How to fund your training through an Opco

Investing in training your teams is more than just an obligation; it's a strategic lever to ensure your company's growth and competitiveness, especially in the field of Generative Artificial Intelligence.

Yet many companies do not fully take advantage of existing mechanisms to finance these trainings, thus leaving opportunities—and money—on the table.

There's something magical called ✨ Opco ✨ which allows you to get your employees' training financed for free, under certain conditions summarized for you in this article.

What is an OPCO?

OPCOs (Skills Operators) are organizations approved by the State, whose main mission is to finance the continuous professional training of employees within companies. They collect financial contributions from companies, redistribute them to finance trainings, and advise companies on skill development.

There are 11 OPCOs for 11 categories of business sectors:

Thus, each company has its reference OPCO to which it should turn. You can find yours by clicking on the link just below.

Find my OPCO

How training contributions work

In truth, it's not public funds that finance the trainings, but companies themselves, via monthly contributions to URSSAF. OPCOs then redistribute these funds to finance training, based on the eligibility of requests.

☝ Especially since the contributions paid expire at the end of year N+1 and are no longer usable thereafter. So, it's essential to take full advantage of them while you can, otherwise it's lost money, which would be a shame.

All companies contribute to the financing of professional training, regardless of their size, and there are two types of contributions:

1. Legal:

   • Paid monthly to URSSAF or MSA via the Nominal Social Declaration (DSN).

2. Conventional:

   • Established by branch agreement, these contributions are mandatory for some companies.

     
     

Schedule a call.

The legal contribution is calculated on the gross payroll:

• 1% for employers of 11 or more employees.

• 0.55% for employers of 10 or fewer employees.

Which companies can be financed?

Companies with fewer than 50 employees can benefit from this 100% financing, or at least up to their contributed budget. Remember, it is just a reimbursement of what is already contributed monthly to URSSAF by the company. How to know your budget? Go to your OPCO's website or ask your company's HR.

For companies with more than 50 employees, financing is not accessible unless there's a branch agreement with a conventional contribution; again, you should contact your OPCO directly.

Otherwise, there's another magical solution for companies with more than 50 employees: FNE-Formation.

How to finance your training with FNE-Formation

The financing pathway

When a company wishes to finance training via an Opco, several parties are involved in the process.

1. Role of the training organization

• Proposal and estimate: The organization provides the company with a detailed quote for the desired training, accompanied by a training agreement and corresponding educational programs. These documents are essential for the company to build a solid file to submit to the OPCO.

• Documentation and follow-up: Once the training is approved by the OPCO and completed, the training organization must provide proof of proper program execution. This includes certificates of completion, an invoice, and if necessary, other documents specific to each Opco. These documents are then sent to the OPCO to enable payment of the training.

2. Role of the Company

• Identification of the OPCO: The first step for the company is to identify the OPCO it depends on based on its activity sector.

• Submission of the request: With the documents provided by the training organization (quote, agreement, program), the company submits a funding request online to the relevant OPCO. It is crucial that this request is complete and precise to avoid any delays in validation, especially since the request generally needs to be made at least 1 month before the training starts.

• Monitoring and management: The company must also oversee the proper progress of the training. Once it's completed, it collaborates with the training organization to provide the OPCO with the necessary supporting documents, namely certificates of completion, attendance, invoices, and other required documents to finalize the payment.

3. Role of the OPCO

• Analysis and validation: The OPCO receives and analyzes the company's funding request. It ensures the compliance of the file, the eligibility of the training, and its alignment with legal and conventional arrangements. If the file is incomplete, the OPCO may request additional documents before giving approval.

• Coverage: If the request is approved, the OPCO informs the company of the partial or total coverage of training costs, depending on the company's contributed funds, among other things.