Accounting services

Introduction Buying a Business in France The SAS 70 Standards in France. Primexis Using Shared Service Centers French Environmental Legislation Regarding Construction Vacations rights in France 40 measures to encourage foreign investment in France French social welfare system Hiring a French Representative Distribution of Goods sold by a Foreign company in France France: a paradise for holding companies? Summary of the accounting obligations in France The advantages of outsourcing the company's payrol Implementation of new regulations for assets Franchising, the main accounting issues Tax treatment for direct selling Common business forms in France Unstoppable French Real Estate New Regulations for Fixed Assets: Implications 2005 Finance Act

Primexis obtained the SAS 70 certification - Type II for its accounting and payroll management activities, required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The SAS 70 standard (Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70, Services Organizations), an American internal control standard, complies with the AICPA standards (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants). SAS 70 has existed long before the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but has been placed in the foreground again since « Sarbox » made internal controls very restricting.   

When a company subcontracts a business operation which contributes, at any level, to the preparation of its financial statements, the company must check that the supplier complies with all its own criteria of internal control.
Sarbanes-Oxley states that the supplier’s SAS 70 certification is a way to do so. The other way is that the company itself carries out the required controls at the supplier’s level. The interest of the SAS 70 certification is then obvious.

The SAS 70 certification requires no specific rules to comply with, but only a written description of the organisation implemented and of the control objectives. The certifier’s work consists in checking that the main objectives have been correctly identified and that controls have been correctly defined and will allow to achieve the objectives. The certifier will audit the existence of processing and controlling procedures in connection with the subcontracted business operation. He will also audit the processing tasks already performed, the service organisation selected as regards staff and equipment (IT means) and its consistency with the subcontracted operations. Finally, he will check that the global quality of the services provided cannot be questioned

At the end of 2006, Primexis is the first accounting firm in possession of the SAS 70 certification. This is a first-rate advantage if we consider that companies are compelled by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to a draconian quality control of their financial information, and consequently of the procedures and controls implemented by the suppliers dealing with the preparation of their financial statements. These controls are the companies’ responsibility. They generate significant costs and have become so important that projects of simplification, amendment or easier application of the law are now appearing in the United States.  In France, a subcontractor’s certification can reduce the cost normally borne by the company.

The SAS 70 standard is used more and more to apply Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding valuation of the internal control efficiency. There are 2 types of SAS certification:

• Type I: simple description of the controls implemented by the service organisation.
• Type II: same as Type I, plus a valuation of control efficiency based on a set of tests.

Primexis has obtained the SAS70 Type II certification required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.