You formed your French company from abroad, received your Kbis, opened a bank account and started invoicing. Then the letters begin: the tax office asks for a VAT return, your accountant talks about approving the accounts within six months, URSSAF expects a monthly payroll declaration, and the business tax notice arrives in December. This guide gives you the full first-year legal calendar of a French company held from abroad: which deadline applies, which text imposes it, and how to handle each step without flying to Paris. It covers annual accounts, corporate tax, VAT, payroll, the beneficial owner register and the local business tax, with the exact articles underneath.

French acronyms first, because they appear everywhere below. The Kbis is the official identity card of your company, issued by the commercial court registry. The greffe is that registry, the office attached to the commercial court that keeps company records. URSSAF is the agency that collects employer social charges. BODACC is the public bulletin where company filings and court notices are published. The RNE is the national company register fed through the INPI single window, the Guichet unique, which replaced the old direct filings with each greffe. DSN means declaration sociale nominative, the monthly payroll return. CFE means cotisation foncière des entreprises, the local business tax every company pays. IS means impôt sur les sociétés, corporate income tax. TVA is the French VAT.

If you are still choosing the vehicle, read our pillar guide first: Setting Up a Company in France as a Foreign Founder: Bank Account, Kbis, VAT and Your First Hire. This calendar starts where that guide stops, on the day your company is registered and must live a compliant first year.

I. How to close your first year in France when you live abroad: accounts, tax returns and filings

The first year looks quiet, then everything falls at once. Accounts must be drawn up at year end, approved within six months, filed with the registry within one or two months after approval, and the tax returns follow their own rhythm. Miss one link and the chain breaks: late approval delays the filing, late filing triggers a court injunction procedure, and late tax returns add automatic surcharges. The structure below follows the legal order, not the accountant billing order.

A. How to approve and file your first annual accounts from abroad without travelling

At the close of each financial year, management must draw up the inventory, the annual accounts and a written management report. Article L232-1 of the Commercial Code states: “A la clôture de chaque exercice le conseil d’administration, le directoire ou les gérants dressent l’inventaire, les comptes annuels conformément aux dispositions de la section 2 du chapitre III du titre II du livre Ier et établissent un rapport de gestion écrit.” The full text is here: Article L232-1, Code de commerce, Legifrance. Small companies benefit from filing exemptions and confidentiality options for the management report, but the duty to draw up the accounts exists for every SAS and SARL from year one, including a short first year.

In a SARL, the rule is in Article L223-26, Code de commerce, Legifrance: “Le rapport de gestion, l’inventaire et les comptes annuels établis par les gérants, sont soumis à l’approbation des associés réunis en assemblée, dans le délai de six mois à compter de la clôture de l’exercice sous réserve de prolongation de ce délai par décision de justice.” Six months from year end is therefore the hard horizon. If the meeting cannot be held in time, only a court order extends the period; your accountant cannot extend it alone. The same article adds that if the meeting is not convened, the public prosecutor or any interested person can ask the court to order the managers to convene it, if needed under penalty payment. From abroad, this means you must chase your manager or accountant in month four, not month seven.

In a SAS, collective decisions follow the articles of association, but approval of the annual accounts and profits always belongs to the shareholders collectively, under Article L227-9, Code de commerce, Legifrance. For a single-shareholder SAS, the same article provides: “L’associé unique approuve les comptes, après rapport du commissaire aux comptes s’il en existe un, dans le délai de six mois à compter de la clôture de l’exercice.” The sole shareholder cannot delegate this power and must record decisions in a register. One practical relief exists for a sole individual shareholder who is also president: filing the signed inventory and accounts with the commercial register within the same six-month period counts as approval, without a separate entry in the decision register. Foreign founders who are sole shareholder and president use this route often, but it still requires signed accounts within six months, so the accountant timetable does not move.

Approval is only half the job. Filing with the registry is the second deadline, and it is short. Article L232-23, Code de commerce, Legifrance provides: “Toute société par actions est tenue de déposer au greffe du tribunal, pour être annexés au registre du commerce et des sociétés, dans le mois suivant l’approbation des comptes annuels par l’assemblée générale des actionnaires ou dans les deux mois suivant cette approbation lorsque ce dépôt est effectué par voie électronique”. In practice, electronic filing is now the normal route through the INPI single window, so count two months after approval, and one month if you ever file on paper. The filing includes the annual accounts, the proposed and voted profit allocation, plus the auditor report when one exists. The official walkthrough is on Service-Public Entreprendre: Depot des comptes annuels d une societe, Service-Public.fr. If the shareholders refuse to approve the accounts, a copy of that refusal resolution must be filed within the same period, which surprises many foreign owners: silence is not an option, refusal is filed too.

Three mistakes dominate first years. First, founders confuse the accounting year with the calendar year: if your articles set a 31 December year end, approval falls by 30 June and electronic filing by 31 August. If your first year was extended up to eighteen months, which articles often allow once, the six-month clock runs from that later closing date, and your accountant must confirm the exact closing day in writing. Second, founders approve the accounts by email and think that is enough; an email is not a filed set of accounts, and the registry only counts the electronic deposit. Third, founders discover too late that confidential filing declarations must be ticked at filing time, not added months later. Ask your accountant three questions in month three: what is the exact closing date, which confidentiality option do we tick, and who clicks the file button and when.

From abroad, the practical method is simple. Hold the shareholders decision by videoconference or written consultation if your articles allow it, sign electronically with a qualified signature, and keep the signed PDF. Send the auditor or accountant the bank statements and invoices early, because the bottleneck is always missing documents, never the meeting itself. File electronically and keep the filing receipt with its timestamp. If you changed your registered office during the year, check that the filing goes to the registry of the current office, since the Kbis follows the seat. Paris and Ile-de-France founders file through the Paris commercial court registry, which handles very large volumes; allow a few extra days for the receipt to appear and keep proof of submission.

B. How to pay your first French corporate tax, VAT and local business tax from abroad

Corporate income tax in France is charged on the company itself, as one assessment in the name of the legal entity. Article 218, Code general des impots, Legifrance states that corporate tax “est établi sous une cote unique au nom de la personne morale ou association pour l’ensemble de ses activités imposables en France”. The standard rate is 25 percent, with a reduced 15 percent slice up to 42,500 euros of profit for qualifying small and medium companies owned at least 75 percent by individuals. New companies pay by instalments four times a year once they owe tax, with a final settlement after year end, all online through the professional tax account on impots.gouv.fr. The official corporate tax calendar is here: Espace professionnel, impots.gouv.fr. From abroad, open that professional account in month one, because activation letters and bank mandate validation take weeks, and instalment dates do not wait for your login.

VAT is where foreign founders lose the most money through inattention. Registration starts fast: Article 286, Code general des impots, Legifrance requires every VAT taxable person to file a registration declaration: “Dans les quinze jours du commencement de ses opérations, souscrire au bureau désigné par un arrêté une déclaration conforme au modèle fourni par l’administration.” In practice this now flows through the INPI single window at creation plus the tax office activation, and you receive a French VAT number starting with FR. Then the return rhythm depends on your regime. Article 287, Code general des impots, Legifrance provides: “Les redevables soumis au régime réel normal d’imposition déposent mensuellement la déclaration visée au 1”, with payment each month, while “Lorsque la taxe exigible annuellement est inférieure à 4 000 €, ils sont admis à déposer leurs déclarations par trimestre civil.” The simplified regime files one annual return with two advance payments instead. Ask for the monthly versus quarterly versus annual answer in writing at creation, because the default assigned by the tax office is not always the cheapest for cash flow.

Small turnovers can escape VAT collection entirely through the franchise, the exemption for small businesses. Article 293 B, Code general des impots, Legifrance provides that qualifying taxable persons “bénéficient d’une franchise qui les dispense du paiement de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée lorsqu’ils n’ont pas réalisé en France un chiffre d’affaires” above the ceilings, currently 85,000 euros for goods sales and 37,500 euros for most services for the previous year, with higher current-year tolerance thresholds of 93,500 and 41,250 euros. Under the franchise you do not charge French VAT and you cannot recover input VAT, and your invoices must carry the exact legal mention. Crossing the threshold mid-year flips you into VAT collection immediately or from January depending on the band, which is why monthly turnover tracking matters more than the year-end total. Foreign founders selling cross-border add one more layer: intra-EU supplies and services follow place-of-supply and reverse-charge rules, and distance sales above thresholds may need OSS registration. Treat the first cross-border invoice as a legal event, not an accounting detail, and get the VAT treatment confirmed before issuing it.

The local business tax, CFE, surprises almost every foreign owner because it applies even with zero revenue. Article 1447, Code general des impots, Legifrance states: “La cotisation foncière des entreprises est due chaque année par les personnes physiques ou morales” carrying on a usual non-salaried professional activity. The first year is exempt, the second year is the trap: you pay in December of year two based on year-one premises, with a minimum base set by your municipality even if you rent a single desk. Paris minimum bases are high compared with small towns, so Paris-domiciled companies should budget several hundred euros as a floor. The notice arrives in your professional tax account, never by post abroad, which is why unread online mailboxes generate the classic December penalty. Diary entry: connect to the professional account every 15 November and check the CFE notice, then pay online by the stated date.

Paying from abroad is straightforward once set up and painful before. French tax payments run through the online professional account with a SEPA direct debit from a SEPA-reachable bank account; most foreign euro accounts work if they accept French tax debits, but some online-only foreign accounts reject them. Test the mandate with a small amount or confirm with your bank that debits from the French tax authority pass. Late payment adds a 10 percent surcharge plus monthly interest, and VAT late filing adds its own penalties per return, so the cost of a missing login routinely exceeds the cost of an accountant reminder service. Keep one payment account for taxes, one signatory who can approve debits while travelling, and calendar alerts three working days before each instalment.

II. How to run your French company month by month from abroad without fines

Annual deadlines get the attention, but monthly discipline decides whether the first year stays clean. Payroll, social declarations, the beneficial owner register and day-to-day signing authority produce the steady paperwork that foreign owners underestimate. The pattern below separates recurring people obligations from the calendar method that ties everything together, with a Paris and Ile-de-France section for founders who domiciled there.

A. How to handle your first hire, payroll declarations and the beneficial owner register from abroad

Hiring the first French employee triggers a chain of declarations before the first payslip. The pre-hiring declaration goes to URSSAF before the start date, the employment contract must match the applicable collective agreement, working time and trial period rules, and pay must run through French payroll with French payslips. Then the monthly payroll return takes over. Article R133-13, Code de la securite sociale, Legifrance provides: “L’employeur effectue la déclaration sociale nominative prévue à l’article L. 133-5-3 à partir des données utilisées pour l’établissement de la paie de l’ensemble de ses salariés.” The DSN is filed monthly per establishment and per employee, carries the social contributions data, and also reports events such as work stoppages during the month. Deadlines fall on the 5th or 15th of the following month depending on headcount, through payroll software or your payroll provider. The URSSAF employer hub explains the flow: Embaucher et gerer vos salaries, URSSAF. From abroad, appoint a payroll provider with a French DSN transmitter number, give them a monthly document deadline five days before the legal deadline, and never let the founder approve variable pay elements by message the night before.

Director status runs on a parallel track that foreign founders often mix up. A SAS president who is an employee-equivalent manager pays into the general social system without unemployment cover, while a majority SARL manager falls under the self-employed scheme with different contribution calls. If you live abroad and keep working for the French company, check where you are socially insured: EU A1 certificates, bilateral agreements and posted-worker rules decide whether French contributions apply at all, and getting this wrong means double charges or gaps in cover. Our earlier guide on director social security walks through the A1 logic here: Foreign Director France Social Security Abroad, Kohen Avocats. Settle the status question before the first management invoice or payslip, because reclassifying twelve months of contributions afterwards costs far more than one advice letter now.

Signing authority while travelling is the next practical point. In a SAS, Article L227-6, Code de commerce, Legifrance provides: “Le président est investi des pouvoirs les plus étendus pour agir en toute circonstance au nom de la société dans la limite de l’objet social.” Against third parties the company is bound even by acts beyond the corporate purpose unless the company proves the third party knew or should have known. Internal limits in the articles do not bind third parties. For a founder living abroad, this cuts both ways: your president can sign leases, bank papers and contracts while you sleep, but a co-founder president can also bind the company without your prior email approval. If you share power, write the countersignature rules in the articles and the bank mandate from day one, and mirror them at the bank, because the bank follows its own mandate card, not your shareholders pact.

The beneficial owner register, the RBE, is the filing foreign owners forget most. Article L561-46, Code monetaire et financier, Legifrance requires covered companies to “déclarent au registre du commerce et des sociétés, par l’intermédiaire de l’organisme mentionné au deuxième alinéa de l’article L. 123-33 du code de commerce, les informations relatives aux bénéficiaires effectifs”, covering identity details, personal domicile and the control arrangements. Any change in the ultimate owner, in the ownership chain or in the owner home address must be updated within thirty days through the single window. A company held through a foreign holding chain must trace up to the real individuals above 25 percent or the persons exercising control by other means. Penalties include fines and, for managers, criminal sanctions plus bans on managing, so treat the RBE as a living filing, not a creation souvenir. Diary rule: revisit the RBE at every share transfer, every new holding layer and every director change, and file the update before the month ends.

Two more living filings belong in this section. If your articles, capital, directors, registered office or business name change during year one, each change needs its own single-window filing, legal announcement and registry update before the Kbis reflects it; banks and landlords check the Kbis, not your internal minutes. If you open a bank account, sign a lease or hire staff, the counterparty will ask for a Kbis less than three months old, which you download from the INPI portal or the registry service. Keep a company folder with the current Kbis, the articles, the RBE receipt, the VAT number letter and the professional tax account logins, shared with your accountant and your lawyer under clear access rules.

B. How to build a deadline-proof first-year calendar from abroad, including Paris and Ile-de-France specifics

Build the calendar backwards from three anchor dates: the financial year end, the sixth month after it for approval, and the second month after approval for electronic filing. For a 31 December year end, that gives 30 June approval and 31 August electronic filing. Around those anchors, place the recurring blocks. Each month: payroll variables to the provider by the 25th, DSN and social payments on the 5th or 15th, VAT return and payment if monthly, invoice and expense collection into the accounting tool. Each quarter: VAT return if quarterly, management review of turnover against the franchise thresholds, shareholder loan and cash position check. Each year: accounts approval and filing, corporate tax settlement, CFE check in November and payment in December, RBE and articles consistency review, insurance and lease renewals.

The shareholder loan point deserves its own diary line because foreign founders fund early months from personal money. Advances recorded in a shareholder current account must follow written agreements once amounts grow, bear at least a minimum interest rate published yearly by the tax authority for corporate lenders in many cases, and stay within the limits that avoid reclassification. Cap the balance, document each transfer with a dated receipt, and have the accountant book interest properly. Companies that mix personal and company money without records face the hardest audits in year two, when the tax office asks where the cash came from.

Paris and Ile-de-France founders face the same national law with heavier local logistics. The competent registry is the Paris commercial court greffe, reached through the single window, with publication in BODACC as elsewhere; processing queues run longer, so file accounts and seat changes at least two weeks before your internal deadline. The competent social bodies sit in the Ile-de-France URSSAF network, and labour disputes go to the Paris employment tribunal for Paris-based staff, where timelines and conciliation practices differ from smaller cities. Commercial leases in Paris carry high deposits, strict repair clauses and indexation habits that affect the balance sheet provisions your accountant must book. If your business needs regulated premises, food, health or supervised activities, add the prefecture and town hall authorisations to the calendar with their own two-to-four-month lead times, because Paris services check files strictly and incomplete files restart the clock.

When a deadline is missed, the method is the same everywhere: regularise fast, document the cause and pay under the best available procedure. File the late return or late accounts immediately, because penalties grow with time and voluntary correction reads better than a notice-triggered filing. For tax surcharges, consider a written request for discretionary relief, the remise gracieuse, explaining the foreign-residence context, the first-year setting and the corrective steps, while paying the principal and keeping proof. For registry delays, file electronically now and keep the receipt, because courts checking late-filing injunctions look at whether the company fixed the gap. For payroll delays, transmit the DSN and pay contributions with the next run, then align the provider timetable so the same miss cannot repeat. Never backdate minutes or returns to hide a delay; a visible late filing with a short explanation costs less than a false document, which can turn a fine into a criminal matter.

Prevention beats cure and costs little. Give one person, accountant or lawyer, the master calendar with authority to chase you. Keep the professional tax account, the URSSAF account, the single-window account and the bank alerts on one phone with notifications on. Reconcile the calendar every quarter in a thirty-minute call: turnover versus VAT thresholds, cash versus shareholder loans, staff versus DSN compliance, RBE versus actual ownership. Foreign founders who run this quarterly review rarely miss anything in year two, because the first-year surprises become routine checks.

Conclusion

Your first French year from abroad succeeds on five habits: approve the accounts within six months and file them electronically within two months of approval, register and return VAT on the right rhythm from the first weeks, run payroll through a monthly DSN without exceptions, keep the beneficial owner register current within thirty days of any change, and check the professional tax account for corporate tax instalments and the December CFE notice. Each habit rests on a short article quoted above, each article has its own filing portal, and each portal punishes unread mailboxes. Set the calendar backwards from your year end, test every login in month one, and revisit the full picture each quarter with your accountant. The companies that struggle are rarely the ones with weak businesses; they are the ones whose founders discover French deadlines from penalty letters. With this calendar, you will discover them from this page instead.

Need a quick opinion on your case

Do you live abroad and need your French company calendar checked before a deadline passes. Our firm offers a telephone consultation within 48 hours with a lawyer of the firm. Call +33 6 46 60 58 22 or reach us through our contact page. We assist foreign founders in Paris and across Ile-de-France with accounts, VAT, payroll and registry filings.