If you've done the necessary paperwork to obtain your Numéro de déclaration d'activité (a number with 11 digits, the 3rd and 4th digits being your region) then you very likely have received a letter from the Direction régionale des entreprises, de la concurrence, de la consommation, du travail et de l'emploi (DIRECCTE) reminding you to submit your Bilan Pédagogique et Financier (BPF) by April 30th. However, if you didn't receive this letter (I didn't for the first six years of my company's existence) you still need to submit your BPF paperwork by April 30th of each year. So add it to your calender!
Again, your Numéro de déclaration d'activité is a declaration of your activity as a vocational training entity. It enables direct clients to declare your services using their training funding (e.g. the DIF, or, droit individuel à la formation).
If you specialize in teaching students in higher-education
establishments, then this number is not necessary. But it's good to
have should you wish to take on private clients, deal with OPCAs and/or apply for Appels d'offres publics et privés (Call for Tenders for public and private companies).
DIRECCTE makes it very clear in their letter that if you fail to submit your BPF, you have a one-year grace period; after that you lose your number. This can be a major inconvenience, especially when so many clients these days, before they sign a contract with you, ask for a Récépissé de déclaration d'activité d'un prestataire de formation which is a document from the DIRECCTE which acknowledges you are up-to-date with all your BPF paperwork.
So, my advice: tie yourself to a chair and use that long Easter weekend to get that %#&$*@ BPF filled out.
Choose one of the three choices that apply to you.
Letter A) This is if you don't yet have your Numéro de déclaration d'activité
Letter B) This is if you have your Numéro de déclaration d'activité but you haven't yet created an account.
Letter C) This is if you have your Numéro de déclaration d'activité and you have already created your account.
If you choose C, and your number is active, then you should see the word "validée" to the left of your screen. Be sure to check this far in enough advance. DIRECCTE has been known to make mistakes which can delay the validation process.
Click on the link Bilan Pédagogique et Financier to the left and off you go!
Tip 1: The first time you fill out the BPF may be an incredibly daunting task. Therefore, it's probably best to first do it in the comfort of your accountant's office.
Tip 2: In order to prepare for paperwork vertigo, I strongly suggest you create an excel file that organizes all of the required information (see questions below). That will greatly reduce the time it takes to fill out the BPF.
Tip 3: Use Google Translate to help you understand the questions. I've found it does a great job of translating the BPF's jargon.
Tip 4: Beware, the online form times out if you leave it open over an extended period of time. So, always take screen shots of the parts of the form you fill in, and/or put the information you need on a separate document.
The BPF will ask you the following questions (NB: the form won't accept decimal points). If you answer "none" to any of these questions, then simply put a 0 for that specific information.
Earnings (produits) from last year
- What is the percentage of your total turnover in the field of continuing vocational training. For many of us, it's 100%. However, if you've also done translations through your company, or been paid to write materials, then you'll need to calculate this accordingly.
- How many total hours did you provide training last year?
- How many people have you subcontracted (if any) and how many hours did they work for you?
- What were your total earnings last year?
- What were your total earnings from private industry?
- What were your total earnings from public industry?
- What were your total earnings from unemployment office clientele?
- What were your total earnings from OPCAs.
- What were your total earnings from private individuals who you billed directly through your company and who paid out-of-pocket for that training.*
- What were your total earnings from contracts with other training providers (e.g. did you bill any language schools?)
- What were your total earnings from contracts outside of France?
- What were your total earnings from sales of learning tools?
- What were your total earnings for any other miscellaneous contracts related to vocational training.
- How much did you spend on your own training / professional development?
- How much did you spend on the rental of any premises or tools?
- How much did you spend on advertising?
- How much did you spend on personnel outside of your company (e.g. subcontracting)?
- How much did you spend on taxes (e.g. URSSAF, CIPAV, RSI, etc.)?
- How much did you spend in financial charges for any personnel (e.g. for CDD or CDI contracts).
- How much did you pay your accountant or financial adviser?
- What is the total amount of your other business expenses minus taxes, personnel charges, advertising, rental, and accounting?
- How many hours did you provide training to employees whose training was provided by their company? And for how many employees?
- How many hours did you provide vocational training for unemployment offices? And for how many employees?
- How many hours did you provide training for private training you billed directly? And for how many trainees?*
- How many hours did you provide training to employees whose training was provided by their company but not through the DIF? And for how many employees?
- How many hours did you provide training for another training company? And for how many trainees?
- How many hours of training did you assign to another training company? And for how many trainees?
- How many hours of training did you provide that involved certification through the RNCP? And for how many trainees?
- How many hours of guidance and support training did you provide? And for how many trainees?
- What is your "specialty of training?" In ELT, you will very likely choose code 136 on the BPF form "Langues vivantes, civilisations étrangères et régionales."And how many total hours did you provide training under this specialty and for how many total trainees?
The BPF will then ask for a contact person. I highly recommend putting your accountant, or other financial adviser, if you have one. And finally, add your own name and qualité (e.g. directeur / directrice), your phone number and then mention in which city you filled out the BPF.
Click on "valide". You will get a pop up message that will vary depending on your income. It will also give you the address where you should send the BPF and provide a link where you can download the .pdf copy.
Download your BPF, print it, sign it and then mail it registered with acknowledgment of receipt (recommandé avec accusé de reception) to DIRECCTE. Also email a copy to your accountant just in case.
And there you have it! Again, take care of this far enough in advance to deal with any speed bumps along the way. Good luck!
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