances, fêtes
and other social events in order to raise money for the group. However,
if profit-making becomes your association's primary activity, you could
find yourself in trouble.
It is possible for an association to have the pursuit of money as its
number one aim but this must be clearly mentioned in the statutes and
money-making groups must pay certain business taxes. Registered
associations have the right apply for subsidies from all of the usual
sources.
For more information
Contact your local préfecture - you can find telephone number in the
yellow pages at
http://www.pagesjaunes.fr or on the
website
http://www.interieur.gouv.fr
See also the 'vie associative' section of government's exhaustive
'Service-Public' website at
http://www.service-public.fr
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Setting up
your own business requires approval of the French authorities and
consequently involves a substantial amount of bureaucracy both to set up
the business and subsequently for the associated paperwork. If you are not
fluent in French, you will likely need assistance with the associated
forms. Also, unlike the UK or America, it will likely take a substantial
amount of time (some months) for the administration to process your forms,
so your application to create and register a business should be started
well before you intend to start trading.
For self-employed persons it is necessary to register with the appropriate
organisations for your trade and for certain professions (e.g. legal,
medical) recognised and approved qualifications / certification are
required. To determine the requirements for your individual circumstances,
a good starting point is the Chambre de Commerce (although do not be
surprised if this leads to one or more further organisations to identify
and complete the associated requirements and applications).
A word of advice for counsellors -
beware of making your status one that will attract a higher level of
payments. This has been a mistake that some have made and once stated
and registered, it is very difficult to change! Most register as
'Profession Liberale' and offer activities shown on
www.societe.com as "Activités de santé humaine non
classées ailleurs".
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