Shared services

Shared support services between companies: 4 ways to set them up

Group agreement, employer grouping, joint company or cooperative: four ways to share IT, payroll or purchasing, and the New Caledonian rules for each.

By Benjamin Forte · 19 October 2026 · 7-minute read

A 15-person company needs reliable accounts, accurate payroll, an IT person who answers the phone and someone to negotiate purchases. It has neither the volume nor the budget to hire full-time for each of those roles. Shared support services, set up with other companies, answer that problem.

The timing is right. New Caledonia had 9,140 private-sector employers on average in 2025, 15% fewer than two years earlier, according to ISEE, the territory’s statistics institute. The businesses that remain have to do as much with less. This article does not argue the case for sharing; it explains how to do it, with four possible set-ups and their rules.

Support functions that are easy to share

Not every function is equally easy to share. The best candidates have three things in common: every company needs them, they do not set you apart in customers’ eyes, and they require scarce skills or a minimum volume.

IT: support, security, backups, licence purchasing. A shared IT department can bring expertise none of the companies could afford to hire alone.
Purchasing: supplies, insurance, energy, telecoms, transport. Buying together gives you weight at the negotiating table.
Payroll and personnel administration: payslips, returns to CAFAT (New Caledonia’s social security fund), contracts, leave.
Human resources: recruitment, training, risk prevention.
Accounting and management control: bookkeeping, closing, dashboards.
Quality, health and safety, environment: documentation, certification, internal audits.

On the other hand, keep in-house whatever touches your customer relationships or your know-how directly. Between competitors, avoid sharing sensitive commercial information, which can raise competition law issues.

Set-up 1: a service agreement within a group

This is the simplest option when the companies already share an owner. One group company, often the holding company or the largest subsidiary, employs the support teams and charges the others for its services under a written agreement.

The agreement sets out the scope of services, expected service levels, how the price is calculated and how it is reviewed each year. The price must match a service actually delivered, with a defensible allocation key: headcount, turnover, number of workstations or payslips.

Ask your accountant to confirm the tax treatment of these recharges, particularly for TGC (New Caledonia’s general consumption tax) and corporate income tax, and document the calculation method. Group-specific issues are covered on our Groups page.

Set-up 2: an employer grouping

An employer grouping (groupement d’employeurs) lets independent companies hire together. It was introduced in New Caledonia by loi du pays (territorial law) no. 2014-3 of 12 February 2014, and its rules are set out in articles Lp. 124-36 onwards of the Labour Code, according to DTE, the territory’s labour and employment directorate. The main ones:

it takes the form of a not-for-profit association under the 1901 law or a cooperative company;
it is the employer of the staff it recruits;
it may only carry out not-for-profit operations;
only member companies can use the staff it places.

It works well for roles each company only needs part-time: an IT technician, an accountant, a quality manager. The employee has a single employer and a stable contract; each member pays for the time it uses.

Two points to watch. The DTE fact sheet, dated 2018, says members’ contributions are exempt from TSS; but TGC replaced TSS on 1 October 2018, according to the government. The current tax treatment therefore needs checking with DSF, New Caledonia’s tax administration, or your accountant. And the employer groupings for integration and qualification that exist in mainland France have no legal framework of their own in New Caledonia, as CESE noted in 2024.

Set-up 3: a joint company owned by its members

When the project goes beyond sharing staff (a common IT platform, a purchasing centre, a full payroll service), the companies can set up a company together and become its shareholders. That company employs the team, carries the investment and charges its members for its services.

This is the shared services centre model. It offers clear governance, that of a company, and can recruit people no single member would have attracted. It does, however, require start-up capital, a manager, and articles or a shareholders’ agreement that settle the sensitive points: voting rights, priority access to services, pricing, exit.

The economic interest grouping (GIE, groupement d’intérêt économique) is a frequently mentioned variant. GIEs do appear in New Caledonia’s official business directory, but we have not been able to check the legal regime that applies locally: have a lawyer confirm it before choosing this form.

Set-up 4: a cooperative

A cooperative rests on one principle: one member, one vote, whatever the capital contributed. It suits companies that want to stay independent while pooling purchasing, equipment, logistics or sales.

The New Caledonian framework remains limited. In 2024, CESE, New Caledonia’s economic, social and environmental council, found that “the cooperative sector is still underdeveloped in New Caledonia” and regretted that the status of cooperatives had not been updated. The bill it was reviewing provided for a new form, the société coopérative d’intérêt collectif (SCIC); we have not been able to confirm that this status is now in force.

Things are moving, though. Lois du pays no. 2025-13 and 2025-14, promulgated on 18 August 2025, define the social and solidarity economy and set the conditions for its development. An order of 14 January 2026 sets up the ESUS-NC approval (solidarity enterprise of social utility), applied for through DECAT, the government’s business directorate, and granted in principle for five years. In farming and fishing, the Chamber of Agriculture points out that a cooperative needs at least five members (three for a Cuma, a farm machinery cooperative) and approval from DAVAR, the rural affairs directorate.

Governance, internal pricing and members leaving

Whatever the set-up, sharing projects rarely fail on technical grounds. They stumble on three questions left vague at the start.

Who decides? A members’ committee that meets on fixed dates, with written rules. Plan how to settle a disagreement between a large and a small member.
Who pays what? A simple, measurable allocation key, reviewed every year. Separate fixed costs, which are shared, from variable costs, which are billed on use, and share the calculation with every member.
How does a member leave? Notice period, return of data, what happens to assigned staff, buy-back of shares or equipment. A clear exit clause reassures members and makes it easier for new ones to join.

Add measured service levels, such as support response times or the payroll delivery date. They stop each member feeling that it is paying for the others.

Before setting up shared support services, measure what you have

Before choosing a set-up, put figures on the current situation. For each function and each company: salaries and social charges of the staff involved, providers, software, and the time the owner spends on it personally. That last item is usually the most underestimated.

Then compare with the cost of a shared service, set-up included. The climate calls for caution: in the second quarter of 2026, the business investment balance stayed at –0.1 for the fourth quarter in a row, according to IEOM (Institut d’émission d’outre-mer, the central bank for France’s Pacific territories). A project that needs little upfront investment will be easier to get every member to agree to.

Start small: one function, three or four companies, a one-year trial, then widen. Our approach is summed up on our Shared services page.

Key point

The right set-up depends on how the companies are linked: an agreement within a group, an employer grouping to share staff, a joint company to invest together, a cooperative to stay independent with equal votes.

Frequently asked questions

What is an employer grouping in New Caledonia?

It is a not-for-profit association under the 1901 law or a cooperative company that hires staff and places them only with its members. It was introduced by loi du pays no. 2014-3 of 12 February 2014 (articles Lp. 124-36 onwards of the Labour Code).

Can competing companies share support services?

Yes, for functions unrelated to customer relationships, such as payroll, IT or office supplies. Avoid exchanging sensitive commercial information (prices, customers, margins) and have a lawyer review the project from a competition law standpoint.

How many companies do you need to share services?

There is no general minimum: two companies can sign an agreement. Some forms have their own rules, such as farming cooperatives, which need at least five members according to the Chamber of Agriculture. Starting with three or four lets you test how it works before widening.

Sources

Find out whether sharing is worth it

CAP COMMUN starts with a free scoping workshop: two hours with management to find out whether shared services are worth it for you, before any costed study.

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