Auto-entrepreneur or EURL: which legal status to choose?

For entrepreneurs, choosing the legal status of their business is often synonymous with questioning. And rightly so, as it affects every aspect of the entrepreneur's daily life.

The legal status of a company determines how it operates, as do the distribution of prerogatives between the different managers. Beyond the organization of the company, this choice also modifies its administrative procedures: the processes for creating and declaring a company vary greatly from one structure to another. Most entrepreneurs hesitate between two alternatives: autoentrepreneur (microentrepreneur) or EURL status.

What are the advantages of auto-entreprise?

Autoentreprise no longer exists in this semantic form, and has been replaced by the term "microentreprise". The new term is "microentrepreneur".

The microenterprise status is a big hit with entrepreneurs. Today, it is the most popular legal status, and is breaking records in terms of business start-ups! It's true that its advantages make it attractive:

• Setting up, managing and winding up a micro-business is particularly straightforward. All you have to do is fill in a form on the Internet to obtain the SIRET and SIREN numbers you need to run your business. This simplification extends to all procedures: declarations of sales, calculation of social security contributions and taxes are also carried out in this way.
• Microentrepreneurs benefit from significant social and tax advantages. The calculation of social charges is simplified and gives greater visibility: all you need to do is apply a percentage to your sales to determine the amount. During the first year of business, you can benefit fromACRE, a grant for young entrepreneurs. Your social security contributions will be halved for 12 months!

Micro-entrepreneur status is suitable for a wide range of activities, but is subject to a certain sales limit:

• sales of €170,000 for retail and accommodation activities
• 70,000€ for services and self-employed professionals (BNC or BIC)

What are the advantages of EURL?

The EURL (Entreprise Unipersonnelle à Responsabilité Limitée) is, like the microenterprise, a particularly popular legal form in France.

This appeal is due to its many advantages:

• The concept of "limited liability" is particularly protective for entrepreneurs. The EURL allows the entrepreneur's professional and personal assets to be completely separated. Their liability is limited to the amount of their contributions to the company. Clearly, if the EURL fails, creditors will only have access to the company's assets, and will not be able to attack the personal assets.
• The EURL status allows entrepreneurs to choose the tax regime best suited to their situation. They can opt for income tax (IR) or corporation tax (IS).
• Its operating mode is particularly flexible: the manager is not obliged to keep a management report or draw up minutes for the general meeting.

How do you choose between these two legal forms?

Choosing the right legal form for your situation depends on your business sector and the particularities of your entrepreneurial project. Your additional income or asset structure may also influence your preferences.

Once you've decided on the legal status of your business, you'll need to choose the address for its registered office.

Many entrepreneurs choose to domicile their business. Quite simply, it makes it possible to differentiate between the address of the head office and the actual place of business. Its many advantages make it a particularly popular service for entrepreneurs running dynamic businesses: access to a panel of prestigious addresses located in the most sought-after neighborhoods, digitized mail management, premises available to receive customers, legal and administrative assistance, etc.

In this way, you outsource all the tedious, low-value-added tasks, so you can concentrate on what's really important: growing your business.