At every stage of a company's corporate life, administrative formalities must be carried out. These are normally carried out by the CFE (centers de formalités des entreprises) and the commercial court registries. However, this will no longer be the case from the beginning of 2023. From that date, all legal and economic formalities for companies will be carried out online via the one-stop shop. This applies to all companies, whatever their business sector or legal form.
The guichet unique is, in reality, a secure internet portal launched in January 2022 by the French government to facilitate administrative procedures for the French. It was introduced as part of Law No. 2019-486 of May 22, 2019 relating to the growth and transformation of companies (PACTE law). This law provides for the introduction of a single digital body to replace the 6 CFE networks via which companies are accustomed to carrying out their formalities.
The one-stop shop will meet two main objectives. The first is to consolidate all administrative procedures for companies in a single location. The second is to digitize all paper-based procedures. INPI (Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle) is the operator appointed by the government to manage this new platform.
With the creation of the guichet unique, the 3 million formalities carried out each year in France will now be completed exclusively online via this new portal. It is now possible to use the one-stop-shop for business start-up declarations. Before doing so, you need to complete all the procedures required to set up a business. These include :
- drafting the articles of association,
- choice of legal form,
- deposit of capital contributions,
- domiciliation and publication of a notice of incorporation in a JAL (Journal d'Annonces Légales).
If you're looking for a registered office for your company in France, you can rely on us. We'll provide you with tailor-made support and tell you everything you need to know about domiciliation and taxes to successfully set up your company. Changes and updates must also be declared on the single site.
Companies wishing to declare a change (change of company director, amendment of articles of association, relocation of head office, etc.) must also go through the one-stop shop. It's also the right place to file your company's annual accounts, or to declare that you've ceased trading.
The one-stop shop created to centralize all administrative procedures for companies offers a number of advantages. The introduction of a single site simplifies the procedure, which is fairly complex and time-consuming for companies. In fact, 70% of business formalities are carried out on paper. This represents a total of 35 tonnes of paper per year. With the creation of the one-stop shop, an online form is now available to companies.
This form covers all the main formalities and is tailored to the applicant's situation (nature of the company and type of formalities to be carried out). It provides information on the supporting documents to be supplied in digital form. This eliminates the need to sort through 56 Cerfa forms, or to first identify the organization that will be handling your file. Nor do you have to go to a CFE to submit your application. This secure portal also makes it easy to track and administer the procedures you've created, using dashboards.
The one-stop shop lets you provide any additional documentation required by the relevant authorities (Chambers of Trade and Crafts, Insee, Registrar's Office, social and tax services, etc.). Thanks to the one-stop shop, you also have a clear view of the progress of your application with the various social organizations.
Written by our expert Editorial staff
December 22, 2022
