Today we will see together the main differences between the legal forms auto-entrepreneur, EURL or SASU. Here we go…
SASU, EURL or Auto-entrepreneur?
Discover in this video how to choose between SASU, EURL and auto-entrepreneur:
You will find below my presentation:
In this article, I want to present you very simply the three types of legal form
that you can consider when creating your company:- Auto-entrepreneur
- EURL
- SASU
I will take the opportunity at the end of the article to present you what I personally chose for my SEO agency Twaino. I will start by presenting the status of auto-entrepreneur.
Auto-entrepreneur
“I walk alone” ♫♪
If you make the choice of the auto-entrepreneur status, you will opt for an “individual” business. This means that you will create the business alone, you will grow it alone and you will potentially close it alone too. The auto-entrepreneur status is that of someone who is alone. In this, you will not be able to bring in partners at any time. So, it is an individual company, first point.
Capital of zero
Then, second point, at the level of the capital. You can start as an auto-entrepreneur with zero capital.
An ultra simplified accounting
Then, at the level of the legal and accounting, everything will be ultra simplified, which can be pleasant at first, insofar as there are no legal formalities which are enormous. At the level of the accountancy, you will not need to have a chartered accountant or an accountant, in a compulsory way, you will be able to provide the majority of the documents by yourself without advanced knowledge in the field. This will limit the costs. A certain advantage that represent the status of auto entrepreneur.
Impossible split between your personal assets and your company
Indeed, there will be no split between your personal assets and the assets of your company, if you choose to start up as an auto entrepreneur. In concrete terms, what does this mean? It simply means that if your company has debts of about 50,000 euros, you will have to repay this amount with your own / personal money. Therefore, in the most critical cases, you will have to sell your car, your house to pay off the debt incurred by your business. This is a particularly important point to know for entrepreneurs who wish to opt for the auto-entrepreneur status.
A limited turnover
The other determining element is the maximum turnover, which depends on your activity:
- Services: your turnover will be capped at 33 100 euros per year, you will not be able to exceed this turnover.
- Sale of goods: the maximum turnover is 82 800 euros
Personally, I think that the auto-entrepreneur status is really interesting, because of the simplicity in the administration if your ambition is to remain the only partner, and if your activity brings you less than 33 100 per year for services.
EURL
Mandatory company statutes
The second legal status that I will present to you is the EURL. In the context of the creation of an EURL, you should know that legal statutes will be mandatory for your company. If you feel the need, you can ask for help from an accountant or a lawyer. You can also write them on your own, taking inspiration from what other companies have done, and adjusting elements specific to your activity.
Division of personal and business assets
Contrary to the auto entrepreneur, with the EURL, you will obtain a real division between your personal assets and the assets of your company. So, if your company is in debt to the tune of 100,000 euros, you won’t need to sell your house or your cars in order to pay it off.
Alone or with others
Then, another element, you will be able to bring partners, which was not the case with the status of auto entrepreneur, which is really alone on board from the beginning to the end. With the EURL, you can bring in partners, which can be a definite advantage depending on your business perspective.
The accounting level goes up a notch
On the other hand, from an accounting and financial point of view, you will have to comply with the accounting and financial documents, to be submitted every year, with for example the sending of a balance sheet. Therefore, it is preferable to have an accountant / chartered accountant to help you provide these documents.
Attention RSI
Last but not least from my point of view, the RSI. Indeed, by creating a EURL, you will depend on the RSI regime and consequently, every month you will pay an amount for the RSI. If you have no knowledge of the RSI, I strongly advise you to go and have a look after this article, on the internet, on forums, on youtube, to see the feedbacks about the RSI. Overall, it can turn into a kind of horror movie quite quickly. So, I don’t recommend the IHR at all. In any case, I have never met an entrepreneur who has declared their love for the RSI. For me, it is too “risky” a regime.
SASU
Now let’s move on to the last status, the SASU.
Mandatory statutes
As for the EURL, you must file articles of association for the creation of your SASU. Same advice as for the EURL, you can get help from a professional, or write the statutes yourself.
SASU or SAS, what is the difference?
In fact the difference between the two is quite simple:
- SASU you start alone
- SAS you start with several partners, so minimum two.
Keep in mind that even if you start your SASU alone, you are planning to integrate partners in the future.
An accounting and financial follow-up
As far as start-up costs are concerned, you can count on an envelope of less than 500 euros. You will also have to consider management costs, especially accounting costs. On the same principle as the EURL, you will have to provide with the SASU financial balance sheets and accounting elements so that all things are done in order.
A good social security cover
Another element that is different from the EURL, is the good social coverage for the SASU.
Flexibility: Salaries & Dividends
With a SASU, you will have much more flexibility in the payment of salaries and dividends. This is an interesting element because you will be able to pay yourself either as a salary or as a dividend, and thus to make a process of tax optimization come into play. So it can be an interesting element also depending on what you want to do, and this is something that is not proposed in the framework of the EURL
No RSI, Yippee!
Last but not least, the SASU does not depend on the RSI regime.
What will my choice of status be for Twaino?
For my agency TWAINO, I will not tend to a status of auto entrepreneur, because I have an expectation of turnover that is higher than 33 100 euros this year. Therefore, it is not an optimal status for me at first. But if this is not the case for you, and you plan to have a turnover lower than 33k, clearly the auto entrepreneur status is extremely advantageous, and it really simplifies things. So depending on your situation of course, it can be something interesting. I’m not going to go for EURL either, because I absolutely want to avoid the RSI system. As I’ve already told you, it’s not a system that suits me at all, and so I want to avoid as much as possible the problems inherent in this system. So, the idea for me is to set up a company which will be a SASU and which will allow me to have much more flexibility in the payment methods, between salaries and dividends.
Conclusion :
Obviously, the legal form of your company will depend on your type of business, your ambition, your income expectations, etc… The idea, for me with this article was really to make a summary of the main differences, between SASU, EURL and auto entrepreneur. If you feel that you are completely lost, I advise you to do several things:
- First, spend some time reading blogs specialized in the field to really try to understand which legal forms are the best for you.
- Secondly, if you are really not interested, get in touch with a chartered accountant or a lawyer, they will help you personally.
The objective of this article is not at all to pretend to replace these professions of lawyers and accountants. The idea is simply to give you a quick overview of the main differences and to explain which legal form I will use to set up my company Twaino.
com. I’m done for this article, I hope you enjoyed it, see you soon for the rest…
