GlossaryClose & accounts
What is a French balance sheet (bilan)?
The balance sheet shows, at the closing date, what a business owns and what it owes. Assets show where the money went, liabilities show where it came from — and the two always balance.
In practice, in France
The balance sheet, the income statement, and the notes together form the annual accounts (comptes annuels) — one is never filed without the others. The French chart of accounts (plan comptable général) sets out three presentation formats, from the most condensed to the most detailed, depending on company size: a small company does not produce the same level of detail as one subject to a statutory audit.
Assets are listed from least liquid to most liquid, the reverse of the presentation used in English-speaking countries. It is a small detail, but enough to make a French balance sheet read backwards to anyone unfamiliar with it.
In Odoo
The balance sheet is a standard report built on the French chart of accounts.
What distorts it is almost never the report itself, but what was left undone beforehand: unmatched third-party accounts, an unreconciled bank account, un-counted stock, depreciation not posted. The balance sheet does not manufacture accuracy — it reveals the accuracy of the work behind it.
Common mistakes
- Reading it in isolation, without the income statement or the notes — the three are meant to be read together.
- Confusing the profit for the year, which sits under liabilities, with cash actually on hand.
- Assuming a balanced balance sheet is an accurate one: balancing is a mechanical property, not proof of correctness.
These definitions are for guidance and do not replace professional advice. Each entry carries its last-updated date. Filing deadlines are not listed here: they change every year and live in the tax calendar.