Accountant for farms and agricultural businesses
Irregular income, crop and livestock stocks, CAP aid, farm VAT: your Viseeon accountant follows your farm through the seasons and smooths your tax bill.
- Experts in sole-owner farms, GAECs and EARLs
- Free 20-minute first call, by video
Why use an accountant who specialises in farming?
Farm profits (bénéfices agricoles, BA) follow their own rules: a regime set on a three-year average, stocks of produce and animals, production aid, and precautionary savings schemes. An exceptional year can push up tax and MSA (agricultural social security) contributions if it is not planned for.
Your Viseeon accountant knows these mechanisms. They close your accounts at a date that follows your production cycle and help you smooth your income from one season to the next.
What accounting challenges do farmers face?
Income that swings sharply from year to year
Weather, market prices, yields: farm results can double or collapse. Without smoothing, a good year is paid for twice, in tax and in MSA contributions. Smoothing tools exist, but they must be decided before the year-end closing.
Moving from micro-BA to the real regime
The regime is set on the average receipts of the three previous years. A lasting increase moves you to the real regime, with full accounts and stocks to value. Better to prepare for it than to suffer it.
Stocks that are hard to value
Crops in silos, wine in tanks, animals, advances to crops: how you value them directly affects your result. A method that changes from one year to the next distorts real profitability.
Aid and farm VAT
Decoupled aid, investment aid, disaster compensation: each has its own accounting treatment. For VAT, you may be under a real regime or the flat-rate refund (remboursement forfaitaire), with very different consequences.
Your accountant's three areas of farming expertise
Tax regime and income smoothing
Tracking of the three-year average, choice of regime, use of deduction and precautionary savings mechanisms before the year-end closing.
Stocks and production costs
Inventory of crops, animals and advances to crops, production cost by workshop, per hectare or per head.
Company forms and succession
Sole-owner farm, EARL, GAEC, SCEA: sharing results between partners, setting up a young farmer, preparing the handover.
Which tax regime applies to your farm in 2026?
The regime depends on the average receipts of the three previous years.
| Average receipts | Regime (2026 to 2028) |
|---|---|
| Up to €129,200 | Micro-BA |
| €129,200 to €421,000 | Simplified real regime (réel simplifié) |
| Over €421,000 | Normal real regime (réel normal) |
For 2024 and 2025, the limits were €120,000 and €391,000. GAECs benefit from higher limits depending on the number of partners. Source: BOFiP BOI-BAREME-000044, version of 19 August 2026.
Which indicators should you track on a farm?
- Gross operating surplus (EBE): the farm's capacity to repay loans and pay its owners.
- Loan repayments relative to EBE: above a certain level, any bad year puts cash under strain.
- Production cost per tonne, per litre or per animal, compared with the selling price.
- Share of aid in the result, to measure dependence on public support.
Farmer's tax and social calendar
The deadlines of a farming season: VAT, MSA, CAP applications, closing and stocktake, results return. Adaptable to your year-end date.
Get the guideYour questions about farm accounting
What is the micro-BA threshold in 2026?
Micro-BA applies if the average receipts of the three previous years do not exceed €129,200. This threshold applies from 2026 to 2028.
How is profit calculated under micro-BA?
Taxable profit equals the average receipts excl. VAT of the year and the two previous years, reduced by an 87% allowance (€305 minimum). Your accountant compares this result with a real regime.
When do you move from micro-BA to the real regime?
When the three-year average of receipts exceeds the threshold. You can also opt for the real regime voluntarily, for example during a period of heavy investment.
What is the flat-rate agricultural refund?
It is a VAT regime specific to farmers who are not subject to VAT: they do not charge VAT but can receive a flat-rate refund on certain sales. Farmers under this regime are not required to have a certified till.
How do you smooth a very good year?
The precautionary savings deduction (déduction pour épargne de précaution) lets you set aside part of your profit. For 2026, it can reach 100% of a profit below €33,234, within a limit of €50,959 per year and €150,000 in total. The sums must be used within ten years. It must be decided before the year-end closing.
Should you choose a particular year-end date?
Yes, a farm's financial year often closes after the harvest or the main sale. A well-placed closing makes the stocktake easier and gives a true picture of the season.
How is CAP aid recorded in the accounts?
It is recorded as income, depending on its nature: operating aid or investment grants. Allocating it to the right season affects your result. Your accountant checks this at every closing.
GAEC, EARL or sole-owner farm?
A GAEC brings together working partners with tax and social transparency; an EARL limits liability; a sole-owner farm remains the simplest. The choice depends on your project, your partners and succession.
How are MSA contributions calculated?
They are calculated on your agricultural professional income. The calculation method was reformed on 1 January 2026, and the MSA offers contribution base options, including an annual base. Your accountant chooses the best option with you.
Let us talk about your farm
20 minutes by video, or by phone if the connection is poor where you are. An accountant who knows farming reviews your regime and your next year-end closing.