You can invoice while employed or studying. Here is what to check in your employment contract, and the particular rules of the public sector.
Private-sector employee: everything turns on the contract
Four points to check, in this order.
The existence of an exclusivity clause, limiting the exercise of another activity during the contract.
Any obligation to inform the employer, or to obtain prior agreement.
The non-competition clause, which may concern a whole sector rather than one company.
And the intellectual property rules: what you create in your own time, with your own equipment, does not fall under the same rules as what is produced in the course of work.
Three practical precautions. Never work during your working hours or with the company's equipment. Do not take on a client competing with your employer. And keep a written record of any authorisation obtained.
Student: the most flexible situation
Three reasons, and one caveat.
No exclusivity clause weighs on you, unless you are also employed elsewhere.
The activity is compatible with most student statuses, provided it is declared.
And the organisation is simpler: the quiet periods of the academic year often match the periods of high demand.
The caveat: the status under which you invoice, the thresholds, the contributions and any effect on grants or benefits are checked with a professional before the first invoice. These rules change, and an answer found in a forum does not bind you, whereas an incomplete declaration does.
The public-sector case
That is the most regulated situation, and it requires a systematic check.
People working in the public service fall under their own rules on holding more than one activity: certain secondary activities are possible, often subject to prior authorisation, with precise conditions and exclusions.
Three practical consequences. The authorisation request is made before starting, not after. The exact nature of the activity has to be described. And the answer obtained is kept.
The scope of these rules depends on the body, the function and the working time: it is checked with your administration and, in case of doubt, with a lawyer.
What holds in all three cases
Four rules, without exception.
Declare the activity under a suitable status before the first invoice, whatever the amount.
Open a separate account, and set aside the share for contributions and tax at the moment of receipt.
Keep an honest calendar: two shoots a month, not eight, as long as the other activity occupies most of the week.
And refuse what does not fit. A job accepted then delivered late costs more than a job politely declined.
Where to place the hours in a busy week
| Slot | What you do there | Length |
|---|---|---|
| One weekday evening | Editing and exports | 2 hours |
| Saturday morning | The shoot, in daylight | 3 hours |
| Twenty minutes at lunch | Quotes and replies | Every day |
What you tell the client from the first exchange
The real lead time, not the ideal one. Announcing seven days and delivering in five beats promising two days and delivering in six.
What to check with the employer or the institution
The employment contract, any exclusivity clause, student status and the reporting obligations, to be confirmed with a lawyer and an accountant.
The strategy that holds over time
Three choices making the activity compatible with the rest.
Choose a niche you can shoot at home, with no travel and no extra equipment.
Sell batches rather than units: a batch of three videos delivered in two weeks takes one organisational effort, whereas three separate jobs take three.
And work with two or three regular clients rather than ten occasional ones: the load becomes predictable, which is the only condition for holding out over a year.
One last marker, useful when deciding whether to continue or to switch: only go full-time if you have been turning down profitable work for three months in a row, for lack of time. Before that, doing both is not a compromise, it is the right organisation.
Sources
- Urssaf, official auto-entrepreneur portal
- Service Public, how to become a micro-entrepreneur
- Service Public, crossing the micro-entrepreneur turnover thresholds
Checked on 26 August 2026. Thresholds and rates change: where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source is right.
