GUIDE · FRANCE
Cafés pay freelance baristas per shift, but in France that means invoicing as a business — most baristas use micro-entrepreneur status. Here is the whole path, from registration to your first invoice, in plain words.
Checked September 2026 · sources linked below
Declare your activity on the official portal — it takes about 20 minutes and costs nothing. Pick a service activity (« services de restauration », barista services). You'll receive a SIRET number within a couple of weeks; that number is what lets you invoice a café legally. Beware of look-alike sites that charge for this: the official registration is free.
You pay social contributions as a percentage of what you invoice — for service activities around a fifth of turnover (21.2% as of 2025 — check the current rate on the URSSAF site). No revenue, no contributions. First-time creators may qualify for ACRE, which roughly halves contributions in year one. After your first year you may also owe a small local business tax (CFE).
Below the annual threshold for services you don't charge VAT at all (« franchise en base de TVA »). Your invoices must then carry the line « TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI ». Verify the current threshold on the official site — it has been debated recently.
Every shift ends with an invoice: your name and SIRET, the café's details, an invoice number in sequence, date, description (« prestation barista, service du 14 sept, 7h–14h »), hourly rate, total, and the VAT line above. Payment terms are whatever you agree — on Barista Gigs the café pays you directly; the platform never holds your money.
You declare what you invoiced monthly or quarterly on the URSSAF autoentrepreneur portal, and contributions are taken from that. Declare even when it's €0 — skipping declarations gets you fined and eventually deregistered.
Freelancing means multiple clients and real independence. If you work fixed hours for a single café for months, under their direction, that can be reclassified as disguised employment (« salariat déguisé ») — a problem for the café more than for you, but a real one. Varied shifts across different cafés — which is what this platform is for — is exactly what keeps the arrangement clean. For a permanent role, ask for a contract instead.
Specialty cafés in Paris currently list freelance shifts between €18 and €28 per hour depending on experience and urgency. Remember contributions come out of that — €24/h invoiced is roughly €19/h after contributions, before income tax.
Professional liability insurance (RC Pro) isn't legally required for barista work, but it's cheap and some cafés ask for it. Worth having once you work regularly.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and rates change — always confirm against the official sources above.
Open shifts at Paris specialty cafés are public — pay listed up front.
