Setting up

[mike.m]

We set up over the summer; a couple of points to add to the story .

   For those who are going down the registration with the Chambre de Commerce route I discovered ( not from the CdeC but from a nice lady at URSAFF ) that you are able to defer all first year cotisations by simple letter of request . This seems to me to have the advantage of  paying as and when actual earnings are known rather than in advance as well as helping with first year cashflow - its rather like an interest-free loan from the state . The procedure is simply to send a letter to ( I imagine the RSI from January 1st ) asking for the 'report' (postponement ) and  'etalement' (stage-payment ) of charges . The first year charges are then deferred and paid off  over  years 2~5 . You need to make the request within the first three months of setting up ie. before the first cotisations are due .

A request for information from some more experienced hands ( especially Quillan and betoulle if they tuning in ).

After visiting an accountant I was told that there was no way of avoiding the CdeC route and charged 200 euro for the interview and letter . After this I resolved to avoid future visits if at all possible and follow the simplest  accounting system by setting up a micro -bic . Keeping a day book of income and outgoings is straightforward enough . I'd appreciate  clarification though on how to deal with expenses  . I read on an earlier thread (from Quillan ?) that because of the automatic 71% allowance we dont need to justify purchases/expenses up to this level by holding on to receipts. Is this the case ( which would certainly save a lot of inconvenience with food purchases etc. ) Are there any invoices that have to be preserved ? Should we make provision in the bookeeping ( for tax purposes) for apportioning utility charges , car expenses etc. 

Any  thoughts ?