WHAT WE CAN DO FOR YOU
Change of chartered accountant in France and Germany
Change of chartered accountant with Fradeco – We support you with our know-how and experience
There can be various reasons for being dissatisfied with your previous chartered accountant, including a lack of communication or communication difficulties, particularly in a German-French environment, surprising additional tax payments or even situations that threaten your company’s existence due to errors made by the chartered accountant. For German-French and international clients, communication problems and cultural differences are often reasons for a change of the chartered accountant.
However, once the change has been decided, a few points need to be considered. A good relationship between the chartered accountant and client is the prerequisite for a long-term and successful collaboration.
If you feel that your current chartered accountant is providing you with insufficient advice, you can easily change your chartered accountant.
We are happy to assist you with this important step in France or Germany.
How does a change of chartered accountant work?
During an initial meeting with our partners, you can introduce your company to us and formulate your ideas and expectations for the collaboration. We will present our team and our approach to you for this purpose.
The next step is to terminate the current tax advisory contract in order to initiate the change of the chartered accountant. The notice periods for this must be strictly respected. In Germany, there is no statutory notice period for a chartered accountant, but it is possible that a notice period has been agreed in individual tax advisory contracts. In France, the notice period is generally 3 months before the end of the financial year.
If you wish to terminate your French tax advisory contract before the end of the mandate, you must give 3 months’ notice before the end of the financial year. In concrete terms, this means that if you wish to terminate your contract on December 31, you must notify your interest in changing your French chartered accountant “expert-comptable” by September 30 at the latest.
The easiest way is to transfer at the end of the financial year, but transfers during the year are also possible (see point 3). Reasons for termination do not have to be given.
Of course, it is also possible to change the chartered accountant during the current year. This is often even the better time, as the new chartered accountant can prepare the annual financial statements for the past year. If the change is planned for the end of the year, timing problems may arise, as the previous chartered accountant may prefer other clients and put the financial statements of the “renegade” client on the back burner.
Data transfer is often not possible as long as the previous chartered accountantn still needs the data to carry out closing entries and tax returns. Switching during the year also facilitates the seamless continuation of financial accounting and payroll accounting, as it is not necessary to create new payroll accounts.
However, it is important to note that the previous chartered accountant may charge a partial fee for work already started on the annual financial statements. If these services can be used by the new chartered accountant, they do not have to be charged again. However, it is rarely the case that the services of the previous chartered accountant can be taken over. If the annual financial statements have already been started on a large scale, it is advisable not to change chartered accountant until the annual financial statements have been completed. This must be checked in advance with the existing fee agreement.
Please note for France:
If you terminate your contract before the end of the financial year, your accountant may ask you to pay a compensation for termination. As a general rule, this amounts to 25% of the fees that would have been due. To avoid this, we recommend that you wait until the end of the financial year to change accountants. Please check your current fee contract in France.
Our tax advisory contract, or “lettre de mission” in French, defines the advisory requirements, the future collaboration and the distribution of tasks.
In accordance with Section 66 (3) StBerG, there is a right to data transfer to the new chartered accountant. As a rule, we contact the previous chartered accountant politely and ask for cooperation for the transfer of the data. If DATEV is used, the transfer takes place via the “Client data transfer order” form. If other accounting software is used, more detailed coordination is required. The obligation to hand over data is supported by various judgments which state that the client has the right to access the stored data. In most cases, the chartered accountant consent to transfer the data to the new chartered accountant is sufficient.
Otherwise, the accounting files can be determined using a CSV file. In France, the electronic accounting file – “fichiers des écritures comptables (FEC)” – is required.
In accordance with the guidelines of the Federal Chamber of Chartered Accountants dated November 15, 2012, the client is entitled to the return of documents after the end of the mandate. The contract between the client and the chartered accountant is usually regarded as an agency agreement with the character of a service contract. The claim for restitution arises from §§ 662 ff. BGB and § 667 BGB, according to which the tax consultant must return everything he has received within the scope of the mandate.
In the case of outstanding fee claims, the chartered accountant may be able to assert a right of retention or right to refuse performance, as regulated in § 273 BGB and § 320 BGB under civil law and in § 66 para. 2 StBerG under professional law. Pursuant to Section 66 (3) StBerG, reference files only include documents that the tax consultant has received in the course of his professional activity.
The next step is to obtain the power of attorney for the representation of tax matters in Germany and sign the so-called “procuration”. We also set up access to the French website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance www.impots.gouv.fr. This access contains all the official online services of the French General Directorate of Public Finance (Direction générale des finances publiques – DGFiP).
We configure access to the accounting software. It’s up to you to decide whether we keep your accounts on your accounting software or on our firm software. You’ll find more information about this in the “Our software solutions” section. If required, we can provide software training for your staff.
In order to be able to fine-tune the respective tasks at the beginning of the collaboration, we set up regular “jours fixes” in the first few weeks
We look forward to a trusting partnership!
Do you have any questions or need further information?
Do you have any questions or need further information? Talk to us!
Or contact us directly at contact@fradeco.fr