{"id":2116049,"date":"2026-09-04T01:02:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T23:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/2026\/09\/04\/french-branch-foreign-parent-annual-accounts-translation-certified-copy\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T01:02:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T23:02:21","slug":"french-branch-foreign-parent-annual-accounts-translation-certified-copy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/04\/french-branch-foreign-parent-annual-accounts-translation-certified-copy\/","title":{"rendered":"French Branch Annual Accounts: What a Foreign Parent Must File in France, in Which Language, and by When"},"content":{"rendered":"

A foreign company that opens a branch in France does not create a separate French subsidiary. It creates a French establishment of the parent company, usually called a succursale<\/em>. That distinction controls the annual-accounts filing. The French branch must generally deposit in France the accounting documents that the foreign parent has prepared, had audited or otherwise reviewed where its home law requires it, and published in the country of its registered office. The filing is not replaced by the parent\u2019s commercial register entry, and it is not the same exercise as filing a French SAS or SARL\u2019s own accounts.<\/p>\n

The practical questions are more precise than \u201cdoes a branch file accounts?\u201d A foreign founder needs to know which version of the parent\u2019s accounts belongs in the French file, whether a French translation is needed, who must certify the copy, whether the deadline comes from French law or the parent\u2019s home law, and what evidence to keep if the filing is rejected. This guide answers those questions for a French branch whose head office remains abroad. It also separates the public corporate filing from French corporate-tax and VAT evidence, because the same documents may be requested under different rules. The position below is based on the official texts checked on 3 September 2026 and should be matched against the parent\u2019s home-country accounting calendar before submission.<\/p>\n

I. What a foreign parent must file in France<\/h2>\n

A. Does a French branch have to file the foreign parent\u2019s annual accounts?<\/h3>\n

Yes, in principle. The central rule is Article R. 123-112 of the French Commercial Code<\/a>. It applies to a commercial company whose registered office is outside France and which opens a first establishment in France. At registration, the foreign company must file a current copy of its constitutional documents with the commercial court registry, known in French as the greffe<\/em>. Each year, it must also file the accounting documents that the parent prepared, had controlled and published in the state where its registered office is located. The French branch therefore reports the parent\u2019s statutory publication package, rather than manufacturing a second set of French parent-company accounts solely for the registry.<\/p>\n

The wording matters. Article R. 123-112 states: \u201cLe d\u00e9p\u00f4t des documents comptables est effectu\u00e9 dans le d\u00e9lai pr\u00e9vu par la l\u00e9gislation dont rel\u00e8ve le si\u00e8ge de la soci\u00e9t\u00e9.\u201d In English, the filing deadline follows the legislation governing the parent\u2019s registered office. The rule also refers to the documents the parent has established, had controlled and published in its home state. A branch manager should therefore start with the parent\u2019s legal-entity type and home-country filing calendar, not with a generic French company checklist.<\/p>\n

A branch is different from a French subsidiary in four operational respects. First, the branch normally has no separate share capital or separate legal personality: the foreign parent remains the legal company behind the French activity. Secondly, the branch\u2019s French registration identifies the foreign company and the person able to bind it in France. Thirdly, the annual accounts deposited in France are linked to the parent\u2019s home-country reporting obligations. Fourthly, the branch\u2019s French commercial filing does not automatically turn the parent\u2019s global accounts into French tax accounts. Those differences explain why copying a French SAS filing model can produce the wrong documents, the wrong deadline and an avoidable rejection.<\/p>\n

Do not confuse the public branch filing with the accounting obligation imposed on a French commercial company. Article L. 123-12 of the French Commercial Code<\/a> requires a merchant to record transactions chronologically, take an inventory at least every twelve months and prepare annual accounts at the close of the financial year. Those are the baseline accounting obligations for the relevant French business. The Supreme administrative court has nevertheless explained that a foreign branch can be required to present accounting documents to the French tax administration even when it is not subject to the same French accounting method. That is a separate question from what the branch deposits at the registry.<\/p>\n

For comparison, the filing rules for a French company appear in Article L. 232-23 of the French Commercial Code<\/a>, which addresses the annual accounts and management documents of French companies such as a soci\u00e9t\u00e9 par actions simplifi\u00e9e (SAS, a simplified joint-stock company) and a soci\u00e9t\u00e9 anonyme (SA, a public limited company). A French soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e (SARL, a private limited-liability company) also follows its own French-company filing architecture. Those provisions help explain why an account package for a French subsidiary cannot simply be substituted for the foreign parent\u2019s home-law documents in a branch file.<\/p>\n

The branch filing is public-facing. The commercial register is the Registre du commerce et des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s<\/em> (RCS), the French register of commerce and companies. Since the French formalities reform, many filings are routed through the guichet unique<\/em>, the one-stop electronic filing service operated by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). The INPI portal is available through the official business formalities website<\/a>. The registry record may also be visible through the Registre national des entreprises<\/em> (RNE), the national business register. A Kbis<\/em> is the official extract evidencing a company\u2019s registration in the RCS; it is not the annual-accounts filing itself.<\/p>\n

That public character has two consequences for a foreign parent. First, the uploaded package must be legible to a French registry reviewer who may not read the parent\u2019s language. Secondly, the parent should assume that the deposited documents can be consulted under the transparency rules applicable to the filing. A parent that expects its home-country accounts to remain private should not assume that a French branch has the same confidentiality options as a small French company. The limited confidentiality regime for some French companies is dealt with in Article L. 232-25 of the French Commercial Code<\/a>; it should not be treated as an automatic exemption for a foreign parent\u2019s branch documents.<\/p>\n

The safest classification exercise is simple. If the French operation is a registered branch of the foreign company, test the file against Article R. 123-112. If it is a French subsidiary, test the French company\u2019s own accounts against the provisions applicable to its legal form. If the operation is only a bank account, a representative arrangement or an occasional contract with no French establishment, first determine whether there is a registered branch or another taxable or corporate presence. A label used by the business team does not decide the legal category. The registration record, the parent\u2019s resolutions and the actual French activity must tell the same story.<\/p>\n

There is also a difference between a branch and a French permanent establishment for tax purposes. The branch registration is a company-law formalisation. The French tax analysis asks which profits are attributable to the business operated in France and which records support that allocation. A company can have to prepare a branch filing even while its tax result requires a separate functional and transfer-pricing analysis. The parent should keep the corporate filing file and the tax file cross-referenced, but it should not merge them into an unexplained document bundle.<\/p>\n

B. Which deadline applies to a foreign parent\u2019s French branch?<\/h3>\n

The starting answer is the parent\u2019s home-country deadline. Article R. 123-112 does not replace the foreign parent\u2019s accounting calendar with a universal French branch deadline. If the parent\u2019s law requires accounts to be approved, audited or published by a specified date, the French deposit must be organised around that date and within the period allowed by the law of the parent\u2019s registered office. The exact calculation may depend on the parent\u2019s legal form, financial year-end, shareholder approval date, audit status and home-country filing extension. Record each of those dates rather than using \u201cone month after approval\u201d as an automatic rule.<\/p>\n

The one-month and two-month periods often mentioned in French guides concern French-company filings. The official Service-Public.fr page on filing a company\u2019s annual accounts<\/a> explains the French-company timetable, including a one-month period after approval and a two-month period for an electronic filing in the cases it describes. That information is useful for a French SAS, SARL or SA, but a foreign branch must first apply the specific rule in Article R. 123-112: the deadline is the one provided by the legislation governing the foreign head office. If the parent uses a shorter or longer home-law period, the branch calendar should follow the applicable home-law rule and preserve proof of the calculation.<\/p>\n

Build a dual calendar. The first column should show the parent\u2019s reporting events: financial year-end, preparation of the accounts, audit or statutory review, board or shareholder approval, publication in the home state and any permitted extension. The second column should show the French branch events: obtain the signed final package, select the French translator, certify the copies, submit through the required channel, pay the filing charge if requested and save the receipt. This prevents a common failure: the parent publishes its accounts at home on time but the French branch cannot file because the translated, certified version was never prepared.<\/p>\n

Do not wait for the French branch\u2019s Kbis to show an updated annual-accounts status. The Kbis is an extract of registration information. It may identify the foreign parent, the French establishment and its representative, but it is not a receipt for every annual document deposited. Keep the electronic acknowledgement, registry correspondence, submission reference, final PDF set and proof of payment. If a bank, tendering authority, investor or French contracting counterparty asks for \u201cthe Kbis and the accounts\u201d, provide those as two different items.<\/p>\n

For an EU or European Economic Area parent, the language rule has a specific nuance. Article R. 123-120-1 of the French Commercial Code<\/a> allows, in the circumstances it sets out, acts and documents to be filed in an official language of the European Union, but it requires French to be one of the languages and says: \u201cSeul le d\u00e9p\u00f4t obligatoire en langue fran\u00e7aise fait foi.\u201d That means the French version is the controlling compulsory filing for the French registry. It does not justify uploading a parent\u2019s non-French accounts without checking the French-language component.<\/p>\n

For a parent outside the EU or EEA, take the more conservative operational route: prepare a complete French translation of the documents that the registry needs to understand, then confirm how the copies must be certified for the specific submission. Article R. 123-112 says that the deposited documents may be \u201ctraduites en langue fran\u00e7aise\u201d. The provision also states that copies are certified as true by the parent\u2019s legal representative or by the person empowered to bind the company in France. The registry\u2019s electronic form can ask for additional evidence or a specific file format; the portal request should be followed without omitting the legally required French version.<\/p>\n

Extensions and corrections deserve their own calendar entry. If the parent receives a home-country extension, keep the official extension evidence and map it to the French branch filing. If the parent replaces accounts after an audit adjustment, identify whether the French deposit must be corrected or supplemented. If the French branch was registered during the year, verify whether the first filing is tied to the parent\u2019s next annual reporting package or another event under the applicable home law. These are questions for the actual parent jurisdiction, not assumptions based on the date printed on the branch\u2019s first Kbis.<\/p>\n

Finally, distinguish \u201clate\u201d from \u201cnot yet available\u201d. A parent may have a lawful home-country filing extension, an audit delay or an accounts approval process still open. Those facts should be evidenced in the French file. If the French registry rejects a submission for a missing translation or uncertified copy, note the rejection date and resubmit the corrected package promptly. A silent gap is harder to explain than a documented delay with the parent\u2019s home-law evidence attached to the internal file.<\/p>\n

II. How to prepare and cure the filing<\/h2>\n

A. Which documents, translations and certifications should you upload?<\/h3>\n

Start by identifying the parent document set exactly as it exists in the home state. The usual core is the parent\u2019s final annual accounts for the relevant financial year, together with the audit report, statutory review report or other control document where the home law requires one. Add the publication or filing evidence from the foreign register when it is available, and preserve the parent\u2019s legal name, registration number, registered-office address, financial year and approval date consistently across every file. A branch file should not contain a translation that silently changes the parent\u2019s name or the period covered.<\/p>\n

The French registry needs to see what the foreign document is. A translated balance sheet without its notes, approval information or accompanying auditor report may be incomplete even if the headline figures are correct. Conversely, uploading every internal management spreadsheet can create confusion and expose information that is not part of the statutory package. The working rule is to file the documents that the parent has established, controlled and published in its home state under Article R. 123-112, and to retain additional working papers privately unless the registry or tax administration requires them.<\/p>\n

Use a document matrix before uploading:<\/p>\n