CFA back-to-school: the checklist of documents and evidence to lock down

For a CFA — or a training organisation with an apprenticeship activity — the September intake is not decided in September: it is prepared in August. Every document locked down before the apprentices arrive is both a prerequisite for OPCO invoicing and a future piece of Qualiopi audit evidence; every oversight is paid for later, in cash flow or in non-conformities. The peculiarity of this evidence: most of it can only be created at the start of the year, and is almost impossible to reconstruct afterwards. Here is the chronological checklist — before the start of the year, when the apprentices arrive, then in the first weeks — so nothing slips through.

Before the start of the year: lock down contracts and funding

August is the month of contractual administration. Without these documents, the teaching year can begin — but not the invoicing:

• Apprenticeship contracts signed and filed with the OPCO: each contract must be signed by the three parties and sent to the employer’s OPCO within the regulatory deadlines. A late or incomplete filing delays the funding agreement — and therefore the first payments.
• Training agreements drawn up: the agreement between the CFA and the employer formalises the content, duration and cost of the training. It must be consistent with the filed contract.
• Funding levels checked: the funding of each qualification follows its set funding level. Check the amounts applicable to your programmes — our article on the 2026 NPEC explains the mechanism — and make sure your contractual documents and public information reflect them.
• Work-study calendars sent to employers: each company must know, before day one, when its apprentice is at the centre and when they are at the company. This is a coordination document expected at audit and a practical condition for the work-study arrangement to run smoothly.
• Apprenticeship supervisors appointed and eligible: for each contract, check that the apprenticeship supervisor is properly identified and meets the eligibility conditions (professional competence related to the qualification being prepared). A missing appointment weakens the contract itself.

Before the start of the year: update programmes and public information

August’s second worksite, quieter but just as audited:

• Up-to-date programmes and qualification frameworks: every programme opening at the start of the year must be based on the current version of the framework of the targeted qualification. A programme dated three years ago, never reviewed, is a classic gap.
• Refreshed public information: prices and funding levels, prerequisites, access arrangements and lead times, success rates where applicable, accessibility for people with disabilities. Website, brochures and programmes must say the same thing — the auditor systematically cross-checks.
• Welcome materials ready to print or distribute: trainee welcome booklet adapted to an apprentice audience, up-to-date internal rules, positioning templates, needs-gathering forms. Preparing them in August avoids improvising in September.

It is also the right time to re-read the requirements specific to the apprenticeship block of the framework: our article on indicator 33 and the apprenticeship block reviews the CFA-specific indicators and the changes under way.

When the apprentices arrive: welcome and trace

On day one, every step of the welcome produces evidence. The rule: everything handed over, presented or assessed must leave a dated trace.

• Formalised welcome and handover of the welcome booklet: introduction of the team, the premises, the house rules. The handover of the booklet is traced (signature, acknowledgement of receipt or time-stamped delivery).
• Handover of the apprenticeship logbook (or liaison booklet): the coordination tool between the centre and the company is handed over on day one, with an explanation of who fills it in and how often. A logbook distributed in January will not recover the first term’s coordination evidence.
• Internal rules presented and handed over: this is an obligation, and proof of handover is requested at audit.
• Entry positioning: assessing each apprentice’s level on entry makes it possible to adapt the pathway — and constitutes expected evidence. Keep the results and any adaptation decisions.
• Gathering specific needs: a systematic question on adaptation needs, with referral to the disability officer when a need is identified. The arrangement must be triggered on entry, not at the first exam.
• Informing apprentices of their rights and duties: employee status, pay, leave, attendance obligations, safety rules. This formalised information is a full indicator of the apprenticeship block in its own right.

This investment in the welcome is not just a compliance matter. The meta-analysis by Talya N. Bauer, Todd Bodner, Berrin Erdogan, Donald M. Truxillo and Jennifer S. Tucker, published in 2007 in the Journal of Applied Psychology (« Newcomer adjustment during organizational socialization »), shows that a structured welcome — role clarity, support from peers and management, information given early — significantly improves newcomers’ adjustment, performance and retention. Transposed to the CFA, this is the strongest argument for a prepared start of the year: an apprentice who knows where they are going, what is expected of them and who to turn to has far fewer reasons to terminate their contract.

The first weeks: install the evidence routines

Past day one, the challenge is to launch the mechanisms that will produce evidence all year long:

• Attendance sheets and proof of attendance: from the very first session, the signature circuit (paper or digital) must work, with regular completeness checks. These are the documents the OPCO may request in order to pay — a September gap in attendance sheets is often discovered at invoicing time.
• Election of apprentice delegates: to be organised in the first weeks, with a notice of meeting, minutes and posting of the results. Plan the year’s citizenship actions right after — our article on indicator 14: apprentice citizenship details the expected evidence.
• Link with the apprenticeship supervisors: a start-of-year meeting, a video call or a first individualised contact — the essential point is to trace the exchange (invitation, attendance sheet, meeting note). Centre-company coordination starts there, and the apprenticeship logbook must receive its first contributions right after.
• Advisory board to schedule: set the year’s dates as early as September and prepare the agenda of the first session. Our guide to the advisory board (conseil de perfectionnement) details its composition and remit.

Monitor the probationary period: prevent terminations

The first weeks concentrate most of the termination risk. During the probationary period, the contract can be terminated more freely — and that is precisely where close monitoring changes the game:

• Detect warning signals early: repeated absences, an empty logbook, company activities unrelated to the qualification framework, expressed demotivation. Every signal detected and handled feeds your dropout prevention arrangement — and its written trace is the evidence.
• Organise an early check-in with each company: a contact within the first weeks defuses misunderstandings before they turn into conflicts.
• Know the procedure in case of termination: if a termination happens nonetheless, it follows precise rules depending on the timing and who initiates it — our article on terminating an apprenticeship contract details the procedure and the CFA’s obligations, including supporting the apprentice towards a new employer.

A termination avoided is a pathway saved for the apprentice, funding preserved for the CFA and a termination rate kept under control — a figure that funders and auditors watch closely.

Take action

Every line of this checklist corresponds to a document you can prepare before the start of the year rather than improvise in September. The Complete Kit Certif (€297, 14-day guarantee) provides ready-to-use templates — welcome booklet, internal rules, positioning, apprenticeship-block evidence tables — to approach the new year with an already structured file. Launching your activity? The ebook “Create your training organisation in 30 days” (€67) lays the administrative foundations, and the full pack (€347) bundles both resources.