Freelance contracts between businesses in France: the clauses to check before you sign

Between businesses in France, the agreed payment term cannot exceed 60 days from the invoice date, or 45 days end of month if that term is expressly written into the contract and is not grossly unfair to you (Commercial Code, article L441-10). If the contract says nothing, the client must pay within 30 days of the service being performed.

A clause such as « payment at 90 days » or « payment after sign-off » should therefore be renegotiated. Acceptance or sign-off procedures (recette or validation) are capped too: no more than 30 days after the work is delivered, unless expressly agreed and not abusive, and they cannot extend or delay the payment term unless the contract expressly says so. Write the starting point (the invoice) and the length of the term into the contract. According to the Banque de France (2025 report of the Observatoire des délais de paiement), fewer than one large company in two pays within the 60 days.

It depends on the contract’s term. An open-ended contract can be ended at any time, but with the notice the contract sets or, failing that, reasonable notice (Civil Code, article 1211). A fixed-term contract must be performed until its end date (article 1212): the client cannot end it early without grounds.

Outside any clause, the client can only terminate on its own initiative for a serious breach on your side, at its own risk, after a formal notice (mise en demeure) left unanswered for a reasonable time, except in an emergency (article 1226). A judge can later review whether the breach was serious enough.

Before signing, check three points: the term (one assignment, an end date or automatic renewal), the notice period on each side, and what is paid if the contract ends early (work already done, expenses incurred).

A freelance assignment can be reclassified as employment (requalification en contrat de travail) when you work under the client’s permanent legal subordination, meaning its authority, with orders, supervision and possible sanctions. If you are registered (trade register, national business register or URSSAF), you are presumed self-employed, but that presumption falls if subordination is proven (Labour Code, article L8221-6).

Warning signs in the contract: set hours, required presence on the client’s premises, imposed tools and methods, a place in a management line, a single client over a long period, pay by the hour with no defined deliverable. A clause that leaves you to organise the work and sets a result to deliver points the other way.

On the client’s side, from 5,000 euros excluding VAT, it must check your social-security filings (article R8222-1), notably by asking for an URSSAF certificate (attestation de vigilance) under six months old, at signature and every six months (article D8222-5).