Starting a Business in France

This table summarizes the procedures and costs associated with setting up a business in France.

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Standardized company

Legal Form: Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL) - Limited Liability Company
City: Paris

Registration Requirements Summary:


  Procedure Time to complete: Cost to complete:
1 Check name for uniqueness with the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI) 1 day no charge (unless deeper research is made, for example, by field of activity)
2 Deposit the initial capital 1 day no charge
*3 Publish a notice of incorporation of the company 1 day, simultaneous with Procedure 2 EUR 150
4 File a request for a company’s registration with the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) 4 days €83.96 paid to the trade register in the Commercial court
*5 Buy company books (minute books, inventory books, ledgers). Have company books stamped and initialed by the clerk of the commercial court 1 day, simultaneous with Procedure 4 approximately €40 per book + €3.11 stamping fee
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

Registration Requirements Details

Procedure 1.
Check name for uniqueness with the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI)
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge (unless deeper research is made, for example, by field of activity)
Name of Agency:
Comment:
Although it is not legally mandatory to check the proposed company name for uniqueness before registering a company, this procedure is included because legal consequences may follow if this step is omitted. If the name is not checked, the company risks a lawsuit by another company. The name can be checked online. A summary check is free of charge, but fees are charged for copies of trademark filings found. For an optional search of similar trademarks, fees are EUR 40 for one class and EUR 800 for all classes.
Procedure 2.
Deposit the initial capital
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Comment:
Within 8 days of the collection of all funds, the initial capital must be deposited with a notary public, the bank, or the Deposit and Consignment Office (Caisse des Dépôt). The initial capital is blocked during the registration period and released upon presentation of a K-bis form.
Procedure 3.
Publish a notice of incorporation of the company
Time to complete:
1 day, simultaneous with Procedure 2
Cost to complete:
EUR 150
Name of Agency:
Comment:
This notice must provide the name of the company and its director (gérant), share capital, and registered office. The founder needs only a letter from the legal journal confirming the planned publication. The publication fee is EUR 4.96 a line for 40 characters. Depending on the notice layout and length, the fee ranges from EUR 150 to EUR 300.
Procedure 4.
File a request for a company’s registration with the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE)
Time to complete:
4 days
Cost to complete:
€83.96 paid to the trade register in the Commercial court
Name of Agency:
Comment:
The Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) handles all formalities related to the trade register in the court (RCS, Tribunal de Commerce), statistics (INSEE), tax authorities (Centre des Impôts), social security URSSAF), labor (Direction Departemental du Travail et de L’emploi), health insurance (Caisse regionale D’assurance Maladie), unemployment insurance, pension, Association for Employment in Industry and Commerce ( ASSEDIC), and similar bodies. This includes the registration of the company bylaws with the tax administration. Company articles of association and bylaws, lease, attestation of receipt of funds, documents concerning the manager, ad hoc forms, evidence of publication, and so forth, must be filed in a single file. After receiving the request, the CFE must process the documents and transfer them to the respective offices and authorities. If the request is incomplete, the CFE has 15 days to return the documents for completion. The CFE automatically enters the information in the Registre Nationale des Entreprise (Répertoire SIRENE) and obtains identification numbers from the RNE: numero SIRENE (Systéme Informatique pour le Répertoire des Entreprises), numero SIRET (Systéme Informatique pour le Répertoire des Etablissements), and numero NAF (Nomenclature des Activitees Francaises). The SIRET is used, among other things, by the tax authorities.

Since the Dutreil Law, the CFE or the Commercial Registry can deliver a receipt for company creation(récepissé de creation d’entreprise) as soon as they have received the documents, so that the company can start operations without having to wait for its RCS number.

The principle of electronic company registration was enacted by Law 2003-721 (August 1, 2003) and implemented under Decree No. 2005-77 (February 1, 2005). However, a hard copy file is still required. As of Decree No. 2006-679 of June 9, 2006, the founder has the option to file either with the CFE or directly with the Companies Registry (greffe), which subsequently files the documents with the CFE on the company's behalf. This option is slightly less costly because the CFE service fees are excluded. However, the founder must register the company's bylaws with the tax administration in person.
Procedure 5.
Buy company books (minute books, inventory books, ledgers). Have company books stamped and initialed by the clerk of the commercial court
Time to complete:
1 day, simultaneous with Procedure 4
Cost to complete:
approximately €40 per book + €3.11 stamping fee
Name of Agency:
Comment:
Special accounting company books must be bought from the court or specialized stores. The books have numbered pages or numbered sheets, both of which must be certified by the Commercial Court). If a book with numbered pages is used, the certification is made only once (when the company is incorporated). If numbered sheets are used, the certification must be made for the minutes of shareholders’ meeting. If an accounting book is used, the certification must be made once each fiscal year. Therefore, for practical reasons books are often used. In theory, it is possible to have an electronic minute book provided that the procedure to draft the document is secured (to avoid document modification once it is drafted). Such a solution is rarely used because a secured procedure has not been clearly defined and the commercial court certification is more complicated in that case. It is possible for the company to acquire the book later, after it starts operation.