Setting up a company in France: steps, cost and one-stop shop
Setting up a company now runs through the one-stop shop, with articles of association, paid-up capital and a legal notice. Choosing between SAS and SARL, the real cost, the director's status and the traps in template articles.
Registration now takes a few days. The choices made during those few days, however, commit you for years: legal form, the director's status, the wording of the articles. A lawyer reviews your project in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.
Setting up a company: the legal form first
The choice of form governs everything else, starting with the director's social status and the tax treatment.
| Criterion | SASU and SAS | EURL and SARL |
|---|---|---|
| Director | President, treated as an employee | Manager, self-employed if majority holder |
| Contributions on dividends | None | Above 10 % of capital and contributions |
| Social charges | About 75 % of net pay | About 45 % of net pay |
| Freedom in the articles | Very wide | Framed by statute |
| Bringing in investors | Straightforward | Heavier |
The SAS appeals through its statutory freedom and its dividend regime. The SARL protects more through its statutory framework, and costs less in contributions for the same pay.
Sole trader status remains a serious alternative for starting alone. Since 2022 it separates personal assets from business assets, which removed the point of the older limited-liability sole trader.
The steps, in order
Setting up a company means a sequence of acts, and the order matters:
- Draft the articles of association, which set the purpose, the capital, the governance and the transfer rules.
- Pay up the capital into a blocked account, at a bank, with a notary or through an approved provider.
- Publish a legal notice in an authorised outlet for the department of the registered office.
- Gather the documents: proof of the registered office, the director's identity document, a declaration of no conviction.
- File the application with the one-stop shop for business formalities.
- Declare the beneficial owners to the register kept by the court registry.
The minimum capital is one euro for an SAS as for an SARL. In practice, plan a credible amount for banks and partners, because token capital closes doors.
The one-stop shop
Since 1 January 2023, setting up a company must go through a single platform, run by the national industrial property institute. The old formality centres have gone.
The file is filed online, then the validating body passes it to the court registry, the social security collection office and the tax administration. You then receive the company extract and the SIREN number allocated by INSEE.
Count a few working days on average. An incomplete file lengthens that noticeably, and the most common reasons for rejection remain an imprecise business purpose and non-compliant proof of the registered office.
The real cost of a formation
| Item | Usual amount |
|---|---|
| Legal notice | €120 to €200 depending on the department |
| Registry fees and beneficial owners register | About €60 to €80 |
| Articles drafted by a professional | €500 to €2,500 |
| Trade mark filing, optional | From €190 |
For a simple company with a single shareholder, template articles found online will do, without investors or property. As soon as there are several shareholders, they become risky: they settle neither deadlocks nor exits.
A shareholders' agreement usefully completes the articles. It organises transfers, exit rights and non-competition undertakings, which prevents most shareholder disputes.
The director's social and tax position
Setting up a company never opens unemployment rights: the president of an SAS falls under the general scheme, but without unemployment insurance contributions. The majority manager of an SARL depends on the self-employed scheme, with lower contributions but thinner cover.
On tax, the company pays corporation tax, at the reduced rate of 15 % up to €42,500 of profit, then 25 %. An option for income tax stays open for five financial years, which suits projects running at a loss at the start.
Paying dividends finally follows a timetable: approval of the accounts, allocation of the result, then payment within nine months of the year end.
The duties that follow registration
Setting up a company does not end with the registration extract. Three duties arrive quickly:
- Keeping accounts and filing the annual accounts with the court registry.
- VAT returns, according to the regime chosen at formation.
- Updating the beneficial owners register at every change.
The director also takes on personal exposure from day one. A management fault is sometimes paid for out of personal assets, in particular in a liquidation.
When to consult a lawyer
A lawyer weighs the legal forms against your situation, drafts suitable articles and prepares the shareholders' agreement. They also secure contributions in kind and exit clauses. A business lawyer answers within 20 minutes. The official formalities go through the one-stop shop for businesses.
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