Filing annual accounts with the registry — deadlines, documents and confidentiality
After the annual general meeting approving the accounts, the director must FILE the annual accounts with the registry of the commercial court. The deadline is short and counted from approval, not from the year-end: WITHIN ONE MONTH of approval of the accounts by the meeting, or WITHIN 2 MONTHS where filing is done electronically. Filing is done online on the business formalities portal, by recorded delivery with acknowledgement of receipt, or in person at the registry. What must be filed depends on the SIZE of the company — micro, small or medium-sized — and those three categories are defined by precise thresholds to be checked before assembling the file. A point many overlook: some companies may, when filing, make certain accounting documents CONFIDENTIAL, or provide only a simplified presentation — it is enough to enclose a confidentiality declaration, for which an official model exists. Failing to file is no mere oversight: it exposes the director to a criminal fine of €1,500, rising to €3,000 on repeat, and the president of the commercial court may issue an INJUNCTION to file within one month, usually coupled with a DAILY PENALTY for each day of delay.
Up to date for 2026 — verified on September 12, 2026Official procedure, no printed formGuide: about 40 min
Deadlines
- First, approval of the accounts
- For a simplified joint-stock company, approval must take place after the year-end within a period FREELY SET BY THE SHAREHOLDERS. In practice, six months is the most common, since dividends must be paid within 9 months of the year-end.
- Within ONE MONTH of approval — paper filing
- The annual accounts must be filed with the registry within the month following approval of the accounts by the ordinary general meeting of shareholders or by the sole shareholder.
- Within 2 MONTHS of approval — electronic filing
- The deadline extends to 2 months where filing is done electronically. Filing online therefore buys an extra month: it is the scheme's only calendar advantage.
- 1 month to comply with an injunction
- In the event of delay, the president of the commercial court may issue the director an injunction to file the accounts within one month. The director must then file within that period from the president's request; they may appoint someone to carry out the filing.
- 1-year limitation period
- The criminal offence of failing to file the accounts may be prosecuted for 1 year from the date on which the accounts should have been filed.
Documents to prepare
- The minutes of the approving meeting, with the proposed appropriation AND the resolution passed on the appropriation of the result
- The balance sheet, the profit and loss account and, in principle, the notes — micro companies not exceeding two of the three thresholds are exempt, unless they manage securities
- Your three size indicators: total balance sheet, net turnover, average number of employees
- The statutory auditor's report, if there is one
- The management report, if you are a medium-sized company
- For a company in a group: consolidated accounts, group management report, auditors' report on the consolidated accounts
- The confidentiality declaration, if you do not want your accounts published — official model, micro or small company version
- PDF files of up to 10 MB, for online filing
- An advanced electronic signature certificate, or FranceConnect+ (free) which replaces it
- The address of the commercial court registry of your registered office — or of the judicial court in the Alsace-Moselle region
No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.
What this page gives you
The guide above and the link to the official site. ActioFin does not produce any document for this page: whatever you fill in or file is done on the official medium.
Who this applies to
- The director — the legal representative — of the company, who bears the obligation and the criminal penalty personally
- Simplified joint-stock companies (SAS/SASU), public limited companies (SA), limited liability companies (SARL/EURL) and property companies (SCI): the official fact sheet treats these forms separately
- The company qualifying as a MICRO company in accounting terms, i.e. meeting 2 of the 3 following criteria: total balance sheet of €450,000 or less, net turnover of €900,000 or less, average number of employees during the year of 10 or fewer
- The company qualifying as a SMALL company: 2 of the 3 criteria — total balance sheet of €7,500,000 or less, net turnover excluding VAT of €15,000,000 or less, average headcount of 50 or fewer
- The company qualifying as a MEDIUM-SIZED company: 2 of the 3 criteria — total balance sheet of €25,000,000 or less, net turnover excluding VAT of €50,000,000 or less, average headcount of 250 or fewer
- The company belonging to a GROUP, which additionally files the consolidated accounts, the group management report and the statutory auditors' report on those consolidated accounts
- The FOREIGN company, whose legal representative provides a copy of the accounting documents drawn up where they have been audited and published in the State in which the registered office is located
- The AGENT — accountant, lawyer — who may file in the director's place
- Any interested party, an employee or former employee, and the public prosecutor: they may ask the court to issue the injunction to file
Worked example
Example: a limited liability company with 6 employees closing on 31 December, and the month that really counts
A limited liability company employs 6 people, has turnover of €700,000 and a total balance sheet of €300,000. It therefore meets at least two of the three criteria for a MICRO company in accounting terms — total balance sheet of €450,000 or less, net turnover of €900,000 or less, average headcount of 10 or fewer — which determines what goes into its file. It closes its year on 31 December and has its accounts approved by the meeting in late June. From then, the countdown does NOT start at the year-end but at APPROVAL: it has one month to file on paper, two months to file electronically. Its file comprises: the annual accounts made up of the balance sheet, the profit and loss account and, in principle, notes — being a micro company not exceeding two of the three thresholds, it is EXEMPT from the notes, unless its business consisted in managing shareholdings and securities, which is not the case; the minutes of the meeting with the proposed appropriation and the resolution passed on the appropriation of the result; and, if there is one, the statutory auditor's report. Not wishing its accounts to be available to competitors, it encloses with its filing a CONFIDENTIALITY DECLARATION, using the official model for micro companies: its annual accounts will not be published, and the statutory auditor's report will not be published either. It files online on the business formalities portal, in PDF, each file under 10 MB. To sign, it has no advanced electronic signature certificate — which is chargeable and rests on a trust service provider from the list maintained by the French cybersecurity agency — and therefore uses **FranceConnect+**, a free scheme allowing enhanced authentication that replaces the advanced signature requirement. Had it missed the deadline, its manager would personally have risked a €1,500 criminal fine — €3,000 on repeat — and any employee or former employee could have asked the court to issue an injunction to file, usually coupled with a daily penalty.
How to fill it in, step by step
- First have the accounts APPROVED by the meeting: filing only comes afterwards, and it is approval that starts the clock.
- Note the date of approval: you have ONE MONTH to file on paper, TWO MONTHS electronically.
- Determine your company's size category, as it governs the contents of the file: micro company (2 of 3: balance sheet ≤ €450,000, net turnover ≤ €900,000, average headcount ≤ 10), small company (balance sheet ≤ €7,500,000, net turnover excl. VAT ≤ €15,000,000, headcount ≤ 50), medium-sized company (balance sheet ≤ €25,000,000, net turnover excl. VAT ≤ €50,000,000, headcount ≤ 250).
- Assemble the annual accounts: balance sheet, profit and loss account and, in principle, notes. Micro companies not exceeding two of the three size thresholds are EXEMPT from the notes, unless their business consists in managing shareholdings and securities.
- Enclose the minutes of the meeting with the proposed appropriation AND the resolution passed on the appropriation of the result.
- Enclose the statutory auditor's report, if there is one.
- If you are a medium-sized company, add the management report.
- If your company belongs to a group, add the consolidated accounts, the group management report and the statutory auditors' report on the consolidated accounts.
- If you do not want your accounts published, enclose a CONFIDENTIALITY DECLARATION with your filing: an official model exists, separately for micro companies and for small companies. The statutory auditor's report will then not be published either.
- If you are a medium-sized company and wish to, ask for only a SIMPLIFIED PRESENTATION of your balance sheet and notes to be published — the statutory auditors' report then need not be enclosed.
- Choose your channel: online on the business formalities portal (documents in PDF, each file up to 10 MB), by recorded delivery with acknowledgement of receipt, or in person.
- For online filing, plan for the signature: an advanced electronic signature system resting on a qualified certificate from a trust service provider (chargeable, list maintained by the French cybersecurity agency), or failing that the FREE FranceConnect+ scheme, which replaces the advanced signature requirement.
- For filing in person or by post, identify the right court: the registry of the commercial court of the registered office — or the JUDICIAL COURT if the registered office is in the Alsace-Moselle region.
The form, line by line
- Micro company thresholds (accounting sense)
- 2 of the 3 criteria: total balance sheet ≤ €450,000, net turnover ≤ €900,000, average number of employees during the year ≤ 10. Not to be confused with the micro-enterprise tax regime, which is an entirely different thing.
- Small company thresholds
- 2 of the 3 criteria: total balance sheet ≤ €7,500,000, net turnover excluding VAT ≤ €15,000,000, average headcount ≤ 50.
- Medium-sized company thresholds
- 2 of the 3 criteria: total balance sheet ≤ €25,000,000, net turnover excluding VAT ≤ €50,000,000, average headcount ≤ 250.
- Exemption from the notes
- Micro companies not exceeding two of the three applicable size thresholds are exempt from the notes — EXCEPT where their business consists in managing shareholdings and securities.
- Confidentiality declaration
- To be enclosed with the filing where the company wants its annual accounts not to be published. In that case, the statutory auditor's report is not published either. An official model is available, in a micro company version and a small company version.
- Simplified presentation
- Open to medium-sized companies: they may ask for only a simplified presentation of the balance sheet and notes to be published. In that case, the statutory auditors' report need not be enclosed.
- Minutes of the meeting
- They must carry the proposed appropriation AND the resolution passed on the appropriation of the result — both, not just the final decision.
- Signing an online filing
- An advanced electronic signature resting on a qualified certificate issued by a trust service provider (chargeable; the French cybersecurity agency publishes the list), or FranceConnect+, free, which allows enhanced authentication and replaces the advanced signature requirement.
- File format
- PDF, and each file must not exceed 10 MB.
- Court in the Alsace-Moselle region
- Filing is made with the JUDICIAL COURT of the registered office, rather than the registry of the commercial court as in other cases.
Good to know
- The deadline runs from APPROVAL, not from the year-end: this is the most frequent calendar error on this obligation.
- Filing ELECTRONICALLY doubles the deadline, from 1 month to 2 months. It is a concrete, free advantage.
- Confidentiality of the accounts is a real and little-known option: a declaration enclosed with the filing is enough, and an official model exists. Competitors and customers then have no access to published accounts.
- Confidentiality extends to the statutory auditor's report: that too is not published.
- The €1,500 fine is CRIMINAL and falls on the DIRECTOR, not the company.
- The civil penalty is more formidable in practice than the fine: the president of the commercial court's injunction is usually coupled with a penalty for each day of delay.
- An employee or former employee may ask the court to issue the injunction — the initiative does not belong to the public prosecutor alone.
- A director under injunction may appoint someone to carry out the filing of the accounts.
- Filing may be done by an agent — accountant, lawyer — without the director's responsibility disappearing.
- For a simplified joint-stock company, the approval deadline is FREELY SET by the shareholders; it is the dividend payment deadline, within 9 months of the year-end, that explains the six-month practice.
Common mistakes
- Counting the filing deadline from the year-end: it runs from APPROVAL of the accounts.
- Assuming the one-month deadline while filing online: the deadline is then 2 months.
- Filing on paper thinking it is quicker: it is the channel with the shortest deadline.
- Overlooking the confidentiality option and publishing accounts nothing required to be made public.
- Enclosing the confidentiality declaration AFTER filing: it goes WITH the filing.
- Confusing the micro company in the ACCOUNTING sense (balance sheet, turnover and headcount thresholds) with the micro-enterprise tax regime.
- Leaving out the notes while believing you are exempt, when the business consists in managing shareholdings and securities.
- Filing only the minutes of approval without the proposed appropriation and the resolution passed on the appropriation of the result.
- Forgetting, for a company in a group, the consolidated accounts, the group management report and the auditors' report on the consolidated accounts.
- Sending files larger than 10 MB or in a format other than PDF when filing online.
- Buying an advanced electronic signature certificate without knowing that FranceConnect+ is free and sufficient.
- Going to the registry of the commercial court when the registered office is in the Alsace-Moselle region: it is the judicial court.
- Treating delay as inconsequential: the €1,500 criminal fine falls on the director, and the president of the court's injunction is usually coupled with a daily penalty.
Frequently asked questions
When must the annual accounts be filed?
Within the month following approval of the accounts by the ordinary general meeting of shareholders or by the sole shareholder, or within 2 months of that approval where filing is done electronically.
Which documents must be filed?
That depends on the company's size. For a micro company: the annual accounts (balance sheet, profit and loss account and, in principle, notes — with an exemption from the notes for micro companies not exceeding two of the three thresholds, unless the business consists in managing shareholdings and securities), the minutes of the meeting with the proposed appropriation and the resolution passed, and the statutory auditor's report if there is one. A small company files the same documents with the accounting notes; a medium-sized company adds the management report. A company in a group additionally files the consolidated accounts, the group management report and the auditors' report on those accounts.
Can accounts be kept confidential?
Yes. Where the company wants its annual accounts not to be published, it encloses a confidentiality declaration with its filing — an official model exists, separately for micro companies and small companies. In that case the statutory auditor's report is not published either. A medium-sized company may instead ask for only a simplified presentation of its balance sheet and notes to be published.
Where are the accounts filed?
Online on the business formalities portal, by recorded delivery with acknowledgement of receipt, or in person. The competent court is the registry of the commercial court of the registered office — or the judicial court if the registered office is in the Alsace-Moselle region.
How is an online filing signed?
By an advanced electronic signature system resting on a qualified certificate supplied by a trust service provider, which is chargeable (the French cybersecurity agency publishes the list of providers). Failing that, the director or agent may use FranceConnect+: this free scheme allows enhanced authentication and replaces the advanced signature requirement.
Who may file the accounts?
The director or an agent — an accountant or lawyer, for example. Documents are sent in PDF format, each file not exceeding 10 MB.
What are the penalties for not filing?
Criminally, the director faces a €1,500 fine, rising to €3,000 on repeat; the offence may be prosecuted for 1 year from the date on which the accounts should have been filed. In civil terms, the president of the commercial court may issue the director an injunction to file within one month, usually coupled with a penalty for each day of delay. Any interested party — an employee or former employee — and the public prosecutor may ask the court to issue that injunction.
Within what period must the accounts be approved?
For a simplified joint-stock company, approval must take place after the year-end within a period freely set by the shareholders. In practice, six months is the most common, since dividends must be paid within 9 months of the year-end.
Go further
Understand this form: the related course
Related forms
- French Cerfa 2050 — balance sheet assets
- French form 2052 — income statement of the tax package (operations)
- Kbis extract: getting one, and what it costs
- Changing your business at the one-stop shop — address, activity, trade name, dormancy
- Dissolving and winding up a company voluntarily — three stages and their deadlines
Official sources
- entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr — "Dépôt des comptes annuels d'une société", fact sheet F31214 (verified 11 June 2025, Entreprendre Service Public / Direction de l'information légale et administrative and the ministry responsible for justice), SAS/SASU section, read line by line on 2026-09-12: duty to file with the registry of the commercial court after the annual general meeting approving the accounts, channels (business formalities portal, paper filing or in person) and the option of making certain accounting documents confidential or providing only a simplified presentation; approval period freely set by the shareholders in a simplified joint-stock company, the six-month practice being linked to the dividend payment deadline within 9 months of the year-end; thresholds of the three size categories — micro company (2 of 3: total balance sheet ≤ €450,000, net turnover ≤ €900,000, average headcount ≤ 10), small company (balance sheet ≤ €7,500,000, net turnover excl. VAT ≤ €15,000,000, headcount ≤ 50), medium-sized company (balance sheet ≤ €25,000,000, net turnover excl. VAT ≤ €50,000,000, headcount ≤ 250) — and the contents of the file for each; exemption from the notes for micro companies not exceeding two of the three thresholds, unless the business consists in managing shareholdings and securities; requirement for the minutes of the meeting with the proposed appropriation and the resolution passed, the statutory auditor's report where one exists, and the management report for medium-sized companies; additional documents for companies in a group (consolidated accounts, group management report, auditors' report on the consolidated accounts); the case of the foreign company; confidentiality declaration to be enclosed with the filing, corresponding non-publication of the auditor's report, and the existence of separate model declarations for micro and small companies; simplified presentation open to medium-sized companies and the corresponding exemption from enclosing the auditors' report; filing deadlines — within the month following approval, within 2 months where filing is electronic; online arrangements (business formalities portal, filing by the director or an agent, PDF format, 10 MB per file, advanced electronic signature on a chargeable qualified certificate with the list maintained by the French cybersecurity agency, or the free FranceConnect+ scheme replacing the advanced signature requirement); competent courts in person and by post, with the special case of the judicial court in the Alsace-Moselle region; penalties — criminal fine of €1,500 rising to €3,000 on repeat, one-year limitation period from the date on which the accounts should have been filed, injunction by the president of the commercial court within one month obtainable by any interested party (employee or former employee) and by the public prosecutor, frequent daily penalty, and the director's ability to appoint someone to carry out the filing — September 12, 2026
- entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr — "Obligations comptables d'une société commerciale", fact sheet F37169 (verified 7 September 2026, Entreprendre Service Public / Direction de l'information légale et administrative), read on 2026-09-12 to place the filing of accounts within the wider set of accounting obligations: "Une société commerciale est soumise à plusieurs obligations comptables. Il s'agit notamment de la facturation, de la tenue d'une comptabilité et de certains registres, de l'établissement de comptes annuels et de la conservation de documents comptables"; dependence of those obligations on the tax regime (simplified actual regime where turnover does not exceed €945,000 for sales, catering or accommodation activities and €286,000 for other activities, AND where VAT due is below €15,000; normal actual regime above that); contents of simplified accounting; obligation to use an accountant registered with the professional body where accounting is outsourced, and annual communication of the accounts to any approved management body the company belongs to — September 12, 2026
Guide and document provided for information purposes only; they do not constitute personalised legal or tax advice. Check the recipient organisation's requirements and consult a professional if needed.