In short…
The PEI (Plan d’Épargne Interentreprises) is a turnkey PEE company savings plan, pooled across several businesses, designed for the very small and mid-sized companies that have neither the scale nor the administrative means to set up their own plan. Same advantages as the PEE: employer matching exempt from income tax, a 5-year lock-in, capital gains exempt from income tax. But the PEI is also a powerful lever for the owner-manager: in firms with fewer than 250 employees, they can move money out of the company’s cash and into their private estate, with very favourable taxation.
- Turnkey employee savings — all the PEE’s advantages without the administrative burden
- Deductible matching — from the company’s profit and exempt from income tax for the employee
- Owner-manager lever — move cash into the private estate in firms with fewer than 250 employees
Simulate your PEI and its matching
The simulator isolates the cumulative employer matching. Your data is neither stored nor transmitted.
PEI inter-company savings simulator
The PEI: the mechanics of the PEE company savings plan, pooled for very small and mid-sized businesses.
Results are provided for purely illustrative and educational purposes, based on the parameters you enter and simplified assumptions (2026 taxation, constant return, excluding inflation). They constitute neither personalised investment advice, nor tax advice, nor an offer to subscribe. Some investments carry a risk of capital loss. Before any decision, speak with an advisor.
Why the PEI unlocks employee savings for small businesses
Setting up an in-house PEE means negotiating a plan rulebook, choosing a custodian, handling the administration and bearing fixed costs that few small firms can absorb. The result: employee savings, and their considerable tax advantages, long remained the preserve of large companies. The PEI lifts precisely this barrier by pooling the mechanics.
The principle is a shared framework rulebook: a common custodian, a ready-made scheme, and the company simply has to join. The small business thus enters employee savings without bearing the complexity. For the employee, the advantage is identical to the PEE — matching exempt from income tax, capital gains exempt from income tax, a 5-year lock-in with wide early-release events.
But the most strategic angle is the owner-manager’s. In firms with fewer than 250 employees, the manager and, where relevant, their collaborating spouse can themselves benefit from the PEI and its matching. The PEI then becomes a channel for moving company cash into the manager’s private estate, with lighter taxation — a remuneration question as much as an employee-savings one.
The 3 levers this simulator reveals for the owner-manager
Lever 1 — matching, a deductible charge on the company side
The matching paid by the company is deductible from its taxable profit and exempt from ordinary social contributions (it bears the social package, reduced or even nil for small firms). For the beneficiary, it is exempt from income tax. In other words: a tax-advantaged charge on the company side, a tax-free net gain on the employee side. For the manager who includes themselves in the scheme, it is one of the most efficient ways to take remuneration.
Lever 2 — bring the manager and collaborating spouse into the plan
This is the angle standard distributors rarely mention: in a firm with fewer than 250 employees, the manager themselves can capture the PEI matching, as can their collaborating spouse. Well calibrated, the scheme lets you move a slice of company cash into the private estate each year, with taxation far gentler than a dividend distribution or a salary top-up. Calibrating the ceiling and the matching formula is decisive here.
Lever 3 — combine incentive bonus, profit-sharing and matching
The PEI’s effect multiplies when paired with an incentive agreement and the statutory profit-sharing scheme. The incentive bonus paid into the plan escapes income tax and can trigger the matching; profit-sharing follows the same logic. For the manager as for the employees, the incentive + profit-sharing + matching architecture forms a powerful deferred-remuneration scheme, at a controlled cost to the company — a structure to build with a remuneration advisor.
Worked example — Sébastien, 46, owner of an 18-employee SME in Rennes
Sébastien sets up a PEI in his SME and includes himself. He pays €3,768 a year, the company matches at 100%, over a 10-year horizon. Here is the effect, isolated on the matching, and its tax treatment.
| Criterion | For the manager | For a typical employee | Treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual contribution | ≈ €3,768 | ≈ €1,500 | — |
| Employer matching (100%) | ≈ €3,768 | ≈ €1,500 | income-tax exempt |
| Cumulative matching over 10 yrs | ≈ €37,680 | ≈ €15,000 | deductible from profit |
| Capital gains on exit | income-tax exempt | income-tax exempt | social levies 18.6% |
Illustrative example — figures simplified for clarity and not contractual.
By including himself in the PEI, Sébastien moves nearly €7,500 a year (contribution plus matching) from the professional sphere into his private estate, half of which — the matching — is a deductible charge for the company and an income-tax-free gain for him. Over ten years, the cumulative matching approaches €37,680 of savings free of income tax. In parallel, his employees benefit from the same scheme: the PEI retains as much as it optimises.
The lesson for an SME owner-manager: the PEI is not just a social benefit for the team, it is also a personal remuneration channel with gentle taxation. Well calibrated and aligned with the incentive bonus and profit-sharing, it rivals a dividend distribution — often at a lower cost. The remaining task is to fine-tune the matching formula, which is the advisor’s domain.
Employee savings finally within reach of small firms
Setting up an in-house PEE means an administrative burden few small firms can shoulder. The PEI solves this: a pooled framework rulebook, a common custodian, and the company simply joins. It is the natural vehicle for bringing a small structure into employee savings.
For the manager, it is an alternative remuneration tool: the matching is deductible from the company’s profit, exempt from ordinary social contributions (save the social package, reduced or even nil for small firms), and not taxable for the beneficiary.
A lever for the manager too
In firms with fewer than 250 employees, the manager and their collaborating spouse can themselves benefit from the PEI and its matching. Well calibrated, it is an efficient way to move company cash into the manager’s private estate, with very favourable taxation.
Combining it with the incentive bonus and profit-sharing multiplies the effect — a subject to build with a manager-remuneration advisor.
A double tool: retain the team, reward the manager
This simulator isolates the employer matching. But the PEI works on two levels: as a social scheme that retains employees, and as a remuneration channel for the manager in firms with fewer than 250 employees. Calibrating the matching formula, aligning it with the incentive bonus and profit-sharing, and the joint company / private-estate optimisation determine the real efficiency of the structure.
Balmont Conseil is an independent wealth-management firm, a member of ANACOFI, with no capital ties to a bank. This independence lets us design the employee-savings scheme and the manager’s remuneration strategy together, across the whole market, without pushing an in-house custodian or product. Run your projection above, then book a call to structure your company’s PEI and your strategy as a manager.
Frequently asked questions
How does the PEI differ from the standard PEE?
The PEI offers exactly the same advantages as the PEE — matching exempt from income tax, a 5-year lock-in, capital gains exempt from income tax — but it is pooled across several businesses. The company joins an existing framework rulebook, with a common custodian, instead of setting up and administering its own plan. It is the natural vehicle for very small and mid-sized firms that lack the scale to create an in-house PEE.
Can the owner-manager benefit from the PEI?
Yes, in firms with fewer than 250 employees the manager and their collaborating spouse can benefit from the PEI and its matching on the same footing as employees. This is what makes it a personal remuneration tool: well calibrated, it moves a slice of company cash into the manager’s private estate with taxation far gentler than a salary or a dividend.
What is the tax advantage for the company?
The matching paid by the company is deductible from its taxable profit and exempt from ordinary social contributions (it bears the social package, reduced or even nil for small firms). On the beneficiary side, the matching is exempt from income tax. The company thus turns a charge into a social benefit and a retention lever, at a controlled cost.
Can the PEI be combined with the incentive bonus and profit-sharing?
Yes, and that is where the effect multiplies. The incentive bonus and profit-sharing paid into the PEI escape income tax and can trigger the employer matching. The incentive + profit-sharing + matching architecture forms a powerful deferred-remuneration scheme, both for employees and for the manager — a structure to build with a remuneration advisor.
Results are provided for purely illustrative and educational purposes, based on the parameters you enter and simplified assumptions (2026 taxation, constant return, excluding inflation). They constitute neither personalised investment advice, nor tax advice, nor an offer to subscribe. Some investments carry a risk of capital loss. Before any decision, speak with an advisor.