BNC receipts register
The registre des recettes BNC (mandatory revenue register for self-employed liberal professionals) is the core accounting document required of any professional in France operating under the régime de la déclaration contrôlée (the full real-income tax regime, filed on form 2035). Mandated by Article 99 of the Code général des impôts (CGI — France's general tax code), the register must record each payment chronologically, detailing the actual date of receipt, the gross amount, the payment method, and the client's full identity whenever a transaction exceeds EUR 76 in cash or is settled by any other means. Professionals under the micro-BNC regime (annual gross receipts at or below EUR 83,600 in 2026) may use a simplified version: a daily total suffices when each individual cash payment remains below EUR 76. The register must be retained for six years and produced on demand by the French tax authorities (Direction générale des finances publiques).
Up to date for 2026 — verified on June 27, 2026Official procedure, no printed formGuide: about 15 min
This content is part of the path: Reporting my professional (BNC) income· Step 6 of 12· Next step: BNC results return (form 2035)
Deadlines
- Continuously, in chronological order
- Each receipt is entered at its ACTUAL date of collection. Reconstructing the register afterwards destroys its evidential value.
Documents to prepare
- Actual date on which each receipt was collected
- Amount received and method of payment
- Client's full identity as soon as a cash receipt exceeds EUR 76
- Nature of the service, precise enough to be tied back to an invoice
No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.
What this page gives you
The guide above and the link to the official site. ActioFin does not produce any document for this page: whatever you fill in or file is done on the official medium.
Who this applies to
- Self-employed professionals under the controlled-declaration regime — those who file form 2035
- The register is MANDATORY (CGI art. 99): it is not a management good practice but a record the tax authority may demand
- The client's full identity must appear as soon as a cash receipt exceeds EUR 76
Worked example
A professional practice over one quarter
Marie-Claire Benoit, a self-employed physiotherapist (kinésithérapeute libérale) based in Lyon, has been filing under the régime de la déclaration contrôlée (form 2035) since 2019. In June 2026 she records: 45 sessions at EUR 28 each settled by card or CPAM (French national health insurance) bank transfer — client identity noted on every line; 3 private sessions at EUR 60 each paid in cash (below the EUR 76 threshold, so the daily total without individual identification suffices); and one rehabilitation assessment at EUR 380 paid by cheque drawn on the CPAM du Rhône (payee identity and cheque number 0048291 recorded). June total: EUR 1,660. She carries this figure to line BL of form 2035-A and verifies it against her BNP Paribas Pro bank statement, annotating the two salary transfers made that month from her professional to her personal account so they are not mistaken for undisclosed receipts.
How to fill it in, step by step
- Open a new line in the register as soon as payment is received — not on the invoice date. Record the exact date funds arrived (bank credit or cash in hand), the supporting-document reference (invoice or fee note number), and a brief description of the service provided.
- Enter the gross amount received and the payment method in full: cash (itemise amounts above EUR 50), cheque (number, bank, and drawer's name), bank transfer (payment reference), or card (TPE terminal ticket reference or terminal ID number).
- Record the client's full identity — name, first name, and address — for any non-cash payment and for any cash payment exceeding EUR 76. This is the first field verified by a tax inspector during an audit and its absence is treated as a deliberate omission.
- Calculate and record the monthly cumulative total at the bottom of each page or column. This figure feeds directly into line BL of form 2035-A (the income statement component of the liasse fiscale — the annual tax-return package) and allows straightforward reconciliation with your professional bank statements.
- Archive the completed register — paper original or a non-editable PDF export — together with all corresponding supporting documents (invoices, bank statements, cheque stubs) for six years from 31 December of the relevant financial year.
The form, line by line
- Collection date
- The date of actual receipt — bank credit or cash handed over — never the invoice date: BNC accounting is cash-basis.
- Amount and payment method
- Gross amount received and method: cash, cheque (number, bank, drawer), transfer (reference), card (terminal reference).
- Customer's identity
- Name, first name and address for any payment other than cash and for any cash payment above €76 — the item checked first in an audit.
- Monthly total
- Total carried at the bottom of the page or column, for carrying to the receipts line of the 2035-A and reconciliation with the business bank account.
Good to know
- Cash-basis trap: BNC accounting is cash-basis (comptabilité de caisse). Always record the date funds actually arrived — never the invoice date. Systematically mis-dating entries is classified as a deliberate breach at audit and can artificially shift income between tax years, triggering a 40% surcharge.
- Cash-payment ceiling: transactions in cash exceeding EUR 1,000 per payment between a professional and a private individual are illegal under Article L. 112-6 of the Code monétaire et financier. Refusing cash above this limit is both permitted and recommended; non-compliance attracts a fine of 5% of the amount involved.
- Monthly bank reconciliation: tax inspectors cross-check the register against your professional bank statements. Any bank credit not recorded in the register is presumed to be undisclosed income, taxed with a minimum 40% surcharge. A monthly reconciliation annotating internal transfers eliminates this risk entirely.
Common mistakes
- Entering the invoice date rather than the date payment was received: BNC accounting is cash-based, and a systematic confusion shifts income from one year to the next.
- Recording only a daily total outside the case where that is allowed: entry-by-entry detail remains the rule once the cash threshold is crossed or payment comes by any other means.
- Leaving out the client's full identity: it is the particular checked first on inspection, and its absence weakens the register as a whole.
- Not reconciling the register against the business bank account: any credit not entered is presumed to be concealed income, and monthly reconciliation is what rebuts the presumption.
- Believing you must accept payment in cash: above the legal ceiling between a business and a private individual, cash payment is prohibited and refusing it is good practice.
- Discarding the register with the year's paperwork: it must be kept for six years and produced on any request from the tax authorities.
Frequently asked questions
Who is legally required to keep a registre des recettes BNC in 2026?
Any self-employed liberal professional subject to the régime de la déclaration contrôlée (full real-income regime, form 2035) must maintain this register under Article 99 CGI. This covers professionals whose annual gross receipts exceed EUR 83,600 in 2026, those in regulated professions ineligible for micro-BNC (lawyers, chartered accountants, notaries), and anyone who has voluntarily opted into the full real-income regime regardless of their turnover level.
What information must appear on each line of the register?
Each entry must include: the actual date of receipt (not the invoice date), the gross amount received, the payment method (cash, cheque with its number, bank transfer, or card), and the supporting-document reference (invoice or fee note number). The client's full identity — name, first name, and address — is mandatory for any non-cash payment and for any cash payment exceeding EUR 76.
Can the register be kept in digital format?
Yes — French law imposes no specific medium. The register may be maintained on paper, in a spreadsheet, or via practice management software, provided all mandatory fields are present and the document can be reproduced at any time. If kept digitally, regular external backups are essential: a lost or inaccessible register at the time of a tax audit is treated the same as an absent one.
What are the penalties for not having a registre des recettes?
Failure to produce the register on demand carries a fine of EUR 5,000 per financial year under Article 1734 CGI. The absence of the document can also trigger a taxation d'office (a deemed-income assessment where the tax authority imposes its own figures) and a 40% surcharge on underpaid tax where a deliberate breach is found, rising to 80% where active concealment is established.
How long must the register be kept?
The register must be retained for six years from the last entry recorded, in line with the standard tax-authority audit window set out in Article L. 169 of the LPF (livre des procédures fiscales — France's tax procedures code). Where tax litigation is pending at the end of that six-year period, the retention obligation extends until the proceedings have been finally resolved.
Does a micro-BNC professional still need to keep a register?
Yes, but in a simplified form. Under the micro-BNC regime (annual gross receipts at or below EUR 83,600 in 2026) a daily total of receipts is sufficient, without individual client identification, provided each cash payment remains below EUR 76. Above that cash threshold, or for any non-cash payment regardless of amount, the client's full identity must be recorded.
Go further
Official sources
- impots.gouv.fr — Form 2035-SD, controlled-declaration regime: the receipts register is the accounting obligation attached to it — September 7, 2026
- BOFiP — BOI-BNC-DECLA-10-30: filing obligations of non-commercial profit earners — September 7, 2026
- service-public.gouv.fr (Entreprendre) — F23267, micro-fiscal regime thresholds for 2026 income: €83,600 for a liberal activity (BNC) — September 24, 2026
Guide and document provided for information purposes only; they do not constitute personalised legal or tax advice. Check the recipient organisation's requirements and consult a professional if needed.