When you're thinking about starting a company, you usually think about success, margins, and profits. But, getting ready for your entrepreneurial adventure also means thinking about the risk of losses. In this area, the flexibility of the SAS status, and the limitation of losses to the contributions of the partners, makes this legal form a smart choice.
A simplified joint-stock company (SAS) is a company of persons enjoying great freedom of organization. The partners constituting this type of company are free to statutorily fix the operating rules of the company, from the meeting of the assemblies to the methods of transferring shares.
This flexibility allows partners to easily open up the capital to other partners, and even to set up options for subscribing to or purchasing shares.
✏️ Plus, this type of status gives you major credibility with the people you do business with.
This type of company also requires a President, who can also be the general manager. This role can be salaried. It's also possible to appoint an auditor.
However, many decisions will need to be made collectively, in meetings. The rules governing decision-making are set out in the articles of association and can range from a simple majority to an absolute majority, including a right of veto.
Like all companies, a SAS must have a registered office. This administrative and tax address not only determines the tax base and the law applicable to the company, but also allows it to be registered with the Trade and Companies Register (RCS).
This registered office or business address can take four forms:
- Having the registered office at the President's home,
- Having your registered office at a commercial property,
- Having the registered office in a business incubator,
- Having the registered office with a domiciliation company.
We'll present these four options in detail.
1. The registered address at the President's home
As the President of a simplified joint-stock company (SAS), you can choose, with the agreement of the partners, to register your company at your home address.
This domiciliation is possible provided that you are:
- Homeowner or tenant,
- As a primary residence in this accommodation.
🔎 This effectively rules out the possibility of registering your company at an address you occupy for free and don't own.
Nevertheless, before establishing the registered office at the President's home, it is important to ensure that such domiciliation is possible.
Indeed, this may be prohibited by the lease, the co-ownership regulations, or even by local regulations regarding town planning. For the latter, you can check with the town hall of your municipality.
It's important to understand that registering your SAS company at your home address is a right.
⚠️ Even if your lease, co-ownership regulations, or town planning rules object to it, you can still register your company there for a period of five years.
Three months before the end of this period, the clerk of the judicial court in the place where your company is domiciled will invite you to provide proof of a new address, failing which, at the end of the five years, your company will be automatically removed from the trade and companies register.
2. Having your company's registered address at a commercial property
Based on a decision by all the partners, you can decide to set the address of your registered office in a commercial space. This option is generally considered when your company owns a commercial space as part of its business.
This is either a premise rented by the company or a premise that it owns. The company's administrative and tax address will then be that of the commercial premises. It is this address that will then be indicated in the articles of association as the company's registered office.
3. The registered office in a business incubator
This solution often seems quite appealing at first glance. The idea of a business incubator evokes a sense of dynamism, a place for start-ups to grow. Often, this idea comes from your own experience of being supported by this type of structure, as business incubators provide you with legal and management advice to facilitate your entrepreneurial journey.
After that, it usually provides businesses with resources such as printers, scanners, and other essential office tools.
However, this type of domiciliation cannot be a long-term solution. In fact, the duration of domiciliation within a business incubator is generally six months. Beyond this period, you must change your domiciliation address, and therefore change your articles of association, which incurs costs.
4. Having your registered office at a domiciliation company
This is undoubtedly one of the most sustainable business address methods. Also known as commercial domiciliation, it involves registering your company through a domiciliation company.
The domiciliation company is a third party specializing in the domiciliation of companies. In addition to offering a list of addresses in different cities and districts, it also offers services.
💡 So, a domiciliation company like SeDomicilier.fr gives entrepreneurs the chance to register their SAS at prestigious addresses, like on the Champs-Elysées or in downtown Marseille.
The services a domiciliation company offers include:
- Telephone hotline,
- Receiving, sending and scanning mail,
- Office rental,
- Rental of meeting rooms,
- Provision of office equipment, etc.
Unlike other types of domiciliation, you can remain domiciled with a domiciliation company for as long as you want.
The goal of a domiciliation company is to make your life easier, so you can focus on your core business. After running around to government offices and gathering all the documents needed to register your company, it's time to take a breather.
With a business address company, things are simple. All you have to do is:
- Get in touch with the domiciliation company,
- Enter the address you're interested in,
- Choosing your additional services,
- Send your articles of association if your company isn't registered yet,
- Send your Kbis extract if your company is already registered,
- Send your bank details (RIB).
Once the fees are paid, your domiciliation contract will be sent to you, and all you have to do is sign it. A copy of the domiciliation contract will be sent to the Trade and Companies Register, and you'll get the business address of your choice. How about the Champs-Elysées?
Once you receive your domiciliation certificate, you can register your company and get your Kbis extract.
Domiciling your SAS with a domiciliation company is one of the best solutions available to you.
It ensures a necessary separation between your personal and professional life, allows you to benefit from additional services that give you time to focus on your core business, and protects your personal information, which will not appear on sites like societe.com.
Cost-effective because it lasts indefinitely, setting up a SAS's registered address through a domiciliation company is the logical step in establishing the company's registered office. In particular, because renting meeting rooms or offices allows you to hold your mandatory general meetings in optimal and highly professional conditions.
