Budgeting
You can set up the French employer social charges for 2026 once, apply them to every wage account, cap them per paid day and save them as presets.
In France the employer pays several charges on every wage: the contributions to the *URSSAF* (the body that collects social security contributions), unemployment insurance, and the supplementary pension and provident insurance that *Audiens* collects. *Audiens* is the social protection group of the culture sector. For *intermittents du spectacle*, crew and performers hired per production on a fixed-term *CDD d'usage*, the employer also pays the holiday fund *Congés Spectacles*. Several of these charges stop at a ceiling, the *plafond*. You set them up once, and every wage account then calculates them the same way. The rates are the 2026 values, as of 3 October 2026.
This article is not payroll advice. Have your payroll office confirm the accident insurance rate (AT/MP) notified by the *Carsat* (the regional fund for occupational risks), and Audiens the rates for supplementary pension, provident insurance and Congés Spectacles.
Under **New Budget**, the template `FR_CNC_Detaille_2018` (CNC, devis détaillé 2018, charges sociales 2026) already contains the collect-in accounts of step 1 and these groups with their presets: `FR 2026 Techniciens cadres` and `FR 2026 Techniciens non-cadres` (collected in 441), `FR 2026 Artistes` (451), `FR 2026 Auteurs` (411), and `FR 2026 Réalisateur` (431) and `FR 2026 Producteurs` (421), copies of the cadres group. It does not contain `FR 2026 Permanents` or the premiums of step 4; create the premiums yourself, with an account of their own to collect in. You still check the rows that depend on your company (the notes under steps 2 and 3), apply the groups (step 5) and enter the timebase and the factor (step 6).
Create one account per category of the CNC budget, for example **Charges sociales équipe technique**, **Charges sociales artistes** and **Charges sociales auteurs**. Every fringe below collects in the account of its category. See [how collect-in accounts work](/kb/article/how-collect-in-accounts-work).
In the account details, click  **Settings for account details** and then **Fringes & Supplements**. On the **Fringes** tab, click  **Group** and name the group `FR 2026 Techniciens cadres`. *Cadres* are crew with executive status, such as the director of photography. Then click  **Fringe** once for each row of this table:
| Fringe Name | Percentage | Limit Per Day | Covers | | ----------------------------- | ---------- | ------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | Maladie | 13.00 | empty | health insurance | | Vieillesse déplafonnée | 2.11 | empty | state pension, on the whole wage | | Vieillesse plafonnée | 8.55 | 18.81 | state pension, up to the ceiling | | Allocations familiales | 5.25 | empty | family allowances | | Accidents du travail | 1.50 | empty | accident insurance | | Chômage et AGS | 9.75 | 85.80 | unemployment and wage guarantee insurance | | Retraite complémentaire cadre | 13.64 | 239.90 | supplementary pension | | Prévoyance cadre | 1.69 | 3.72 | provident insurance and health fund | | Thalie Santé | 0.42 | empty | occupational health for intermittents | | Formation professionnelle | 2.10 | empty | vocational training | | Autres contributions | 1.25 | empty | small contributions, see below | | Congés Spectacles | 15.50 | empty | holiday fund |
In **Collect In Budget Account**, choose the crew's charges account on every row. From the second row on, KOSMA asks first, because the account already collects other rows. Click **Continue**. Then create the group `FR 2026 Techniciens non-cadres` with the same rows. Two rows differ: **Retraite complémentaire non-cadre** `5.23` without a limit, and **Prévoyance non-cadre** `1.11` with a limit of `2.44`.
Add to collection account? This account already collects other calculations. Add this one to it?
- **Accidents du travail**: enter the rate that the Carsat notified to your company. The collective rate for intermittents in 2026 is 1.50 % (risk class 92.3AD). - **Chômage et AGS**: 9.50 % unemployment insurance plus 0.25 % AGS, for a CDD d'usage of up to three months. For a longer contract, enter `9.25` with a limit of `81.40`. - **Retraite complémentaire**: if your company is a member of UPC, AFPF, AnimFrance or FICAM, Audiens charges technicians 10.16 % on T1. For non-cadres, enter `6.37`. For cadres, enter `13.78` with a limit of `242.41`. - **Autres contributions**: the CSA (solidarity contribution for long-term care), the contribution to social dialogue, the FNAL (housing fund), the apprenticeship tax and its balance, and the branch contributions of cinema. **Percentage** takes two decimals, so these small rates share one row. For television, enter `1.22`. With 50 employees or more, enter `1.65`, and for television `1.63`. - **Thalie Santé**: 0.35 % plus VAT. - **Congés Spectacles**: 15.50 % for wages from 1 January 2026 to 31 March 2027. The production does not pay holiday pay to intermittents; the holiday fund pays it. - With 11 employees or more, you also pay the *versement mobilité* (a transport levy) of your locality and the *forfait social*, 8 % on the employer's provident contribution. Ask your payroll office for the amounts.
In 2026 the *plafond de la sécurité sociale* is 4,005 € a month and 220 € a day. For unemployment insurance and AGS the ceiling is four times as high, 880 € a day. Audiens uses 220 € a paid day for T1 and for provident insurance. **Limit Per Day** is the highest charge per day in euros, so each limit is the rate times the ceiling per day:
If you enter the daily ceiling itself, for example 220, KOSMA caps the fringe at the wrong amount and shows no message.
Your payroll office prorates the monthly ceiling by calendar days or, for intermittents, by paid days, which is an accepted tolerance. For a contract of whole weeks, both give less than 220 € a paid day, so the budget is on the safe side.
Audiens splits the daily wage of a cadre into two parts. Up to 220 € a paid day (T1), the employer pays 5.23 %. On the part from 220 € to 1,760 € (T2), the employer pays 14.57 %. Cadres also pay the CET (a pension balancing contribution) and the APEC (the executives' employment agency). A row in KOSMA applies one rate to the whole wage, up to its limit. **Retraite complémentaire cadre** therefore carries one rate that covers T1, T2, CET and APEC up to 1,760 € a day: 13.64 % with a limit of 239.90 €, the full charge at 1,760 €. The budget is then slightly too high, never too low: in the proof below by 232.95 €.
Create the group `FR 2026 Artistes`. For *artistes du spectacle* (actors, musicians, dancers), several URSSAF rates are 70 % of the standard rate. Technicians do not get these reduced rates.
| Fringe Name | Percentage | Limit Per Day | | ------------------------------- | ---------- | ------------- | | Maladie | 9.10 | empty | | Vieillesse déplafonnée | 1.48 | empty | | Vieillesse plafonnée | 5.99 | 21.56 | | Allocations familiales | 3.68 | empty | | Accidents du travail | 1.05 | empty | | Chômage et AGS | 9.75 | empty | | Retraite complémentaire artiste | 5.74 | empty | | Prévoyance non-cadre | 1.11 | 2.44 | | Thalie Santé | 0.42 | empty | | Formation professionnelle | 2.10 | empty | | Autres contributions | 1.22 | empty | | Congés Spectacles | 15.50 | empty |
- **Accidents du travail**: 70 % of your company's rate. - **Vieillesse plafonnée**: for an engagement under five days, the ceiling is 12 times the hourly ceiling of 30 €, 360 € per working day. The limit is therefore 5.99 % × 360. - **Autres contributions**: for television, enter `1.19`. With 50 employees or more, enter `1.50`, and for television `1.48`.
Create the group `FR 2026 Auteurs` with one row: Contribution diffuseur, `1.10`, no limit, collected in the authors' account. On fees to authors, the producer pays 1 % for social security and 0.10 % for training.
For staff on a *CDI* (permanent contract) or a *CDD de droit commun* (ordinary fixed-term contract), create the group `FR 2026 Permanents`. Take the crew rows of their status, cadre or non-cadre, leave out **Thalie Santé** and **Congés Spectacles**, and change these rows:
| Fringe Name | Percentage | Limit Per Day | | ----------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ------------- | | Vieillesse plafonnée | 8.55 | 11.42 | | Accidents du travail | the rate the Carsat notified for permanent staff | empty | | Chômage et AGS | 4.25 | 22.70 | | Retraite complémentaire cadre | 13.64 | 145.58 | | Prévoyance cadre | 1.50, the minimum for cadres | 2.01 | | Formation professionnelle | 0.55 under 11 employees, otherwise 1.00; CDD +1.00 | empty | | Autres contributions | 1.18, including the branch contributions of cinema | empty |
For permanent staff, the limits use the monthly ceiling per calendar day: 4,005 € ÷ 30 = 133.50 €. For a non-cadre, enter the rate of your provident insurance contract. For a non-cadre who earns more than 4,005 € a month, enter `13.64` with a limit of `145.58` in **Retraite complémentaire non-cadre**.
On the **Supplements** tab, create a group, for example `FR 2026 Cinéma`, and enter the premiums of your *convention collective* (the collective agreement of the sector). **Markup On Wage %** carries the premium, **Worktime %** how often you expect it. In **Collect In Budget Account**, choose the account for the premiums on every row. Under the cinema convention (IDCC 3097), the weekly wage of a technician covers 39 hours.
| Supplement Name | Markup On Wage % | Worktime % | | ----------------------------------- | ---------------- | ---------- | | Heures sup. 40e à 43e heure | 125 | 10 | | Heures sup. 44e à 48e heure | 150 | 5 | | Heures sup. au-delà de la 48e | 175 | 2 | | Au-delà de la 10e heure de tournage | 100 | 5 | | 6e jour travaillé | 200 | 4 | | Nuit, 8 premières heures | 50 | 10 | | Nuit, au-delà de la 8e heure | 100 | 2 | | Dimanche | 100 | 4 | | Jour férié | 100 | 4 |
Overtime and the 6th day lie beyond the 39 hours of the weekly wage, so they carry the full hour plus the premium. The weekly wage already pays night, Sunday and public holiday hours, so those rows carry the premium alone. The overtime rows already count the hours beyond the 10th shooting hour, so that row carries the additional 100 % alone. A worked public holiday also earns a paid day off of 7 hours. Budget it as an extra day in the quantity.
The convention caps the premiums on one hour at +100 % in total. The cap does not cover the legal overtime premiums of 25 % and 50 %, or 1 May. KOSMA adds every ticked row and does not apply the cap. The budget is then on the safe side.
Do not count the hours of the 6th day again in the weekly overtime rows.
For television, create a second group, for example `FR 2026 Télévision`. The convention of audiovisual production (IDCC 2642) applies. These premiums follow its consolidated text of 2018; we found no later change to them:
| Supplement Name | Markup On Wage % | | ----------------------------------------------------- | ---------------- | | Heures sup. 1re à 8e (CDD d'usage) | 125 | | Heures sup. à partir de la 9e | 150 | | Dimanche | 50 | | Nuit | 25 | | 1er mai | 200 | | 1er janv., 14 juil., 15 août, 1er et 11 nov., 25 déc. | 100 | | Lundi de Pâques, 8 mai, Ascension | 50 |
For a contract under five days, replace the first row: enter `125` for the 9th to 11th hour of the day and `150` for the 12th hour. For construction, lighting and stage crews, enter `200` from the 13th hour and `50` for night.
**Automatically add wage fringes to supplements** is not ticked in every account. Tick it on the **Supplements** tab of the dialog from step 5, otherwise the social charges skip the premiums. KOSMA copies it to every selected account.
Click **Ok**.
The selected accounts must have nothing applied yet, or carry exactly the same: the same fringes and supplements, the same timebase and the same subaccount ticks. Select the wage accounts of the crew cadres (see [work in the budget grid](/kb/article/work-in-the-budget-grid)). In the account details, click  **Edit fringes & supplements** in the **Fringes & Supplements** panel. KOSMA opens the dialog and shows how many rows it applies to:
Applies to {number} rows.
If the account has subaccounts, tick **All** under **Apply to subaccounts**. Tick the group `FR 2026 Techniciens cadres`. On the **Supplements** tab, if the account has subaccounts, tick **All** under **Apply to subaccounts** there too. Then tick the premiums that apply and **Automatically add wage fringes to supplements**. Click **Ok**. KOSMA gives every selected account the same fringes, supplements and subaccount ticks. Repeat this for non-cadres, artistes, authors and permanent staff.
Apply the groups before you enter the days in step 6. Once the timebases differ, the accounts no longer carry the same content.
For each crew member, click  **Edit fringes & supplements** and enter the paid days in **Timebase (days) for fringe limits**: shooting days and paid preparation days. Without a timebase, KOSMA calculates the charges that have a limit on the full wage.
- In an account budgeted in days, enter `ACCOUNT_QTY`. In an account budgeted in weeks of five working days, enter `ACCOUNT_QTY * 5`. - In an account with subaccounts, enter `SUBACCOUNT_QTY("1")` or the number. If several people stand in the subaccounts of one account, enter the sum of their paid days. The budget is then at most too high, never too low. - For an artiste engaged for less than five days, enter the days of the engagement. - For an artiste engaged for five days or more, leave the timebase empty. KOSMA then calculates the charges on the whole fee, and the budget is on the safe side. - For permanent staff, enter the calendar days. In an account budgeted in months, that is `ACCOUNT_QTY * 30`.
On a CDD de droit commun, the employee gets 10 % end-of-contract pay and then 10 % holiday pay on the total. Enter `1.21` in the **X** column of that account, because 1.10 × 1.10 = 1.21. KOSMA calculates `Quantity × Price/Unit × X`, and every social charge follows from that total. Intermittents on a CDD d'usage get neither payment, so their **X** stays empty.
Select a single wage account and click  **Edit fringes & supplements**. Under **Select preset...**, choose **Save as Preset**, enter `FR 2026 Techniciens cadres` and click **Ok**. Then click **Ok** in the dialog as well. The preset holds the fringes only: for the supplements, save a second preset, for example `FR 2026 Cinéma`, on the **Supplements** tab. Save a preset for each of the other groups in the same way.
 **Apply Preset** appears only if an account has every subaccount named in the preset. For an account you add later, click  **Apply Preset** in its account details and tick the fringe preset and the supplement preset. See [save and reuse a fringe preset](/kb/article/save-and-reuse-a-fringe-preset).
The presets contain neither the timebase nor **Automatically add wage fringes to supplements**. After you apply them, click  **Edit fringes & supplements**, tick **All** under **Apply to subaccounts** on both tabs if the account has subaccounts, enter the days and tick the checkbox on the **Supplements** tab. An empty timebase, or `0`, means no cap.
An actress works 2 days at 1,000 € each, 2,000 € in total, in an engagement of 2 days. The timebase is `2`.
| Fringe | Without timebase | Timebase 2 | | -------------------- | ---------------- | ---------- | | Vieillesse plafonnée | 119.80 € | 43.12 € | | Prévoyance non-cadre | 22.20 € | 4.88 € | | Total | 142.00 € | 48.00 € |
A director of photography (*chef opérateur*), cadre, on a CDD d'usage from 1 to 26 June 2026: four weeks Monday to Friday, 20 paid days, 26 calendar days. The weekly wage is 3,000 € including premiums, 12,000 € in total. The company has fewer than 11 employees. The timebase is `20`.
| Fringe | KOSMA, 20 days | Payroll | | ----------------------------- | -------------- | ---------- | | Maladie | 1,560.00 € | 1,560.00 € | | Vieillesse déplafonnée | 253.20 € | 253.20 € | | Vieillesse plafonnée | 376.20 € | 296.77 € | | Allocations familiales | 630.00 € | 630.00 € | | Accidents du travail | 180.00 € | 180.00 € | | Chômage et AGS | 1,170.00 € | 1,170.00 € | | Retraite complémentaire cadre | 1,636.80 € | 1,403.85 € | | Prévoyance cadre | 74.40 € | 67.68 € | | Thalie Santé | 50.40 € | 50.40 € | | Formation professionnelle | 252.00 € | 252.00 € | | Autres contributions | 150.00 € | 141.35 € | | Congés Spectacles | 1,860.00 € | 1,860.00 € | | Total | 8,193.00 € | 7,865.25 € |
The payroll office prorates the monthly ceiling by calendar days: 4,005 € ÷ 30 × 26 = 3,471.00 €. Audiens takes 220 € × 20 = 4,400 € for T1 and provident insurance, at most 4,005 € a month. KOSMA multiplies its limits by 20 paid days.
KOSMA is 327.75 € higher, 2.7 % of the wage. Every difference is on the high side:
- 232.95 € from the single rate for T1 and T2 (step 2) - 79.43 € from the ceiling of 4,400 € in place of 3,471 € - 8.65 € from FNAL without a ceiling and the rounding to two decimals - 6.72 € from the monthly maximum of provident insurance
What the payroll office calculates is what gets paid.
You do not need to do this. We have worked it through for you; it shows where the simulator and KOSMA differ, and why. The URSSAF simulator of the cost of hiring on mon-entreprise.urssaf.fr covers intermittents only in live performance and calculates per month, so only some rows compare.
We entered a CDD d'usage, cadre, intermittent technician, the convention of private live performance, 12,000 € gross a month and 5 employees, and compared the result with the account from the proof:
| Fringe | KOSMA, 20 days | Simulator | Why | | ----------------------- | -------------- | ---------- | -------------------------------------------- | | Maladie | 1,560.00 € | 1,560.00 € | | | Allocations familiales | 630.00 € | 630.00 € | | | Vieillesse, both rows | 629.40 € | 595.63 € | ceiling 4,400 € in KOSMA, 4,005 € there | | Retraite complémentaire | 1,636.80 € | 1,403.85 € | one rate for T1 and T2, step 2 | | Chômage et AGS | 1,170.00 € | 510.00 € | the simulator uses 4.00 % in place of 9.50 % | | Congés Spectacles | 1,860.00 € | 1,848.00 € | the simulator uses the old rate of 15.40 % |
The simulator's supplementary pension is the sum of its pension lines. It equals the payroll figure in the proof.
A subaccount has no tick under **Apply to subaccounts**, so its wage is not part of the base. A new subaccount always starts without a tick. If you applied the group to several accounts and some of them kept their own subaccount ticks, KOSMA shows:
{number} of the selected accounts kept their own subaccount fringe settings.
Open the dialog of that account, tick the subaccounts and click **Ok**.
**If the charges of a crew member are not capped.** The account has no timebase, or the timebase is `0`. This happens after a preset, or when `ACCOUNT_QTY` is used in an account with subaccounts. Enter the paid days as a number or as `SUBACCOUNT_QTY("1")`. The rows with a limit then show the capped amounts.
The selected accounts do not carry exactly the same fringes, supplements, timebase or subaccount ticks. In place of  **Edit fringes & supplements**, the panel shows:
Mixed contents · Click ↺ to reset
 **Reset fringes & supplements** removes all fringes and supplements from every selected account.
Click it and confirm. KOSMA then offers **Edit fringes & supplements** again.
**Sources.** - Rates and ceilings 2026: URSSAF, taux de cotisations secteur privé, plafonds de la Sécurité sociale, taux réduits des artistes du spectacle; arrêté du 24 janvier 1975. - Proration of the ceiling for intermittents: BOSS, assiette générale, § 1090. - Unemployment insurance and AGS: Unédic, paramètres utiles avril 2026; France Travail. - Supplementary pension, provident insurance, ceilings per day and Congés Spectacles: Audiens, paramètres 2026, and fiche retraite complémentaire 2026; Agirc-Arrco, barème 2026. - Branch contributions and Thalie Santé: Audiens, webconference of 27 January 2026; Thalie Santé. - Accident insurance: arrêté du 30 décembre 2025, risk class 92.3AD. - Training and apprenticeship tax: AFDAS, contributions 2026; URSSAF; net-entreprises, fiche 2504. - Authors: URSSAF, diffuseurs; Sécurité sociale des artistes-auteurs. - Forfait social: URSSAF. - Permanent staff: ANI du 17 novembre 2017 (prévoyance des cadres); Code du travail, L1242-16 and L1243-8. - Premiums: convention collective nationale de la production cinématographique (IDCC 3097), articles 36 to 42, with its amendments up to 2024; convention collective nationale de la production audiovisuelle (IDCC 2642), consolidated on 1 July 2018.
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