Finance help for freelancers in France: what lies behind the acronyms

How well do you know your ASS from your ARCE? Your ACRE from your NACRE?

If you’re not a freelancer in France, these probably just seem like mildly offensive insults. But if you are a freelancer in France, you need to know that these terms are the key to unlocking some very useful financial support for solo entrepreneurs just like yourself.

There’s a lot of state aid for micro-entrepreneurs in France. You just have to know where to find it. But finding it means wading through what can seem like a swamp of acronyms so similar you wonder if they’re not designed specifically to confuse you. Let’s break those acronyms down to see clearly what financial aid exists for you as a France-based freelancer, what you need to be eligible for it and who to ask in order to get it.

Stands for: Aide aux Créateurs et Repreneurs d’Entreprise

What is it?

The ACRE is a total or partial exoneration of social charges like healthcare, retirement and unemployment contributions during the first year of business activity.

If you earn less than €30,393 then you will be exempt from these social charges in Year 1.

Earn between €30,393 and €40,524 and you will get a partial exemption.

Earn more than €40,524 and you will have to pay your first year social charges in full.

Who’s it for?

The ACRE is designed for people who are creating their own business, or buying an existing one. To qualify, you must fit at least one of the following criteria:

• You are aged between 18 and 25.
• You are aged under 30 and have a disability certificate.
• You receive unemployment benefits from Pôle Emploi.
• You’ve been registered with Pôle Emploi for at least 6 out of the last 18 months but don’t currently receive unemployment benefits.
• You haven’t already benefited from the ACRE within the past 3 years.
  
  

How do you apply?

You should apply for the ACRE when you register your new business with the Guichet Unique and you can do so by filling out this form on the website of URSSAF, the French social security collector (link in French).

Stands for: Allocation d’aide au Retour à l’Emploi

What is it?

These are unemployment benefits that you can still receive even if you are generating revenue as a micro-entrepreneur. It acts as a kind of safety net, topping up your self-employed income if you’re just getting started. The amount you’ll receive depends on your previous salary and how much you earn through your new business. That total sum must not exceed your salary from your last job.

Who’s it for?

The ARE was created for people who have involuntarily lost their previous job (i.e. who didn’t resign from their post). However, even if you set up a micro-entreprise, you can still receive some of these unemployment benefits to complement your business revenue if it doesn’t match what you were earning in the previous job. To get it you must:

• have worked at least 130 days (or 910 hours) within the last 2 years,
• be registered as a job seeker with the Pôle Emploi,
• be physically apt to work,
• be below retirement age.

How do you apply?

You’ll need to make an appointment with an advisor at the Pôle Emploi (see Pôle Emploi’s French language ARE brochure here).

Stands for: Aide à la Reprise ou à la Création Entreprise

What is it?

Think of it as a chunk of your ARE (unemployment benefits, see above) but paid in 2 instalments rather than many monthly ones. The size of that chunk depends on when you became unemployed: if it was before July 1, 2023, you will receive 45% of the total ARE you were entitled to (2 instalments of 22.5%); if you became unemployed after that date, you will receive 60% of the total ARE sum you were entitled to (2 instalments of 30%).

The first ARCE instalment comes when you’ve done all the initial paperwork. The second instalment comes exactly 6 months later.

For example, let’s say you were made unemployed on July 2, 2023 and were entitled to total benefits of €30,000, to be paid monthly over two years with the ARE system. If you opt instead for the ARCE system, then regardless of how much you earn through your business, you will get 30% of that (€9,000) once you’ve done your ARCE paperwork. Then, 6 months later, you get the other 30% (€9,000). What about the remaining 40% (€12,000) of your ARE? You will not be entitled to that unless:

• you close your business, or
• you start and finish another employment contract after being granted the ARCE.

Who’s it for?

The ARCE is open to anyone as long as they receive the ACRE (see above) and were receiving an ARE. However, you can’t receive ARE and the ARCE at the same time, which means you must choose between:

• ACRE + ARCE, or
• ACRE + ARE.

By receiving two larger instalments with the ARCE, freelancers get a larger injection of money to get their business up and running. They are also guaranteed that money no matter what their business earns them. On the flip side, they forfeit their right to their full ARE allocation if they keep their business open.

How do you apply?

You can get your ARCE through the Pôle Emploi, which provides more information here (link in French).

Stands for: Allocation de Solidarité Spécifique

What is it?

Not to be confused with the ARCE, the ASS is the unemployment compensation you can get once your pot of ARE money has run out. It amounts to €18.17 per day, paid monthly by the Pôle Emploi.

Who’s it for?

The ASS is a financial cushion for active job seekers but you can also receive it even while you’re self-employed or freelancing. To be eligible, your monthly household income has to be below €1,271.90 if you live alone or below €1,998.70 if you’re in a couple.

You must also be actively looking for employment and must have worked at least 5 years in the 10 years prior to becoming unemployed.

If you create your business while you’re on the ASS, you can cumulate revenue from both for a period of three months. If you receive the ACRE, you can also benefit from another special one-year program: a Frankenstein’s monster of an acronym, the ACRE-ASS.

How do you apply?

Like the ARE, your ASS is handed to you by the Pôle Emploi. You can fill out a form that you’ll find in your personal space on their online platform. It’s payable for six months, which you can then renew if you continue to meet the above criteria.

What is it?

It may not have an acronym but this can be useful for freelancers who are just starting out. It’s a sum of money that can be granted to employed or self-employed workers on low income. The amount available to you depends on a number of factors, including your total household revenue, other state aid you receive and how many children you may have. You can get an estimation of your grant via a simulator provided by the issuing agency, the CAF (link in French).

Who’s it for?

This workers’ grant is open to people who are:

• over 18,
• fully or partially employed,
• living in France for more than 9 months a year,
• French, Swiss or European Economic Area citizens, or holders of a French ‘carte de sejour’ for more than 5 years.

How do you apply?

You will need an account with the Caisse d’Allocations Familiales (CAF), which issues the grant, and can apply on its website. You’ll find all relevant information on their page here (link in French).

There is a plethora of support for company creators that used to be centralized in the national NACRE program, but that has now been delegated to France’s regions to adapt as they see fit.

The help available came in the form of expert guidance in drafting business plans, choosing legal statutes, building marketing strategies and finding financing. Such support is still available but depends on the region you live and work in. France’s public investment bank, Bpifrance, brings together all the regional initiatives on its website (link in French).

If you’re a person with disabilities looking to create or buy a business, you can apply for a one-off grant from the national association of professional integration of disabled workers, the AGEFIPH. The amount of the grant is €6,300 on condition that the applicant provides a personal contribution of €1,200.

Requests are managed by regional AGEFIPH branches and you can apply for the grant online, here (link in French).

If you’re under 26 and want to set up your own company, you should be eligible for the Cap’Jeunes program put in place by the associative network France Active (link in French). It can provide you with financial support of up to €2,000 to help you make your initial business investments. It also offers a personal mentoring program to guide you through the early stages of your project and boost your chances of continued success.

To access this support, you should send a request to your nearest France Active office, which you’ll be able to find via this link (in French).

There’s a special status for students aged 28 and under who create their own companies. It’s managed by an agency known as Pôles étudiants pour l’innovation, le transfert et l’entrepreneuriat (PEPITE) and it allows you to:

• re-arrange your study schedule to fit in with your professional needs and obligations,
• access co-working spaces run by the PEPITE network,
• get personal mentoring from a PEPITE network expert,
• find financial aid such as an Honor Loan.

Some high-street banks offer low-interest loans specifically tailored to freelancers. The amount, interest and repayment period will depend on the bank, the quality of the business plan and the potential for profit.

Online finance solutions also offer financing through third parties. Qonto customers can apply quickly and without paperwork for financing with a number of selected partners who can let you know within days, or even just hours, if your application is approved or not.

So-called ‘honor loans’ (Prêts d’honneur) are available if used in conjunction with traditional bank loans. Provided by organizations like Réseau Initiative France or Réseau Entreprendre, these honor loans are often interest-free and can reach up to €50,000, depending on the business project.

French bureaucratic acronyms can be intimidating to those who are unfamiliar with the country’s admin. A real PITA, even (where A stands for ARCE). But the schemes that lie behind them can be very useful indeed for people seeking a flexible working life of which they are their own boss. These grants, tax credits and revenue supplements can help a freelancer get by when they haven’t yet built their client base, when they’ve had to reduce their working hours, or stop entirely for a while.

Managing those extra finances efficiently can only increase profitability, which is why more than 400,000 entrepreneurs across Europe have chosen Qonto as their business banking solution. A Qonto account comes with a whole host of features designed specifically to optimize the money that’s in it. It can help entrepreneurs understand and harness their spend management. Plus, it can save hours of admin work every month, leaving freelancers more time to carry out missions and generate more revenue.

Want to find out more about what Qonto can do for freelancers and the self-employed? You’ll find all you need to know on our website.