French overseas territories

Statutory auditor in the French overseas territories: Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, La Réunion, Mayotte

Companies and non-profit associations (associations) established in the French overseas departments and regions are subject to the same statutory audit rules as in mainland France. From Boulogne-Billancourt, audit france works there through its signing partners, remotely thanks to a 100% digital platform, and on site when the engagement requires it.

Which law applies in each territory?

The term French overseas territories (Outre-mer) covers distinct constitutional statuses, which determine whether the French Commercial Code (Code de commerce) applies as it stands.

In the five overseas departments and regions (DROM), the principle of legislative identity applies: the same audit requirements, the same term of office of six financial years and the same statutory scale of hours as in mainland France.

In French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna and New Caledonia, company law is governed in whole or in part by local texts or specific extension texts. Audit requirements there have to be checked case by case.

The same appointment thresholds as in mainland France

In the DROM, an SAS (simplified joint-stock company), an SARL (private limited company), an SNC (general partnership) or an SA (public limited company) must appoint a statutory auditor (commissaire aux comptes) when, at the year end, it exceeds two of the following three thresholds:

Thresholds raised by decree no. 2024-152 of 28 February 2024, for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2024. Lower thresholds (€2,500,000 balance sheet total, €5,000,000 turnover, 25 employees) apply to companies controlled by an entity that is itself required to appoint a statutory auditor.

The criteria for associations are also identical:

• More than €153,000 of public grants in the financial year: audited annual financial statements (article L.612-4 of the Commercial Code), published together with the statutory auditor's report with the French Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Direction de l'information légale et administrative) within three months of their approval.
• More than €153,000 of donations giving donors a tax advantage (article 4-1 of Act no. 87-571 of 23 July 1987), and the other cases set out on our statutory auditor for associations page.

To find out quickly whether your organisation is concerned, our tool Do you need a statutory auditor? applies these criteria to your situation.

A profession registered on a national list

Since ordinance no. 2016-315 of 17 March 2016, statutory auditors are no longer registered by regional commissions. Registration is centralised on a national list, kept since 1 January 2024 by the Haute Autorité de l'Audit (H2A), the French audit regulator, which succeeded the Haut conseil du commissariat aux comptes under ordinance no. 2023-1142 of 6 December 2023.

Each professional remains attached to a regional institute (compagnie régionale), including those of Basse-Terre, Fort-de-France and Saint-Denis de La Réunion. This attachment concerns the organisation of the profession: it does not reserve the appointments in a territory for the professionals established there.

Points specific to overseas entities

Public grants and European funds

Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, La Réunion and Saint-Martin are outermost regions of the European Union (article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). As such, they benefit from cohesion funds, including the ERDF (FEDER) and the ESF+ (FSE+), which are subject to their own justification and control rules.

For national and local public aid, any grant above €23,000 a year gives rise to an agreement with the authority paying it, and a grant restricted to a specific expense requires a financial report (compte rendu financier) within six months of the end of the financial year (article 10 of Act no. 2000-321 of 12 April 2000). Cost accounting that links each expense to its funding makes both this reporting and the audit easier.

The time difference

The five DROM do not observe daylight saving time. The time difference with Paris is therefore five to six hours for the French West Indies (Antilles), four to five hours for French Guiana, one to two hours for Mayotte and two to three hours for La Réunion, depending on the season. Meetings are set within shared working hours, and work on documents continues asynchronously.

Stock, sites and physical counts

Where stock is significant, observing the physical stock count requires attendance on site. It is prepared from the engagement letter stage, according to the year-end date.

How audit france runs an engagement in the French overseas territories

• A single signing partner, from the first discussion to the signing of the report, with no intermediary between the entity's management and the signatory.
• A secure document platform, in use since 2021: a dedicated space for each client, an interactive task list, no paper.
• Video meetings scheduled to suit the entity's working hours.
• Site visits when the engagement requires them, notably for the physical stock count or to gain an understanding of the facilities.

The firm works with SMEs and groups (consolidated financial statements), associations, sports federations, works councils (comité social et économique, CSE), trade unions or professional organisations, and endowment funds (fonds de dotation).

Frequently asked questions

Can a statutory auditor based in mainland France audit the financial statements of a company in Guadeloupe?

Yes. Guadeloupe is an overseas department and region where the Commercial Code applies automatically, and statutory auditors are registered nationally. The general meeting can therefore appoint a professional attached to a mainland regional institute, who is subject to the same standards and the same code of ethics as a colleague based locally. The same applies in the other DROM.

Are the thresholds the same in the French overseas territories?

In the five DROM, yes: €5,000,000 balance sheet total, €10,000,000 turnover and 50 employees for companies, €153,000 of grants for associations. Elsewhere, the regime has to be checked territory by territory.

How does a remote audit work?

Documents are uploaded to the entity's secure space, in response to a shared task list. The signing partner reviews them, discusses them on the platform or by video conference, keeps site visits for work that requires physical presence, and then signs the report.

What about New Caledonia or French Polynesia?

In these territories, commercial law is largely a matter of local rules. The audit requirement, the thresholds and the conditions for carrying out the engagement have to be examined against the local text before any appointment.

Why choose audit france

A 100% digital firm dedicated solely to statutory audit, registered with the Haute Autorité de l'Audit (H2A) and a member of the Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes (CNCC) and working across mainland France and the French overseas territories. The firm was founded in 1985.

This page is a practical guide in English, for information only. It is not legal advice, and only the French texts have legal force. Check the version in force for your own situation.