When you create your business alone, the question quickly arises: opt for an EURL (Single-member company with limited liability) or for a SASU (Simplified single-member joint stock company)? Both allow you to create a single shareholder company. But their compensation rules are radically different. There is no universal answeraccording to Marc Fabrega, Chartered Accountant & Auditor at Cabinet 47. The answers come mainly from the targeted income level, but also from the personal situation, life objectives, etc.
“We must understand that the choice is not made only on remunerationit is also done on other elements: the flexibility of the statutes if we want to add other partners, or the registration fees on the transfer of securities, which are 3% in EURL/SARL compared to 0.1% in SASU/SAS”asks the expert. For example, the SAS is “much more flexible, and makes it easier to control shareholders”. It also allows you to combine with a self-employed business on the side. In EURL, the manager is treated as a self-employed worker, although he pays less charges on his salary.
Opt for SASU?
In SASU, the president is considered an employee and has two levers of remuneration. The first is the salary : “As a salaried employee, we will contribute to the URSSAF, pension organizations, provident insurance, mutual insurance. We pay like a traditional employee, as if we were not a company manager”. Employer contributions represent approximately 42 to 45% of the super gross, employee contributions approximately 22% of the gross. Concretely, 5,000 euros paid by the company will result in net salary between 2,100 and 2,300 euros. It is the most expensive formula, but also the most protective: it creates retirement rights, health insurance rights, and protects in the event of work stoppage. The salary cost is also deductible from the company’s results, which automatically reduces corporate tax.
The second, very well-known solution: payment of dividends. “They require the existence of a profit recorded during the previous financial year, so you must have at least one year of financial experience, or go through an auditor to validate an interim dividend”explains Marc Fabrega. Payments are generally voted on at a general meeting, and the rhythm is punctual rather than monthly. On the tax side, dividends are subject to the single flat tax of 31.4% since January 1, 2026 (12.8% IR and 18.6% social security contributions). An option to the income tax scale remains possible. This is why, on the cost side, dividends can seem attractive.
But Marc Fabrega warns against a classic trap: “Social contributions do not create any unemployment rightsretirement or otherwise. In the event of cessation of activity, there is no social protection, it is as if you had not worked. » A manager does not cannot be remunerated only in this way. Another element to include: dividends are not deductible from the company’s results. And who says profit, says input corporate tax.
Opt for EURL?
In EURL, the manager falls under the regime of self-employed workers (TNS). His management remuneration is not paid in the form of a pay slip, but remains subject to TNS social security contributions, the average rate of which is around 32%. These contributions are deductible from the company’s results, which reduces the corporate tax payable. The manager can also take out Madelin contracts to supplement his social protection, which are also deductible from professional income. The remuneration does not have to be fixed: it can be 2,000 euros one month, 3,000 the next, 5,000 another – with a supplement at the end of the year if the result allows it. The TNS plan provides retirement, health and welfare rights, but with ceilings. The basic pension, for example, ceases to be powered beyond four times the PASS (annual Social Security ceiling).
For dividends, the rule is more restrictive than in SASU: the share which exceeds 10% of the share capital, increased by the partner’s current account and share premiums, leaves the flat tax and falls into TNS social contributions. The average effective rate is around 32%, but it decreases as remuneration rises (up to 22%), because certain sections (health, basic pension) are capped and cease to be funded beyond a certain threshold. There is also a constraint that creators often discover too late: even in the absence of any remuneration, an EURL manager must pay a minimum social security contribution around 1,450 euros per year. SASU does not impose this if the manager does not pay himself anything.
Make the right choice between EURL and SASU
“To make your choice, you must not focus on a single component of the calculation. Each formula saves money in one place and costs in another. In the end you have to look at the overall package”believes Marc Fabrega. “Dividends cost less in social security contributions and income tax than salary, but they cost more in corporate tax”he cites as an example. At low remuneration (30,000 to 40,000 euros net per year), the gap between EURL and SASU remains moderate. “The gap will be much greater on remuneration of 100K, 150K”he points out.
“It is obligatory to compare, and this is where we recommend go through a professional »adds the accountant, pointing out that the URSSAF simulators are not precise enough, and above all, do not take into account the complete personal life: composition of the tax household, desired level of remuneration, social protection objective, possible existence of a self-enterprise, long-term wealth plans… A firm will generally establish a study of around ten pages presenting several quantified scenarios, depending on the target remuneration.
