Finance and accounting outsourcing: scope and issues
Finance & Accounting (F&A) outsourcing covers a wide spectrum: general and subsidiary accounting, treasury management, bank reconciliations, payroll, management control, consolidation and reporting. French companies prioritise outsourcing day-to-day accounting and payroll, keeping strategic management control and auditor relationships in-house.
French accounting law requirements
The General Accounting Plan (PCG 2025) and the Commercial Code impose strict obligations on bookkeeping, closing deadlines and document retention. Your provider must master French accounting specifics: asset depreciation under French tax rules, management of regulated provisions, multi-rate VAT and DAS2 declarations.
Typical SLAs for Finance & Accounting outsourcing
- Supplier invoice entry: ≤ 48h after receipt, error rate < 0.5%
- Bank reconciliation: weekly, discrepancies communicated within 24h
- Monthly close: maximum J+5 working days after month end
- Tax declarations (VAT, CIT, CVAE): submitted 5 days before legal deadline
- Management reporting: dashboards available before the 8th of the following month
3 mistakes to avoid during transition
The first mistake is handing over outsourcing without having cleaned up the accounts first: a trial balance with doubtful entries immediately complicates the provider's work. The second is not securing interfaces with your ERP (SAP, Cegid, Sage) — test import/export flows before go-live. The third is outsourcing without retaining an internal financial controller to validate deliverables.