How to create a French training organisation in 2026: the complete step-by-step guide
Creating a training organisation in France requires no particular diploma and no prior approval. The activity is, however, regulated by the Labour Code, and the order of the steps matters. Here is the complete path, in the right order, to start legally and invoice your first courses in 2026.
Step 1: choose your legal status
A training organisation (organisme de formation, OF) is not a legal form: it is an activity. You can therefore run it under almost any status. In practice, three options dominate among independents:
| Status | Strengths | Points of vigilance |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-entreprise | Fast creation, light accounting, charges proportional to revenue | Revenue ceiling, no deduction of actual expenses |
| EURL / SASU | Credibility, expense deduction, no ceiling | Full accounting, creation and running costs |
| Wage portage | Zero administration, employee status | 5-10% commission — and the portage company holds the NDA |
Your status has no bearing on your obligations as a training provider: a micro-entrepreneur trainer follows the same rules as a SAS. If in doubt, the micro-entreprise remains the simplest entry point to test the activity, switching to a company when revenue justifies it.
Step 2: register your structure
Since 2023, all creation formalities go through the INPI one-stop portal (formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr). You declare your activity there and receive your SIREN number within days to weeks depending on the status.
An often neglected point: the APE code. Code 85.59A ("Continuing education for adults") is the most coherent, but another code does not prevent you from operating. What matters legally is the actual object of your services.
Step 3: sign your first training contract
This is the point most founders discover too late: you cannot declare your training activity before concluding your first training agreement or contract. The first sale triggers the procedure — not the other way round.
Concretely:
- with a professional client (company, another provider), you sign a training agreement (convention de formation);
- with a self-funding individual, you sign a professional training contract, with reinforced mandatory mentions and a 10-day withdrawal period.
This first contractual document will be required for your activity declaration.
Step 4: file the activity declaration with the DREETS
Within 3 months of signing that first agreement or contract, you must file an activity declaration with your region's DREETS (the regional directorate for economy, employment, labour and solidarity). Filing is done online via the "Mon Activité Formation" portal, based on the Cerfa 10782 form.
The file includes, among other things, a copy of the first agreement or contract, the programme of the course concerned, the list of trainers and the manager's criminal record extract (bulletin n° 3). We detail every document and every ground for refusal in our step-by-step guide to the Cerfa 10782 activity declaration.
If the file is complete and compliant, the DREETS issues your activity declaration number (NDA), an 11-digit identifier. Mind the legal wording: your documents must state "Déclaration d'activité enregistrée sous le numéro [NDA] auprès du préfet de région de [région]", and this registration does not constitute State approval. Presenting the NDA as a quality label is a sanctionable practice.
Step 5: request the VAT exemption (optional but often profitable)
Continuing vocational training services can be VAT-exempt under article 261, 4, 4° a of the French General Tax Code. The exemption is not automatic: you must request a tax attestation from the DREETS (dedicated form), which checks that you are duly declared and up to date with your obligations.
Is it worth it for you?
- Yes if your clients are individuals or structures that do not recover VAT (associations, health professionals, some independents): your prices drop by 20% or your margin grows by as much.
- To evaluate if your clients are exclusively VAT-registered companies: the exemption deprives you of recovering VAT on your own purchases.
Once taken, the option applies to your entire training activity: think before you sign.
Step 6: set up your first documentary obligations
As soon as you are declared, several documents become mandatory or strongly recommended:
- A training agreement or contract for each action, with the legal mentions (title, objectives, duration, price, arrangements);
- A structured training programme: objectives, prerequisites, audience, content, assessment arrangements;
- Internal rules, mandatory as soon as you host trainees, displayed or handed to participants;
- Sign-in sheets or completion evidence (completion certificates for funders);
- Separate accounting for the training activity if you run several activities.
Every year, you must also file an annual training activity report (BPF) before 31 May, on pain of your NDA lapsing. It is the most frequently forgotten first-year obligation: the BPF chapter of the ebook Créer son organisme de formation en 30 jours walks you through it section by section.
What about Qualiopi?
Good news: Qualiopi is not required to start. The certification is only demanded if you want access to public or pooled funding (CPF, OPCO, France Travail, State, Regions). If your clients pay directly, you can operate for years without Qualiopi, entirely legally. To know whether your business model requires it, read Is Qualiopi mandatory for you?.
Many founders nevertheless target Qualiopi in year one, because OPCOs fund a large share of employee and independent training in France.
Summary: your roadmap
- Choose the status and register the structure (1 to 4 weeks).
- Build a first offer and sign a first agreement or contract.
- File the activity declaration within 3 months; obtain the NDA (about 30 days of processing).
- Request the VAT exemption if your clientele justifies it.
- Set up the mandatory documents (programmes, internal rules, sign-in sheets).
- Anticipate the annual BPF and, if needed, Qualiopi certification.
Taking these steps in order, an organised independent can be operational and compliant in 4 to 8 weeks.
Take action
Want a day-by-day action plan, with agreement, programme and internal-rules templates ready to customise? Discover the ebook Créer son organisme de formation en 30 jours (written in French): it condenses this whole path into a concrete schedule, from registration to your first invoice.