Comments on: French company accounts http://www.francethisway.com/wp/french-company-accounts/2009/05/ Living in France and daily life for a UK expat in the French blog! Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:50:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/french-company-accounts/2009/05/comment-page-1/#comment-15588 Boris Thu, 28 May 2009 20:09:20 +0000 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=957#comment-15588 Hi Paul, That"s a big question! First I'll answer then I'll suggest where you should go for a better answer. First thing, even if you don't speak any French now, I assume you intend to learn? All aspects of living in France are much easier with some French language ability. Problems with accountants are quite some way off - many people with gites / chambre d'hotes never have an accountant (we have one for our company, not for our gites). It is true that social contributions (rather than taxes) are very high - but on gite income they are quite low, I"m not sure about chambre d'hotes. The bigger issue is to do with the business itself and whether it can make enough income for you and your family. Certainly the business is very seasonal, and attracting UK based customers is hard, especially this year. It's not so much a problem of the cost of advertising, but whether the advertising will actually attract customers! I know about marketing gites, but nothing about chambre d'hotes. Most people will tell you it's touch and go whether it will work. It depends partly on yourself and partly on luck. But to end on a more optimistic note, I have just been looking for places to stay in the Ardeche next week - the first hotel I looked at had 250 rooms and no availability! Get the location, the price and the quality right, and make sure people know about it, and it can all be a great success. I suggest you ask your questions at the forum <a href="http://www.laymyhat.com/forum/" rel="nofollow">www.laymyhat.com/forum/</a> where many knowledgeable and experienced people will be able to answer your questions more accurately than I can, and where you should find a good range of useful opinions. Good luck with your plans! Hi Paul,
That”s a big question! First I’ll answer then I’ll suggest where you should go for a better answer.
First thing, even if you don’t speak any French now, I assume you intend to learn? All aspects of living in France are much easier with some French language ability.
Problems with accountants are quite some way off – many people with gites / chambre d’hotes never have an accountant (we have one for our company, not for our gites). It is true that social contributions (rather than taxes) are very high – but on gite income they are quite low, I”m not sure about chambre d’hotes.
The bigger issue is to do with the business itself and whether it can make enough income for you and your family.
Certainly the business is very seasonal, and attracting UK based customers is hard, especially this year. It’s not so much a problem of the cost of advertising, but whether the advertising will actually attract customers! I know about marketing gites, but nothing about chambre d’hotes.
Most people will tell you it’s touch and go whether it will work. It depends partly on yourself and partly on luck. But to end on a more optimistic note, I have just been looking for places to stay in the Ardeche next week – the first hotel I looked at had 250 rooms and no availability! Get the location, the price and the quality right, and make sure people know about it, and it can all be a great success.
I suggest you ask your questions at the forum http://www.laymyhat.com/forum/ where many knowledgeable and experienced people will be able to answer your questions more accurately than I can, and where you should find a good range of useful opinions.
Good luck with your plans!

]]> By: paul Palmer http://www.francethisway.com/wp/french-company-accounts/2009/05/comment-page-1/#comment-15587 paul Palmer Thu, 28 May 2009 15:26:19 +0000 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=957#comment-15587 Hi, hope you have managed to sort out your accounts. I was browsing the internet and came accross your email entry. I know this is a long shot but I wanted to ask for an advice, or if you could direct me to some website or forum where I could ask English people running a business in France. We're selling our house in the UK and are thinking of emigrating to France with our 3 small children. Looking at property with gites/BB or fishing lake so we can generate some income. We don't speak any french at all. I had a brief look into the taxes and I understand that you're better off with an accountant and that the taxes are quite high. I'm guessing that the letting business/BB/fishing business is all seasonal and we're thinking if it is indeed a good idea to move there. We would have no other means of making money out of the season if we don't speak the language. What do you do when you're out of season? How do you advertise and does it cost a fortune? Any tips/advise would be a great appreciate it. Many thanks Regards Paul Palmer Hi, hope you have managed to sort out your accounts.
I was browsing the internet and came accross your email entry.

I know this is a long shot but I wanted to ask for an advice, or if you could direct me to some website or forum where I could ask English people running a business in France.

We’re selling our house in the UK and are thinking of emigrating to France with our 3 small children. Looking at property with gites/BB or fishing lake so we can generate some income. We don’t speak any french at all.

I had a brief look into the taxes and I understand that you’re better off with an accountant and that the taxes are quite high.

I’m guessing that the letting business/BB/fishing business is all seasonal and we’re thinking if it is indeed a good idea to move there. We would have no other means of making money out of the season if we don’t speak the language.

What do you do when you’re out of season? How do you advertise and does it cost a fortune?
Any tips/advise would be a great appreciate it.
Many thanks

Regards
Paul Palmer

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