This is the question that all independent ends up settling down. How much of my turnover can I reasonably allocate myself each month without putting my business at risk? The temptation is great to look for a ready-made rule, a percentage reassuring which would settle it once and for all. Mathieu Sibra, chartered accountant, auditor and expert at the Orléans Court of Appeal, immediately showers this hope. According to him, this magic number simply does not exist.
The reason is simple. The right amount does not depend on a universal ratio but on three variables that the percentage ignores, the legal statusthe real level of charges and the targeted lifestyle. Above all, what distinguishes a remuneration sustainable remuneration which weakens the company does not come into play at the moment when the money is paid, but months later, when the URSSAF and the tax authorities demand their dues. Anticipating this shift changes everything.
Forget the percentage, think backwards
For Mathieu Sibra of the Per’forma firm, an independent must first pose two elements before any calculation. On one side the gross remuneration envelope, social contributions and additional coverage included. On the other the purchasing power real that this approach leaves him in his pocket. A gross percentage applied to revenue ignores these two dimensions, which is why it is so often misleading.
His recommendation is an inversion of the usual logic. Rather than starting from turnover, the expert advises starting from personal needs. “It’s better to think backwards”he summarizes. “What remuneration do I need to live? Is my activity capable of absorbing all of these charges ? » Once this target remuneration has been defined, the question becomes that of the company’s ability to finance it sustainably.
This method also explains why no ratio is valid for everyone. A service activity without stocka craftsman who must finance equipment and materials, a trader who immobilizes cash in its stocks do not have the same room for maneuver. The status adds a layer of complexity, between sole proprietorship, micro-enterprise, EURL and SASU, each having its own rules for contributions and arbitration between remuneration and dividends. Wanting to place the same percentage on these situations amounts to ignoring the essentials.
The boomerang effect of contributions, the real trap
Beyond visible remuneration, Mathieu Sibra identifies three positions to be provisioned each month. Social contributions paid toURSSAF, first of all, for which provisional calls must be brought as close as possible to the final amounts to avoid regularizations. Additional coverage then, retirement, mutual And foresightto be calibrated each year with a specialist according to your needs. Finally, the withholding tax, on the taxation personal, which a simple update on impots.gouv.fr allows you to adjust. “Anticipation is the key word”he insists.
The most dangerous risk is regularization. A manager who increases his remuneration without notifying URSSAF is exposed to double compensation. “After having transmitted your annual remuneration to the URSSAF, you may have significant regularizations of social security contributions to be paid over the last six months of the year”describes the accountant. At the same time, the body adjusts upwards the contributions of the current year, hitherto undervalued. Two waves therefore accumulate over the same period, what Mathieu Sibra calls ” L’boomerang effect ».
Faced with this risk, a wrong good idea circulates, that of raise your foot to reduce its income and therefore its contributions. The expert warns. If business dries up, paying those contributions becomes even more difficult, not less difficult. His final advice is to entrust the framing to his accountantin order to align remuneration and contributions with the real potential of thebusiness rather than on intuition. “The best advice is to ask your accountant to establish the framework for remuneration and social contributions based on the company’s potential”he concludes. It is at this price that projects, professional and personal, remain financeable without unpleasant surprises.
