Is auto-entrepreneur right for a carpenter?

My husband is a carpenter and worked for 4 years in France self-employed business under the 46% regime. He couldn’t really cope with the paperwork and we definitely couldn’t cope with the escalating charges which seemed to be plucked from the sky at times.

For a year he has been employed by a French company but he is now at his wits end with the poor management and shoddy work. So he wants to go it alone again. I’m terrified we’ll end up in a mess again with huge debts to pay! By the way I am staying at home for now with 2 little ones. So here’s my thoughts and please correct me if I’ve misunderstood things.

1. I think he can stay under the 32,000 euros limit. I read somewhere you don’t recommend the auto-entrepreneur for builders, can you remind me why that is? I was thinking he could get his clients to pay for materials themselves to keep his turnover down and also as he can’t charge/claim the TVA under the auto-entrepreneur.
2. Not sure I fully grasp benefits of microsocial vs fiscal, which would you recommend for us?
3. Would he be best to start as auto-entrepreneur Jan 2011 to allow maximum turnover limits? If so should he register for 6 months at pole emploi to get exonerations under ACCRE (can he do this if he gives up his job?) or will we get ACCRE as we have RSA entitlements? Is ACCRE going to help us in our situation?