The SARL(Société à Responsabilité Limitée) is the most popular legal form in France. Renowned for its simplicity of creation and management, it is sometimes nicknamed "the all-purpose company".
Its flexibility is particularly appreciated: no minimum share capital is required, it must be made up of at least two partners, and theliability of each partner is limited to the amount of his or her contribution to the company's capital.
By default, SARLs are subject to corporate income tax. It is possible to opt to be taxed on a personal income basis. The SARL allows you to protect your personal assets while creating an easy-to-manage entrepreneurial framework.
Even so, there are certain costs involved in setting up a limited liability company. These are limited compared to other legal forms.
Let's take a look at the budget you need to set up your SARL.
In 2018, SARLs alone accounted for 36% of all businesses created in France!
An essential document, drafting a company's articles of association is the most important stage in its creation.
They govern the rules governing relations between associates, as well as with third parties involved in the life of the company.
That's why it's vital to leave no stone unturned.
You have two options:
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Write your own articles of association. There are several websites offering templates free of charge or for a few euros. In this case, make sure you are aware of all the changes you need to make to make your document valid and appropriate for your project. Approved and validated articles of association cannot be modified at a later date without generating new and rather restrictive administrative procedures. In general, the total cost varies according to the quality of the questionnaire and the templates proposed, ranging from 0€ to several dozen euros.
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Entrust the drafting of the articles of association to a professional. This is a more costly solution, but it greatly reduces the risk of error with regard to the law. This is undoubtedly the solution of choice if your legal knowledge is limited. In this case, the expert will ask you the right questions and take care of drafting the appropriate articles of association on his or her own. Some specialists work exclusively online, using dedicated platforms, which helps to limit the cost of their fees. Meeting them several times in their offices entails higher costs. For a SARL, you should expect to pay between €1,000 and €2,500.
Publication of a notice of incorporation in an official gazette is one of the legal obligations of publicity. You are obliged to inform third parties of your decision.
For the creation of a SARL, a single advertisement must be published in an approved newspaper.
This depends on where your head office is located.
In the case of a change of registered office with a change of département, two legal notices must be published. The first must be published in the département where the company's old registered office was located, and the second in the new département.
In most cases, this service costs between €200 and €400 per ad published. It depends on the length of the ad and the newspaper concerned.
To set up your SARL, you will have to pay an additional fee of €46.68 (incl. VAT) to file your complete application with the Clerk of the Commercial Court . Declaring your beneficial owners also costs €24.80.
If you decide to set up a craft company, registration with the Répertoire des Métiers costs between €100 and €200.
Your installation preparation course (SPI) generally costs between €175 and €250.
The sheer number of players involved in your project makes it difficult to accurately estimate the cost of setting up a limited liability company.
However, we can estimate thatthey range from €300 to over €3,000, depending on the services required. This depends directly on the complexity of your project, and your legal skills.
Written by our expert Paul LASBARRERES-CANDAU
July 17, 2019
