France's leading grouping of chartered accountants and independent auditors, FRANCE DÉFI was formed in 1989 by René Ricol, and is now presided over by Alain Cheval and managed by Elisabeth Jaquin.

Formed as an Economic Interest Grouping (Groupement d'Intérêt Economique - GIE) owned by its members, FRANCE DÉFI brings together 300 chartered accountants that is 125 firms operating out of 232 geographical locations, employing 2,600 people and generating a combined turnover of €166m. FRANCE DÉFI is focused entirely on providing services to accounting and auditing firms and has from the onset made it its priority to assist members in their planning and growth.

The association’s Research and Development function is managed by France Défi SAS, which has been awarded ISO 9001 version 2000 certification for all its systems, projects, services, publications and training programmes developed on behalf of auditors and accountants and their clients.


FRANCE DÉFI was formed to assist accounting and audit firms of all sizes wanting to :

Preserve their independence and professional identity

Enjoy the image of a national organisation

Lay solid foundations for their growth, performances and long-term future

Develop factors of differentiation and a competitive advantage

Preserve and conquer market share

Offer existing and prospective clients, of all sizes and in all sectors of activity, innovative services adapted to changes in their environment

Forge strong as well as close relations with their clients

Break their isolation and benefit from the resources and synergies procured by a national organisation

Share and promote the fundamental values defined by the grouping, which are :

Quality

Service

Constant innovation

Exchanges, synergies and complementarity

FRANCE DÉFI'S strategic objective is to ensure that independent counsels remain a force the accounting and auditing profession and to promote the quality, performance and adaptability of local firms. Its vocation is to assist chartered accountants to define a service offer that is even better adapted to the market.

FRANCE DÉFI offers its members :

A constant watch on changes in their environment at strategic, technological and technical levels

Concrete, collegial answers to these changes and solutions adapted thereto

A structured framework for reflection and the exchange of information with experienced members of the profession, with extremely varied fields of expertise, technical know-how and management skills, sharing the same ambitions

Share expertise and resources, through numerous initiatives by the grouping to identify expertise and collate industry data, with the flow of information facilitated by the private e-mail network and databases maintained on the FRANCE DÉFI portal

Good geographical and functional complementarity

Common, standardised tools and methods

Fully-operational "packaged" service offers

Frequent marketing and communication initiatives

A constant lead on the profession

Efficient technological resources

Access to partner networks: EURO DÉFI (a European network of chartered accountants and lawyers), JURIS DÉFI (a French network of lawyers and public notaries) and RÉSEAU ENTREPRENDRE.

FRANCE DÉFI operates as a pooled Research and Development function at the service of its members, with an emphasis on quality and constant innovation in all areas of management consulting.

Its actions focus on :

Marketing, with a three-pronged approach comprising :

Business approach: generic, vertical reference sets in accounting and auditing

Product approach: organisation, management consulting, outsourcing, etc.

Market approach: public sector, associations, franchises, etc.

Communication : publications, trade fairs and exhibitions, visual aids, client meeting kits, web portal, etc.

Management of firms: think tanks, marketing, benchmarking within the network, quality assurance/certification, training, supplier/service provider referencing, etc.

Each action is managed and implemented by a work party staffed on a voluntary basis by members and supervised by the FRANCE DÉFI head office. About twenty work parties are active each year.

This work method is aimed at drawing upon the experience, expertise and know-how of the members to put together a service offer that can be duplicated and thus made accessible to all member firms.

Each product comprises :

Communication and presentation material

Specimen engagement letters

Working methods

Specimen reports

Training

All the above material is kept updated and is available on the FRANCE DÉFI portal, under restricted access.

The work of FRANCE DÉFI is coordinated by seven permanent members of staff based in Paris.

FRANCE DÉFI
19/21, rue de l'Armorique
75015 Paris
France
Tel. : 00 33 1 53 91 20 20
Fax : 00 33 1 53 91 20 21
http://www.francedefi.fr