Do you want to develop your entrepreneurial activity?

You'll need to complete a number of administrative formalities before you can concentrate on growing your business.

These steps will enable you to obtain a number of essential documents needed for the smooth running of your business.

These include the Kbis certificate.

This is one of the most important documents in a company.

To shed some light on the usefulness of the Kbis and the steps you need to take to obtain it, we focus today on this document!

Definition of Kbis

To begin with, we need to give a precise definition of the Kbis or Kbis extract.

The latter is an administrative document proving the legal existence of any company with a commercial activity.

This document may be requested as it serves as the company's identity card.

As such, the Kbis extract contains all the information concerning the company, as listed in the Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés or RCS :

  • Company registration
  • Its corporate name, acronym or brand name
  • SIREN number or NAF code (formerly APE code) to identify the company
  • Legal form of company(SAS, SA, SARL, SCI...)
  • A company's share capital
  • Date of creation of the structure
  • The company's business
  • The precise address of the head office, as well as that of the principal place of business (which may be different), and of secondary establishments if any.
  • Company website address
  • All information relating to the company's manager, directors and auditors (position, surname, first name, date of birth, municipality of birth, nationality and address).
  • The Kbis extract also provides access to decisions handed down by the Commercial Court, such as receiverships or liquidations. 
  • Finally, regulated professions are required to have the following authorizations

The Kbis is a document that anyone can request to find out the identity of a particular company.

Role

Secondly, we need to consider the role of such a document.

First and foremost, the Kbis extract enables the company to prove that it is registered with the Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés.

Failure to do so could be considered as an offence of "concealed work".

The Kbis is therefore seen as a company identity document, not only for any individual wishing to obtain information about the company, but also for the administrative authorities.

This document can also be used to open a bank account, purchase equipment and goods, or apply for a takeover bid.

The question is how to get it!

How do I get it?

Finally, it's important to know how to obtain a Kbis extract.

As mentioned above, such a document is completely public. This means that anyone can obtain the Kbis extract for a specific company directly from the clerk's office of the Commercial Court on which the company concerned depends.

For these extracts to be available, companies must have registered with the RCS.

A request for a Kbis extract can then be made either online or directly to the Registrar of the Commercial Court with the following information:

  • Company name
  • Its name or acronym
  • The structure's SIREN number

This Kbis extract will then be issued by the court clerk.

It's worth noting thatobtaining such a license is not free of charge:

  • Obtaining a Kbis extract directly from the Registrar will cost 3.20 €.
  • Obtaining a Kbis extract by post will cost 3.96 €.
  • Obtaining a Kbis extract online will cost 3.70€.

For entrepreneurs in a hurry, the clerk's office may issue provisional Kbis once the SIREN number has been assigned by INSEE.

In conclusion, to be able to concentrate on developing your business, you need to follow all the steps involved in registering your company and obtaining your Kbis.