Houdart A&C’s clients in the medical sector
Houdart A&C’s clients in the medical and paramedical sector include manufacturers and distributors of medical and orthopedic equipment, medical analysis laboratories and communication consulting agencies for laboratories.
Although the activities related to this sector are diverse, some fall under regulated professions while others do not. They are characterized by a significant level of investment in the production aequipment, defense of intellectual property, as well as research and development of products and future production processes required by a constant need for innovation.
We also have a significant clientele of healthcare professionals practicing as self-employed professionals, presented on the page dedicated to liberal professions; doctors practicing in private practices or owning shares in clinics, groups of veterinarians, pharmacies, etc.
Characteristics of the medical sector
A highly regulated, competitive market
This sector is characterized by strong regulation by public authorities. There are controls on manufacturing, authorization is required to market a product, products are protected by patents, advertising is highly regulated and prohibited for medicines subject to medical prescription, and prices are regulated.
As far as the specific market for medicines is concerned, these regulations lead to the classification of molecules into three market segments: originator, generic and OTC (over-the-counter). These three market segments respond to different constraints, resulting in different investment and development strategies.
Additionally, the medical sector is highly competitive and requires continuous innovation.
Demanding requirements and investment planning
The supply of medical products must adapt both to changes in patent legislation and to technological developments, which impact on the product as much as on research methods and production processes.
Both actors on the client side are adjusting their behavior. Patients, with easier access to information through the internet, are more involved in therapeutic choices, while healthcare systems, health insurance, and mutual insurance companies, facing rising healthcare expenses, provide more control over expenses.
Strategic choices result from these developments, such as whether to outsource research and development (R&D), production, or marketing activities.
Research & Development, Constant Innovation
Given the competitive pressure and the shortened product-life cycle in the pharmaceutical market, the success of a new product increasingly depends on the company’s ability to launch it quickly into the market.
The investment required for research means securing sufficient access to the capital needed to fund it.
Intellectual property in the medical sector
Any company can register an industrial property right, i.e. a trademark, a patent or a design, with the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI). This registration allows you to benefit from an industrial property right in order to take effective action against anyone who has illegally exploited this right.
The French Intellectual Property Code provides for rapid procedures, such as seizure for infringement or special referrals, to quickly stop infringement of industrial property rights.
Protecting one’s industrial property involves a two-level strategy: registering rights to protect strategic intangible assets and taking prompt legal action in the event of infringement.
The protection of these assets is vital in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors
Our strengths in addressing these challenges
An approach based on listening, versatility, and responsiveness
As a chartered accountant, we offer you a tailor-made service that combines the power of digital technology and collaboration, as part of a bookkeeping or auditing assignment.
As a statutory auditor, we adopt a constructive and flexible approach, reling on substantive testing but also and most importantly, the review of your various processes, in collaboration with your teams, in order to build a trusting relationship with them and to be a source of recommendations for the continuous improvement of these processes.
The development of our accounting and auditing firm relies on the technical support of a multi-skilled and regularly trained team, as well as the proximity and availability of our accounting and statutory auditing partners, ready to assist you whenever you need.
When an opportunity for external growth arises, we can conduct an acquisition audit as advisors or auditors before you make your decision.
To ensure the reliability of financial information derived from your accounting, we help you implement an effective internal control system and provide appropriate tools for monitoring margins on different products and segments.
Efforts in robotization, innovation, and research and development consume financial resources, but tax credits may be applicable to expenses incurred in these areas. We assist you in determining your eligibility and the base for these tax credits.
If your company is a subsidiary of a foreign group or owned by venture capital companies, we produce periodic reporting for fund providers.
On the social level , Houdart A&C’s teams have in-depth knowledge of the collective agreements applicable to activities in the medical sector.
Beyond to our regular bookkeeping and revision services, as a chartered accountant we offer you a personalized service, anticipating your needs and keeping you abreast of changes in social and tax regulations, so that we can implement appropriate solutions.
As statutory auditors, the personal involvement of our partners enables us to build a trusting relationship, while respecting the professional standards that govern our work.
Personalized support for the company and its executives
Our role as expert accountants goes beyond simply preparing the financial statements for your medical sector business. For family businesses among our clients, we support the entrepreneurs on the patrimonial plan ensuring that decisions related to the business, which may have an impact on their personal assets, are optimized for both them and their family.
The diversity of our skills allows us to provide personalized assistance, first and foremost with your personal tax declarations. We prepare your income tax returns in France, as well as any potential real estate wealth tax declaration.
We offer guidance in selecting individual and group health and heavy insurance contracts. We ensure that the formalities for setting up these contracts cover the risk of tax and social adjustments.
If necessary, we support you during your personal tax audits.
In the medical field, as in all sectors, the acquisition of real estate is often an interesting way for the entrepreneurs to reconcile the interests of their business with the development of their personal assets.
We are at your side from the very beginning of your project, when you decide to invest in real estate, when you decide how to structure your investment, right through to the preparation of the documents you need to apply for funding from financing organizations.
We have a significant network of professionals specializing in insurance brokerage, notaries, and lawyers specializing in social or tax matters, whom we can call on to complete our support.
MyUnisoft is a digital, collaborative, and innovative accounting production tool for professionals in the medical sector
We have an innovative, efficient, and collaborative accounting production tool, a real marketplace with an open API to which most of the current applications used by entrepreneurs can be connected. whether digital neobanks, revenue analysis tools, CRM systems, document management systems, data analysis tools, and payroll software.
Thanks to agreements with most banking institutions, we can set up automatic retrieval of your bank transactions in EBICS format with your bank.
We can provide your teams with our accounting software, enabling real-time collaboration on your financial data. Additionally, if you do not have a dedicated accounting department, we can also take full charge of your bookkeeping.
Common questions related to the medical sector
What are the conditions for activating research and development costs ?
Development costs can be capitalized as assets if they relate to clearly identified projects with a high likelihood of technical success and commercial profitability (PCG art. 212-3)
The following 6 conditions must be met simultaneously:
- technical feasibility of completing the intangible asset in view of its commissioning;
- intention to complete the intangible asset and use or sell it;
- ability to use or sell the intangible asset;
- Probability that the intangible asset will generate future economic benefits;
- availability of adequate resources (technical, financial and other) to complete the development;
- the ability to measure reliably the expenditure attributable to the intangible asset during its development.
What is the tax treatment of income from the sale and license of patents and similar rights?
Companies subject to individual income tax (IR) or corporate income tax (IS) may, upon express option, be subject to a reduced tax rate of 10% on the net income from the sale, licensing, or sub-licensing of exploitation rights related to certain industrial property rights.
The eligible assets include patents, protected software, industrial manufacturing processes, and patentable inventions.
This tax regime is applicable upon the express option made in the income tax return for the fiscal year to which it applies.
The net income from the concession is determined by the difference between the revenue derived from the eligible assets and the research and development (R&D) expenses directly related to these assets and incurred during the period. Expenses such as overheads and industrial property rights defense costs are excluded.
Is an intangible asset subject to amortization?
The cost of an intangible asset with a finite useful life is is subject to amortization and should be spread over its useful life.
However, an intangible asset with an indefinite useful life is not amortized. The useful life of an intangible asset that is not amortized must be reviewed each period to determine whether events and circumstances continue to justify the assessment of indefinite useful life for this asset.
What is a “Société de Participation Financière des Professions Libérales” (SPFPL) ?
A “Société de Participation Financière des Professions Libérales” (SPFPL) is a legal form of holding company dedicated to regulated liberal professions, allowing the ownership of one or several stakes in Professional Corporations (sociétés d’exercice libéral (SEL)).
The “Services” Directive of 2006 and the Law of March 28, 2011 paved the way for the capital interprofessionalism of SPFPLs, which serve as a legal tool for consolidating multi-professional liberal practices.
Why use a firm specializing in the medical sector?
Whether you are the CEO of a disruptive start-up with its unique challenges, a niche market-focused SME, or a well-established significant entity in the medical sector, seeking advice from an accounting firm specialized in the medical field to support you in the day-to-day management of your company, its establishment, its external growth project, or to accompany its development, ensures you have technical expertise to address the specific issues inherent to the medical sector. They will be able to anticipate the risks related to taxation and social regulations. They will assist you in considerations regarding the presentation of the annual accounts when different accounting methods are possible. Finally, they will assist you in the preparation of your annual legal secretariat. This allows you to focus on the development of your business.
Choosing an auditor who specializes in the medical sector ensures a constructive risk-based approach that adds value for your teams. Beyond conducting substantive tests and providing recommendations for implementing processes to improve your internal control and the reliability of financial statement production.
