H2A rewrites audit FAQ on missions, prestations and 70% fee cap

The Haute autorité de l'audit (H2A) published on 13 October 2026 the September 2026 update of its FAQh2a France on the rules governing the contrôle légal des comptes, updating the text last revised in March 2026. The update expands former part 4 on Services autres que la certification des comptes (SACC)h2a France into a new part 4 — Interventions du commissaire aux comptes: Exercice professionnel, Missions, Prestations, SACC —h2a France with a new annex 6 diagram mapping each type of intervention.

The revised part 4 restates the post-CSRD architecture of the Code de commerceh2a France: article L. 821-2, III defines a mission as the mission de certification des comptes, the mission de certification des informations en matière de durabilité created by ordonnance n° 2023-1142 du 6 décembre 2023 transposing the CSRD (directive UE 2022/2464), or any other mission entrusted to the commissaire aux comptes by statute or regulationh2a France; article L. 821-2, IV defines a prestation as services and attestations entrusted to no mission by any text — contractual work performed at the entity's request, such as EGAlim attestations under article L. 441-1-1h2a France. The exercice professionnel adds the status-based duties of article L. 821-10 — reporting irregularities, revealing criminal facts to the procureur de la République, anti-money-launderingh2a France — owed on every engagementh2a France but constituting neither mission nor prestation nor SACCh2a France.

The FAQ then maps the European non-audit-services typology of règlement (UE) n° 537/2014 onto the French SACC of article L. 821-66h2a France: SACC required by EU or national legislation correspond to other statutory missions of the entity's auditorh2a France, while SACC not so required correspond to prestations by the entity's auditorh2a France. That classification drives independence practice: the comité spécialisé of an entité d'intérêt public (EIP) must pre-approve SACC after assessing independence riskh2a France, and the auditor measures which fees count toward the SACC fee cap.

On the 70% cap, the FAQ confirms that SACC fees are capped at 70%h2a France of the average statutory-audit fees billedh2a France over the previous three financial yearsh2a France for the EIPh2a France and, where relevant, its controlling or controlled entities within the meaning of article L. 233-3, I and IIh2a France. The base counts only fees billed by the commissaire aux comptes itself — not its network —h2a France for the mission de certification des comptes including the other verifications required by statute or regulation that form part of ith2a France, for work in France or elsewhere in the EU where the auditor is also the statutory auditorh2a France. The capped SACC perimeter covers fees billed by the auditor for SACC to the EIP and its controlling or controlled entities in France, elsewhere in the EU and in third countriesh2a France. Excluded from the cap are fees for SACC expressly and exclusively entrusted to the entity's auditor by national or directly applicable EU provisions — in French terms the other missions of article L. 821-2, III — and fees expressly excluded by national or EU provisions, including the sustainability-information certification missionh2a France. Interventions the law or regulation entrusts to a commissaire aux comptes without reserving them expressly and exclusively to the entity's auditor count as non-required SACC toward the cap when performed by the entity's auditorh2a France.

Legal basis: directive 2014/56/UE, règlement (UE) n° 537/2014, ordonnance n° 2016-315 du 17 mars 2016, ordonnance n° 2023-1142 du 6 décembre 2023 transposing directive UE 2022/2464, Code de commerce articles L. 821-1 to L. 821-3, L. 821-10, L. 821-30, L. 821-53, L. 821-63, L. 821-66 and L. 233-3, with the H2A FAQ September 2026 and its annex 6 diagram.