Upswitch IndexBenelux-native SME multiples with disclosed European market views

Accounting & Finance in France

Q: How do APE codes relate to NACE Rev. 2 for French SME comparables?

APE is the per-establishment code INSEE assigns based on NAF — NAF Rev. 2 shares the four-digit root with NACE Rev. 2 and adds a sub-class letter. The Upswitch Index aggregates at the EU Rev. 2 level; APE sub-classes inherit the parent band. SIRENE provides the canonical APE/NAF assignment per establishment.

Q: Are these published numbers company-specific?

No. They are published market reference points for this business type in the country markets that Upswitch has evidence for. A real valuation still needs company-specific inputs and judgment.

Q: Why do some business types show more than one metric?

Different sectors are often discussed with different market lenses. Upswitch shows the published metrics that are available for this business type.

Q: Can I use this in a client conversation?

Yes. These pages are designed as citation-friendly starting points. For a client-ready report, use the full valuation workflow on Upswitch.

Q: Is this database free to use?

Yes. The Upswitch Index publishes free SME valuation multiples (EV/EBITDA, EV/Revenue, and P/E) by business type. Benelux can be native-local where row evidence supports it; wider European market views are disclosed as beta, borrowed, aggregate, or compatibility coverage. Historical vintages and audit exports are on paid plans.

Q: How does Upswitch Index compare to Damodaran?

Damodaran publishes annual global multiples for listed companies by broad sector — a gold standard for public markets. Upswitch Index publishes granular SME/private-company benchmark ranges by business type with row-level disclosure of whether evidence is native-local, borrowed, aggregate, or beta-stage. Both are useful; they answer different questions.

Q: What is the source methodology behind these multiples?

Upswitch publishes only through row-level benchmark contracts. Evidence can include private-market observations, local filings or statistics, listed-comparable context, and macro calibration anchors, but source labels are used only when they actually contributed to the resolved benchmark. Full methodology is on the methodology page.

Market: France — This page summarizes the published SME benchmark for this business type, including its disclosed market basis, so advisors and operators can cite a clear starting point before a full company-specific valuation.

Browse all business types All markets for this type

Business type benchmark

Last published: 13 Apr 2026fresh · 58 days old≈ 6 min read

Market context

France market data

Pair the multiples below with Delphi's latest country factors: currency, risk-free rate, macro conditions, statutory tax, and country-risk premium.

Open all market data JSON for this market

Endpoint

Model-ready data package

Pull this sector's multiples together with country market data in one response. Use JSON for agents and apps, or CSV for Excel models and deal workpapers.

/api/benchmarks/v1/context?business_type_id=accounting&locale=en&country_code=FR

Open context JSON Download context CSV

Classification

69.20

NACE Rev. 2 primary code. National statistical labels (e.g. SBI, NACE-BEL) describe how each country maps this activity.

Markets

Benelux aggregate

Published benchmark

13 Apr 2026 · reviewed 7 Jun 2026

Indicative, model-derived reference — evidence basis and confidence are disclosed per row.

Delphi-supported market note

Valuing an accounting firm in France: Ordre des experts-comptables, clientèle and barèmes

In France an expert-comptable practice operates under the Ordre des experts-comptables, and the value sits in the portefeuille de clientèle - the recurring engagement book - which is often transferred through a cession de clientèle with strong professional and consent rules. Practice valuations commonly cross-check an earnings view against revenue-percentage barèmes the profession is used to. Recurring missions attract a premium; partner-dependence and client concentration are the discounts. The EV/EBITDA range here is a pan-European SME indicative prior, not French transaction evidence; France's contribution is how Ordre rules, clientèle transfer and barème cross-checks position a real sale within that range.

Operating under the Ordre des experts-comptables; clientèle transfer follows professional rules.
Value sits in the recurring portefeuille de clientèle, not one-off missions.
Revenue-percentage barèmes give a familiar cross-check alongside earnings multiples.
Client consent and continuity clauses shape the deal and any earn-out.
Partner-dependence and concentration are the principal value discounts.

Evidence basis

Pan-European SME M&A priors (Brookz, Vlerick/Moore, BDO, Marktlink)
FR context: Ordre des experts-comptables; cession de clientèle practice
Country macro: Eurostat/OECD, reviewed Apr 2026
Indicative model - not country-transaction-evidenced

Published benchmark ranges

How To Use This Benchmark

Use these ranges as a market reference, not as a substitute for a full valuation. Company quality, growth, concentration, recurring revenue, margin profile, and deal context still matter.

Pair This With The Right Valuation Method

These benchmark pages work best when they feed into a fuller valuation workflow on Upswitch. Start with the market range, then choose the method that fits the company.

EBITDA Multiple Revenue Multiple DCF

Upswitch Index vs Damodaran

Both are useful — they answer different questions. Pick the right reference for the work.

Upswitch Index

Private-market, SME, by business type

Benelux-native where the row proves local evidence
By business type, disclosed market basis, citable vintages
Free to use — no credit card

Damodaran

Listed equities, global, by sector

Public-market companies, annual global cuts
Broad sector buckets, not country-resolved
Free academic resource

Accounting & Finance in France

Market context and regulation — France

Local classification

In France, EU NACE Rev. 2 primary maps to NAF Rev. 2 (Nomenclature d'Activités Française) — the four-digit root is identical to NACE; NAF appends a final letter for sub-classification. The INSEE SIRENE register carries each company's APE code (an NAF subset) on registration.

Official data sources

INSEE SIRENE — French statutory register; free APE / SIREN / SIRET lookup
Greffe / Pappers — commercial annual-accounts retrieval
BPCE / CCI — regional SME M&A statistics and benchmarks

Market and buyer context

France's SME transfer market is regionally heterogeneous, with concentrated activity in Île-de-France (services, head-offices), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (industrial), Hauts-de-France (manufacturing) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (tourism, services). Buyer pools combine French mid-market PE, regional trade consolidators, and steady inbound interest from Belgian, Dutch, and German strategic buyers. Pricing typically reflects a meaningful tax-and-social-charge wedge versus Anglo-Saxon comparables — buyers price the post-deal labour-cost reality, not just the headline French gross.

Valuation factors in France

Social charges (cotisations) on top of gross salaries can reach 40–45% — verify the all-in labour cost line before normalising EBITDA.
CIR (Crédit Impôt Recherche) and JEI status materially affect after-tax cash flow for tech and R&D-heavy firms.
Statutory profit-sharing (participation, intéressement) is mandatory above thresholds — already in EBITDA, but flag the tier impact post-deal.
Owner-CEO with TNS (travailleur non salarié) status pays under-market managed-comp for tax reasons; normalise carefully.

Regulation and deal structure

Share deals in SAS / SARL require notarial publication; due-diligence cycle 6–8 weeks.
DPI (droit de préemption interne / urbain) can apply on real-estate inside operating entities — split the property line.
Loi Hamon employee-information obligation (in firms < 250 employees on share sale) adds 2-month notification delay — plan timeline.
Pacte Dutreil reduces succession-tax exposure for family transfers — relevant for owner-children deals, not for arm's-length sales.

Professional services and consulting

How accounting & finance actually gets valued

The multiples above are a market anchor — not the valuation. What drives the outcome are sector-typical normalisations, value drivers and risk compressors.

Normalisation checklist

What reported EBITDA almost always distorts in this sector.

Reset partner / owner remuneration to market-equivalent compensation for the same role and seniority.
Separate retainer revenue from project revenue — they value at very different multiples.
Strip founder-relationship revenue: any client whose retention requires the founder personally.
Adjust utilisation rates to industry-typical billable percentages where reported margins look high.
Verify deferred revenue and work-in-progress balances are conservative.

Value drivers

What typically lifts the multiple in this sector.

Retainer mix above 60% of revenue, with multi-year clauses.
Documented methodology and IP that lives outside the founder's head.
Senior team with equity / partnership track and low historic turnover.
Brand-led client acquisition: inbound leads outweigh founder-network leads.

Value killers

What compresses the multiple or kills the deal.

Founder originates ≥ 50% of revenue.
Project-only revenue with no contractual continuity.
Dependency on a small team where two people leaving wipes out a major client.
Hourly-rate compression that has not flowed through to documented utilisation gains.

Anonymised worked example

Illustrative — not a recommendation. Real valuations run through the Upswitch engine.

A management-consulting boutique reports €2.4M revenue (40% retainer, 60% project) and €430k EBITDA, with the two founding partners drawing €60k each. Normalising partner remuneration to €175k each (market-equivalent senior partner level) reduces normalised EBITDA to €200k. The retainer book values at 6×–8× retainer EBITDA (≈ €480k–€640k); the project book at 3.5×–4.5× project EBITDA (≈ €280k–€360k). Sum-of-parts equity is €760k–€1.0M — well below a naive 6× on the unnormalised €430k that founders sometimes anchor on.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do APE codes relate to NACE Rev. 2 for French SME comparables?

APE is the per-establishment code INSEE assigns based on NAF — NAF Rev. 2 shares the four-digit root with NACE Rev. 2 and adds a sub-class letter. The Upswitch Index aggregates at the EU Rev. 2 level; APE sub-classes inherit the parent band. SIRENE provides the canonical APE/NAF assignment per establishment.

Are these published numbers company-specific?

No. They are published market reference points for this business type in the country markets that Upswitch has evidence for. A real valuation still needs company-specific inputs and judgment.

Why do some business types show more than one metric?

Different sectors are often discussed with different market lenses. Upswitch shows the published metrics that are available for this business type.

Can I use this in a client conversation?

Yes. These pages are designed as citation-friendly starting points. For a client-ready report, use the full valuation workflow on Upswitch.

Is this database free to use?

Yes. The Upswitch Index publishes free SME valuation multiples (EV/EBITDA, EV/Revenue, and P/E) by business type. Benelux can be native-local where row evidence supports it; wider European market views are disclosed as beta, borrowed, aggregate, or compatibility coverage. Historical vintages and audit exports are on paid plans.

How does Upswitch Index compare to Damodaran?

Damodaran publishes annual global multiples for listed companies by broad sector — a gold standard for public markets. Upswitch Index publishes granular SME/private-company benchmark ranges by business type with row-level disclosure of whether evidence is native-local, borrowed, aggregate, or beta-stage. Both are useful; they answer different questions.

What is the source methodology behind these multiples?

Upswitch publishes only through row-level benchmark contracts. Evidence can include private-market observations, local filings or statistics, listed-comparable context, and macro calibration anchors, but source labels are used only when they actually contributed to the resolved benchmark. Full methodology is on the methodology page.

Related Business Types

Advertising Agency

Affiliate Marketing

AI / Machine Learning

Amusement Services

Deeper reading

How valuation, normalisation and succession actually work

Three long-form articles on the infrastructure layer beneath European SME succession — selected for this sector.

Open the live index Sign up free Browse all business types

Upswitch.app

Full valuation workflow — Upswitch

This database is the public benchmark layer. Upswitch is the full platform: company-specific valuations, client-ready reports, advisor workflow, and API access for teams. Free accounts work across both.