There's no such thing as the "best" legal status, but some are simply better suited than others to each individual situation. Whether you're running a commercial, craft or agricultural business, SASU offers the flexibility that many entrepreneurs appreciate! This exercise is often perceived as tedious and technical.
Yet choosing the best legal status can actually help you tailor your project to your expectations: all the administrative formalities, the drafting of articles of association (if applicable), your social security cover, your taxation, and many other matters depend on it. A particularly popular status, the proportion of SAS unipersonnelles (SASU) remains in the majority, stabilizing at 27% of companies created in 2018, a record!
Let's find out all the steps you need to know!
A SASU is a single-member simplified joint-stock company (société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle), i.e. with a single shareholder. The SASU can be used for a wide range of commercial, craft and agricultural activities.
This is one of the most flexible legal forms, easily adaptable to the contours of your business. Indeed, the rules governing its operation are relatively adaptable, and can be easily modified throughout the life of the company. The fact that it is a one-person company makes it easy to draw up the articles of association, which you can shape as you wish.
Business domiciliation is a particularly useful solution for self-employed people working from home! It allows you to separate the address of your head office from your actual place of business. This means you can protect your privacy by not disclosing your personal place of residence. At the same time, you can choose your official address from a wide range of wide range of prestigious addresses located in the best arrondissements of Paris and other major French cities!
Domiciliary companies also offer a number of essential services to make life easier for entrepreneurs: daily mail managementtelephone switchboard, meeting room rental, administrative and legal assistance, etc.
1. Setting up capital contributions
The first advantage of a SASU is undeniably that the sole shareholder's liability is limited to the total amount of his or her capital contributions to the company. There are three types of contribution:
-
In cash: this is money placed in an escrow account with your bank. It will be released on presentation of your Kbis extract. You must have a dedicated bank account to record all income and expenditure relating to your SASU.
-
In industry: The sole shareholder provides his or her technical knowledge, work and services. They are not part of your share capital
-
In kind: This refers to all non-cash contributions that can be transferred for a consideration. In most cases, these are goodwill, trademarks, patents, computer hardware, etc.
If the value of an asset exceeds €30,000 or half the company's share capital, a contribution auditor must be appointed.
2. Drafting the articles of association
Bylaws are to your company what the Constitution is to a state. In other words, they are the fundamental text governing all the company's main operating principles. They must include a number of compulsory items:
-
Company name: this includes all the basic information needed to identify your company (company name, SIRET and SIREN numbers, identification of the manager, etc.).
- Head office address
- The amount of share capital
- Cash, in-kind or industrial contributions made by shareholders/partners
- The life of the company, limited to 99 years
This stage is probably the most technical of the entire creative process, so we recommend that you seek professional advice.
Additional information may include the following:
- Terms and conditions for transferring shares
- Procedure in the event of liquidation of the company
A SASU (simplified joint stock company) is a highly simplified form of operation, with a single shareholder.
3. Publish a legal notice in an approved newspaper
The next step is to publish a legal announcement in an approved newspaper, to inform the general public of the creation of your company. This is a mandatory step. To do this, contact one of the authorized newspapers directly. The newspaper you choose must be located in the same département as your registered office.
4. File your application with the Registrar of the Commercial Court
Once all the preliminary steps have been taken, it's time to submit your complete business creation file to the clerk's office of the commercial court. This must contain :
- The corresponding CERFA M0 form
- The articles of association of the SASU drawn up, certified and signed in 3 copies
- Proof that the funds have been blocked by your bank
- Certificate of publication of the legal notice
You will soon receive theKbis extract for your SASU, which will enable you to release the funds from your bank and start your business!
Setting up a SASU requires a rigorous, organized approach to avoid unnecessary administrative complexity. Certain stages also require the intervention of professionals because of their technical nature.
Thanks to SeDomicilier, you can obtain a certificate of domiciliation in less than 5 minutes, in a 100% online process.
All your services are then available in a personalized, secure virtual office. You can also benefit from dedicated administrative and legal assistance to help you with all the official formalities involved in setting up your SASU.
Business domiciliation allows you to focus on the missions with the highest added value: those that drive the growth and success of your project!
Written by our expert Paul CANDAU
April 8, 2020
