Micro-entreprise, EI or SASU in France: which status to choose?

SASU or micro-entreprise, sole proprietorship or EURL: the question of the legal form comes up quickly when you want to become an auto-entrepreneur (a self-employed person under France’s micro-business regime), and the words get mixed up. The good news is that there are only two real choices: work in your own name (the sole proprietorship, entreprise individuelle or EI, with or without the micro-entreprise, France’s micro-business regime) or create a company (a SASU, a single-shareholder simplified company, or an EURL, a single-member limited company, if you’re on your own). Here’s what sets them apart, in the words you use, the pros and cons of each, and the moment when it becomes worth leaving the micro regime.

The rules and figures are those in force in 2026, checked on Entreprendre Service Public and the guichet unique’s website on 30 September 2026.

Auto-entrepreneur or micro-entreprise: what’s the difference?

None. According to Service Public, auto-entrepreneur is the old name, still used by everyone; micro-entrepreneur is the official name; the micro-entreprise is the business itself. All three mean the same situation.

And this situation isn’t a separate legal form. Service Public puts it this way: the micro-entrepreneur is a sole proprietor who benefits from a simplified tax and social-security regime. In other words:

• the legal form is the sole proprietorship (EI): you work in your own name, without creating a separate legal entity;
• the regime is the micro-entreprise: a simplified way of calculating your taxes and your social-security contributions, as long as your turnover stays below the ceilings.

That’s why you can leave the micro-entreprise without closing anything: the sole proprietorship continues, only the regime changes.

The four options when you work alone

To work alone, Service Public names three structures: the sole proprietorship (with a possible option for the micro-entreprise regime), the EURL and the SASU. In practice, that gives four situations.

For a company, the €19.33 corresponds to the declaration of beneficial owners, which is mandatory, and the price of the legal notice is added to it.

The micro-entreprise: pros and cons

It’s the simplest form for starting out alone, and the one most people choose when they’re looking for how to become an auto-entrepreneur.

The pros

• Free and quick creation, online, with no articles of association, no capital, no legal notice. The procedure is detailed in creating a micro-entreprise.
• Contributions proportional to what you receive. No turnover, no contributions. According to Service Public, in 2026, the rate is 12.3% for sales of goods, 21.2% for commercial or craft services, 25.6% for non-regulated liberal professions and 23.2% for those that come under CIPAV (the pension fund of certain liberal professions).
• Tax calculated without accounting: according to Service Public, your turnover, minus a flat-rate allowance (abattement forfaitaire) of 71% (sales), 50% (BIC (industrial and commercial profits) services) or 34% (BNC (non-commercial profits)). You can even pay your income tax at the same time as your contributions with the versement libératoire (paying income tax as a percentage of turnover, with the contributions), subject to an income condition.
• Light obligations: a receipts book, a purchases register if you sell goods, no balance sheet. The details are in the auto-entrepreneur’s books.
• Your personal assets are protected, as for any sole proprietorship: according to Service Public, since 15 May 2022, your business assets and your personal assets are separated automatically, and your main residence is protected by law.

The cons

• Your actual expenses don’t count. The allowance is the same whether you have few or many costs. If your expenses exceed the allowance, you pay tax on money you’ve spent.
• A turnover ceiling: €203,100 for trade, €83,600 for services in 2026. Above it, two years in a row, you move to the real regime. See the auto-entrepreneur’s ceilings.
• No partner, no investor. A micro-entreprise has no capital: you can’t bring someone in or raise funds as in a company.
• Social protection linked to what you declare. Your rights, including your pension, depend on your contributions, and so on your turnover. And the micro social-security regime doesn’t give entitlement to France Travail (the public employment service, formerly Pôle emploi) unemployment benefit.

VAT isn’t a question of legal form. By default, an auto-entrepreneur is under the franchise en base de TVA (the VAT exemption for small businesses), but it’s a VAT regime separate from the micro regime, with its own thresholds. See VAT for the auto-entrepreneur.

The sole proprietorship on the real regime

It’s the same sole proprietorship, without the micro regime. You stay in your own name, but your tax and your contributions are calculated on your actual profit: your takings minus your actual expenses.

For whom? For someone whose expenses are high compared with their turnover, or who exceeds the micro ceilings.

• The advantage: you deduct your real expenses. Example: with €50,000 of takings in BNC, the micro applies a 34% allowance, i.e. €17,000. If your actual expenses are €25,000, the real regime lets you deduct €8,000 more.
• The drawback: full accounting, annual results returns, and self-employed worker contributions that amount to about 45% of activity income according to Service Public. For the first two years, they’re calculated on a flat-rate base, and you pay no contributions during the first 90 days of activity.

The sole proprietor on the real regime can also opt for corporation tax by asking to be treated as an EURL. They can then pay themselves a deductible salary and receive dividends. The option is requested in the first three months of the financial year, and it can be renounced within 5 years.

The SASU

The société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle (single-shareholder simplified joint-stock company) is a company with a single shareholder. You’re its president.

The pros

• The president is treated as an employee: they come under the general social security scheme, like an employee, when they’re paid for their mandate.
• No pay, no contributions. If you don’t pay yourself a salary, no social-security contributions are due.
• Liability limited to the amount of your contributions to the capital, and capital free to set.
• The possibility of welcoming partners or investors later, by turning it into a SAS.
• Corporation tax: 15% up to €42,500 of profit for SMEs that meet the conditions, 25% above that.

The cons

• High contributions on pay: about 60% of gross pay according to Service Public, declared every month through the nominative social declaration (DSN).
• No unemployment insurance for the president’s mandate, even when treated as an employee. Private unemployment insurance is possible.
• Heavier creation: articles of association, deposit of the capital, legal notice, declaration of beneficial owners.
• Heavier management: full accounting, annual accounts to be approved within 6 months of the year-end and filed with the court registry.

The EURL

The entreprise unipersonnelle à responsabilité limitée (single-member limited liability company) is the other company with one shareholder. You’re its manager.

• The managing shareholder is a self-employed worker, like a sole proprietor on the real regime: lower contributions than in a SASU for the same pay, but different social protection.
• The EURL is subject to income tax by default, with an option for corporation tax.
• Your liability is limited to your contributions to the capital, and creation follows the same steps as a SASU.

The EURL is a small SARL. If one day you want to take on a partner, it becomes a SARL, just as the SASU becomes a SAS.

How to choose: the right questions

A few pointers to decide:

• Start with your figures. Your expected turnover and your expenses decide almost everything. If your expenses stay below the allowance and your turnover below the ceiling, the micro-entreprise is hard to beat for simplicity.
• Look at your social rights. Under the micro-entreprise, little turnover means few rights. If you want to keep an activity alongside a salary or unemployment benefit, read auto-entrepreneur, unemployment and employment.
• Think about what comes next. You can start under the micro and change later: it’s the path of many auto-entrepreneurs.
• Get help. The chambers of commerce and industry and the chambers of trades and crafts support business creators for free, and a chartered accountant (expert-comptable) can compare the options on your own figures. The guichet unique (the one-stop business formalities portal, run by INPI) helpdesk, on the other hand, doesn’t give this kind of advice.

When to leave the micro regime

The micro-entreprise regime ends by itself in one case, and you can leave it in others.

• You exceed the ceilings two years in a row: €203,100 for trade or €83,600 for services. The regime stops applying and your sole proprietorship moves to the real regime, without you having to close it.
• Your actual expenses exceed the flat-rate allowance, over the long term. You can opt for the régime réel (the standard regime, on actual profits) even below the ceilings.
• You want to take on a partner or invest heavily: you then need a company.

Everything that changes when you move to the real regime, the déclaration contrôlée (the BNC standard regime) in BNC, the réel simplifié in BIC, deductible expenses and what you lose by leaving the micro, is detailed in leaving the micro regime.

Moving from the micro-entreprise to a company isn’t a simple box to tick. Your company is a new business, with its own SIREN (the nine-digit business number): generally, you create it, then you close your micro-entreprise. The closing procedure is in closing your auto-entreprise.

There’s no perfect legal form, only the one that goes with your figures today: you can change it when they change.
💜💙 Your BravoLisa Team

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. Every situation is different — consult a qualified professional (tax adviser, accountant, or lawyer) for advice specific to your circumstances. BravoLisa does not accept liability for decisions made based on this information.

Last updated: September 2026. Rates and thresholds can change: always check with the URSSAF, impots.gouv or the relevant authority.

Sources (9)

Verified on 30 September 2026

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2. Entreprendre Service Public — Micro-entrepreneur : ce qu'il faut savoir
3. Entreprendre Service Public — Entrepreneur individuel (EI) : ce qu'il faut savoir
4. Entreprendre Service Public — Régime micro-social
5. Entreprendre Service Public — Régime fiscal de la micro-entreprise
6. Entreprendre Service Public — Impôt sur les sociétés (IS) : taux, déclaration, paiement
7. Entreprendre Service Public — Quel est le coût des formalités de création d'une entreprise individuelle (EI) ?
8. Entreprendre Service Public — Comment devenir micro-entrepreneur ?
9. Guichet des formalités des entreprises (INPI) — Préparer