Doing business in France

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Administrative formalities

Preliminaries

Select premises or a business center to serve as the company's registered office.
Hire the manager (gerant) of the company, if this person is not a citizen of an EU member state, application must be made for a business permit (carte de commerçant) through the French consulate in the person's home country, which transmits the application to the préfecture of the department in which the company is to locate its registered office. Successful applicants collect their business permit from the prefecture.
Open a bank account.

Establishment

Sign a lease or contract with a business center
Obtain documents concerning the members of the company and the manager (identity, attestation of the absence of criminal record, etc.)
Pay the amount of capital stock into the bank account of the company to be formed
Sign company articles of association and by-laws
Publish notice of the establishment of the company in an official journal
File articles of association and by-laws with the tax office (centre des impôts) where the company's registered office is located
Prepare documents to be filed for registration with the Register of Companies (Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés).

Creation

File documentation with the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises, which deals with all formalities with the Register of Companies (commercial court registrar, or Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce), tax authorities, social security and similar bodies (company articles of association and by-laws, lease, attestation of receipt of funds, documents concerning the manager, ad hoc form, evidence of publication, etc.)
Obtain a K-bis form attesting the creation of the company. Depending on the nature of the company, there may be additional requirements in some cases.