How much does a head office transfer cost?

Transferring the registered office: a common procedure

When you set up your company, you must specify the registered office in your articles of association. As for sole traders, they must mention the location of their business in the administrative forms used to set up a company.

This address does not correspond to your registered office. The registered office is the legal domicile of your company. A company may decide to change its address for various reasons:

• business relocation,
• change of premises,
• financial difficulties,
• strategic reasons for tax optimization, etc.

The transfer of a company's registered office can take place "outside the jurisdiction" when the new address is not registered in the same commercial court as the department where the old one is located. On the other hand, it is said to be "within the same jurisdiction" when the new registered office remains attached to the same commercial court as when it was created.

The decision to transfer the registered office is governed by law. The shareholders must decide to change the company's address by voting at an Extraordinary General Meeting. This decision is recorded in the minutes.

Please note: In certain cases, notably for an SARL (art. L. 223-18 al. 8 of the French Commercial Code), the manager or another body may decide on the transfer.

Transferring the registered office: what are the costs for registry fees?

Any company director wishing to change the registered office of his SAS, SARL or SCI must file his transfer application with the commercial court clerk's office. This will enable them to update your company's Kbis extract.

Grafting fees

To transfer the registered office, you need to submit a modification file to the company registry. This file must include documents such as a copy of the minutes of the amending decision taken by the partners, a copy (conforming to the original) of the updated articles of association, etc. The cost of registering the company with the clerk's office includes a number of fees:

• the Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales (BODACC),
• clerk's fees,
• Institution National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI),
• the price of changes to the register of beneficial owners.

The cost of the registry office for a transfer of registered office varies according to the legal form of each company and the jurisdiction of the new address. The cost is 192.01 euros (incl. VAT) if the change of address takes place within the same département of registration. SASU (société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle) and EURL (entreprise unipersonnelle à responsabilité limitée) companies in which the sole shareholder is also the manager benefit from a discount of 116 euros.

Change of address amounts

If a company transfers its registered office outside its département of registration, the amount to be paid to the registry depends on a number of parameters. To determine it, you need to know whether the establishment representing the new address was already occupied by the company prior to the transfer, and whether the premises of the former registered office are retained by the company.

The cost is 226.49 euros if your SAS (société par actions simplifiée), SARL (société à responsabilité limitée) or SCI (société civile immobilière) transfers its registered office to a new location and does not keep the old one. SASU and EURL companies pay 83.49 euros. If your company transfers its registered office to another location and does not keep the old one as a secondary site, it will have to pay 259 euros to the Clerk of the Commercial Court.

SASU and EURL companies benefit from a discount and pay 116.95 euros. If you transfer your registered office to a registered establishment without retaining your company's former location, the fee is 203.73 euros. Expect to pay 86.73 euros for a SASU or EURL. If the company transfers its registered office to a new establishment and retains the old registered office as a secondary address, it must pay 236 euros to the Clerk of the Commercial Court. SASU and EURL companies pay 120.19 euros. The clerk's office collects the amount and remits it to the relevant organizations.

Transfer of registered office: how much will the legal notice cost?

To determine the cost of legal announcements for a transfer of registered office, you need to take two factors into account. The price of the legal announcement varies according to these criteria.

Transfer of registered office within the same jurisdiction

When you change your address within the same département, the formalities are simpler. All you need to do is publish a single notice in a legal gazette (JAL). The latter must be located in the same département as your company's main address. If you are transferring your registered office within the same jurisdiction, you should expect to pay between 150 and 200 euros for legal notices.

Transfer of registered office out of jurisdiction

If you want to change your company's address within the same département, you need to publish two notices in a legal gazette. The first notice must be published in the JAL of your old registered office. The second notice must be published in a newspaper within the jurisdiction of the court of your company's new address.

Your company will then receive a transfer notice. In both notices, you must include the following information:

• the addresses of the old and new registered offices,
• your company name,
• an ID card for the manager,
• proof of address (less than 3 months old) for the manager,
• the transfer of the registered office.

The cost of publishing a change of address for your registered office in another département is between 300 and 400 euros.

Accompanying expenses for change of address formalities

In addition to the compulsory administrative costs, you need to factor in any costs relating to support. If your company handles the head office transfer formalities itself, there are no additional costs to consider. You can, however, benefit from SeDomicilier's full support in carrying out these formalities.

In this case, you'll need to factor in the cost of the latter. Our exclusive partner will transfer your registered office within 48 hours. Companies wishing to make a change of address can therefore take advantage of personalized support to facilitate administrative formalities.