{"id":2149222,"date":"2026-10-16T02:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T00:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T02:00:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T00:00:06","slug":"foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you run a French company from London, New York or Dubai, one French rule surprises almost every foreign founder: your annual accounts are public. Once they are filed at the <em>greffe<\/em> \u2014 the registry office of the commercial court that keeps the <em>Registre du commerce et des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s<\/em> (RCS, the French companies register) \u2014 anyone can order a copy. A competitor can read your turnover and your margins. A supplier can check your balance sheet before granting payment terms. A journalist, a prospective hire, a litigation opponent: all of them can buy your filed accounts for a few euros. For a founder who chose France for its market, not for its transparency, that exposure feels brutal.<\/p>\n<p>French law does offer an escape hatch, and it is used far less by foreign-run companies than it should be: the <em>d\u00e9claration de confidentialit\u00e9<\/em>, the confidentiality declaration filed together with the accounts. If your company is a micro-enterprise, you can keep the whole filing out of public circulation. If it is a small company, you can hide the profit-and-loss account. If it is a medium-sized company, you can publish only a simplified balance sheet and notes. The thresholds are generous \u2014 up to 50 million euros of turnover for the simplified regime \u2014 so most young foreign-owned subsidiaries qualify. But the mechanism has sharp edges: it must be claimed at the exact moment of filing, it is closed to subsidiaries of groups and to holding companies, and it never blinds the tax authorities, the courts, your bank or your own shareholders. Miss the filing altogether and the president of the commercial court can order you to file under a daily penalty \u2014 a penalty the Cour de cassation has confirmed falls on the director personally.<\/p>\n<p>This article explains, for a business reader running a French <em>SARL<\/em> (limited liability company), <em>SAS<\/em> or <em>SASU<\/em> (simplified joint-stock company, including its one-shareholder form) or <em>SA<\/em> (public limited company) from abroad, what must be published, what may stay private, how to file confidentially through the online one-stop shop, and which mistakes turn a privacy option into a liability. If you are still setting up, start with our <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/03\/setting-up-company-france-foreign-founder-bank-account-kbis-vat-first-hire\/\">guide to setting up a company in France as a foreign founder<\/a>, and keep our <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/23\/foreign-company-france-annual-legal-calendar-accounts-agm-filing-abroad\/\">annual legal calendar for French companies run from abroad<\/a> beside you: confidentiality is one step inside a yearly chain of approvals and filings.<\/p>\n<h2>I. The accounts your French company must publish, and the part you may keep private<\/h2>\n<h3>A. Approve first, file second: the two deadlines foreign directors miss<\/h3>\n<p>French company law separates two moments that foreign directors constantly confuse: approving the accounts and filing them. Approval is an internal decision of the shareholders. Filing \u2014 the <em>d\u00e9p\u00f4t des comptes annuels<\/em> \u2014 is the public step at the <em>greffe<\/em>. Confidentiality only exists at the second step, but you cannot reach it without completing the first correctly and on time.<\/p>\n<p>Approval must happen within six months of the financial year-end. In a SARL, the statute is direct: the management report, the inventory and the annual accounts prepared by the managers &#8220;sont soumis \u00e0 l&#8217;approbation des associ\u00e9s r\u00e9unis en assembl\u00e9e, dans le d\u00e9lai de six mois \u00e0 compter de la cl\u00f4ture de l&#8217;exercice&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000048535091\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000048535091\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L.223-26 of the Commercial Code<\/a>). Only a court order can extend that period. If the meeting is never convened, the public prosecutor or any interested person can ask the court president, in summary proceedings, to order the managers to convene it, if necessary under a penalty. In a one-shareholder SAS (SASU), the single shareholder approves the accounts \u2014 after the statutory auditor&#8217;s report if one exists \u2014 and the law states that &#8220;L&#8217;associ\u00e9 unique approuve les comptes, apr\u00e8s rapport du commissaire aux comptes s&#8217;il en existe un, dans le d\u00e9lai de six mois \u00e0 compter de la cl\u00f4ture de l&#8217;exercice&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000051322706\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000051322706\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L.227-9 of the Commercial Code<\/a>). The same article adds a practical gift for the solo foreign founder who is also president: filing the signed inventory and accounts at the RCS within that period counts as approval, without a separate written decision. In a multi-shareholder SAS, the articles of association decide how the shareholders vote collectively \u2014 and well-drafted foreign-owned SAS articles allow votes by videoconference or written consultation, so nobody has to fly to Paris to approve the accounts.<\/p>\n<p>Filing then follows within one month of approval, or two months when the filing is made electronically \u2014 which, since the dematerialisation of formalities, is the normal case. For a SARL, the company must file &#8220;dans le mois suivant l&#8217;approbation des comptes annuels par l&#8217;assembl\u00e9e ordinaire des associ\u00e9s ou par l&#8217;associ\u00e9 unique ou dans les deux mois suivant cette approbation lorsque ce d\u00e9p\u00f4t est effectu\u00e9 par voie \u00e9lectronique&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000048535223\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000048535223\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L.232-22 of the Commercial Code<\/a>). For a company limited by shares \u2014 which includes the SAS and the SA \u2014 the parallel rule requires filing &#8220;dans le mois suivant l&#8217;approbation des comptes annuels par l&#8217;assembl\u00e9e g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des actionnaires ou dans les deux mois suivant cette approbation lorsque ce d\u00e9p\u00f4t est effectu\u00e9 par voie \u00e9lectronique&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000051559583\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000051559583\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L.232-23 of the Commercial Code<\/a>). What is filed is not just the balance sheet: the accounts, the management report where one is required, the statutory auditor&#8217;s report if there is one, and \u2014 often forgotten \u2014 the proposed allocation of the result submitted to the shareholders and the allocation resolution they voted. A filing missing the allocation documents is an incomplete filing, and an incomplete filing does not protect you.<\/p>\n<p>Two practical consequences follow for a director living abroad. First, the calendar is tight and runs itself: year-end on 31 December means approval by 30 June and electronic filing by 31 August. The dividends the shareholders voted must then actually be paid within nine months of year-end, a rhythm the official <a href=\"https:\/\/entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr\/vosdroits\/F31214\">service-public fiche on filing company accounts<\/a> presents as the reason the six-month approval rhythm is standard practice. Second, everything now passes through the <em>Guichet unique<\/em>, the online formalities portal operated by the <em>INPI<\/em> (the French National Institute of Industrial Property, which also runs the companies formalities portal), or directly at the <em>greffe<\/em> of the company&#8217;s registered office. There is no longer a paper shortcut that excuses delay: a founder in another time zone files on the same portal as a Parisian director.<\/p>\n<h3>B. Who qualifies: micro, small and medium-sized companies, and the companies locked out<\/h3>\n<p>Article L.232-25 of the Commercial Code builds three confidentiality tiers, and the company&#8217;s size decides the tier. The text provides that micro-enterprises &#8220;peuvent d\u00e9clarer que les comptes annuels qu&#8217;elles d\u00e9posent ne seront pas rendus publics&#8221; \u2014 they may declare that the accounts they file will not be made public (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000038611013\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000038611013\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L.232-25 of the Commercial Code<\/a>). Small companies &#8220;peuvent demander que le compte de r\u00e9sultat ne soit pas rendu public&#8221;: only the profit-and-loss account is hidden, while the balance sheet and notes stay public. Medium-sized companies &#8220;peuvent demander que ne soit rendue publique qu&#8217;une pr\u00e9sentation simplifi\u00e9e de leur bilan et de leur annexe dans des conditions fix\u00e9es par un r\u00e8glement de l&#8217;Autorit\u00e9 des normes comptables&#8221;: the public sees a simplified balance sheet and notes, with a notice stating the publication is abridged, identifying the registry, and summarising the auditor&#8217;s opinion. In that simplified case, the full statutory auditor&#8217;s report is not attached to the public version. For micro and small companies, the official guidance confirms the auditor&#8217;s report is not published either when confidentiality is claimed \u2014 one more reason to claim it.<\/p>\n<p>The size test uses three figures \u2014 balance-sheet total, net turnover, average headcount \u2014 and the company must stay below two of the three. The current thresholds, in force since 1 March 2024, are set by decree: for micro-enterprises, &#8220;le total du bilan est fix\u00e9 \u00e0 450 000 euros, le montant net du chiffre d&#8217;affaires \u00e0 900 000 euros et le nombre moyen de salari\u00e9s employ\u00e9s au cours de l&#8217;exercice \u00e0 10&#8221;; for small companies, 7.5 million euros of balance-sheet total, 15 million of net turnover and 50 employees; for medium-sized companies, 25 million, 50 million and 250 employees (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049216681\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049216681\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article D.123-200 of the Commercial Code<\/a>). Two refinements matter enormously in practice. First, the two-out-of-three logic is written into the definition of micro-enterprises \u2014 the thresholds apply where, for the last closed financial year, &#8220;deux des trois seuils suivants, dont le niveau et les modalit\u00e9s de calcul sont fix\u00e9s par d\u00e9cret, ne sont pas d\u00e9pass\u00e9s&#8221; \u2014 and crossing or falling below two thresholds only changes the category &#8220;si elle se produit pendant deux exercices cons\u00e9cutifs&#8221;, if it happens in two consecutive years (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000028556285\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000028556285\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L.123-16-1 of the Commercial Code<\/a>). A single exceptional year of strong growth does not eject you from the micro regime; two in a row do. Second, the same two-year smoothing protects a company whose turnover spikes once \u2014 but it also delays a shrinking company&#8217;s return to a more protective tier.<\/p>\n<p>Three categories of companies are locked out even when their figures fit. The exclusions of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000043757746\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000043757746\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L.123-16-2 of the Commercial Code<\/a> cover credit institutions and financing companies, insurance and reinsurance businesses, mutual and provident bodies, listed companies, and entities appealing to public generosity \u2014 and, by cross-reference inside Article L.232-25, companies whose business is managing shareholdings and securities. That last exclusion bites foreign founders directly: a French holding company set up to carry your participations cannot hide its accounts, however small it is. The second lock-out is the group rule, stated twice in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000038611013\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000038611013\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L.232-25 of the Commercial Code<\/a>: &#8220;Les soci\u00e9t\u00e9s appartenant \u00e0 un groupe, au sens de l&#8217;article L. 233-16, ne peuvent faire usage de cette facult\u00e9.&#8221; A French subsidiary consolidated into a group&#8217;s accounts \u2014 the standard situation of a foreign group opening a French SAS \u2014 generally cannot claim confidentiality at all. Founders sometimes discover this after years of confidential filings made in error, which is why the category check must come before the procedure, not after.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, understand exactly whom confidentiality does not blind. The statute keeps full access for the courts, the administrative authorities, the Banque de France (the French central bank, whose company database rates businesses for the whole banking system) and the legal entities \u2014 defined by ministerial order \u2014 that finance or invest in companies or supply them services: they &#8220;ont toutefois acc\u00e8s \u00e0 l&#8217;int\u00e9gralit\u00e9 des comptes&#8221;. Your bank will still demand the full accounts before renewing an overdraft; the tax office never lost sight of them; a judge orders production whenever a dispute requires it. Confidentiality hides the accounts from competitors, the press and the curious \u2014 the audience that matters commercially \u2014 but it is not secrecy against the state, the banks or your own shareholders, who keep their statutory right to receive the full documents before the annual meeting.<\/p>\n<h2>II. Filing confidentially from abroad: the procedure and the traps<\/h2>\n<h3>A. The procedure step by step, with the Paris specifics<\/h3>\n<p>The confidentiality option is exercised at filing time, inside the filing, not before or after. When you file \u2014 through the <em>Guichet unique<\/em> or at the <em>greffe<\/em> \u2014 you attach a signed <em>d\u00e9claration de confidentialit\u00e9<\/em> stating that the company meets the size conditions and opts for the regime. The administration publishes standard templates: the <a href=\"https:\/\/entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr\/vosdroits\/R38632\">model confidentiality declaration for a micro-enterprise company<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr\/vosdroits\/R44096\">model declaration for small companies<\/a>. Use them rather than drafting your own letter: the registries process thousands of filings, and a non-standard declaration invites a rejection that costs you the filing deadline. The declaration must be joined to the filing itself \u2014 the official guidance states that a company wishing its accounts unpublished must attach a confidentiality declaration to its filing. A declaration sent later, by separate letter, does not retroactively close accounts that have already entered the public file.<\/p>\n<p>For a company whose registered office is in Paris or the inner suburbs, the competent registry is the <em>greffe<\/em> of the Paris commercial court \u2014 now the tribunal des activit\u00e9s \u00e9conomiques de Paris \u2014 or the corresponding registry for Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis or Val-de-Marne. In practice the foreign director never travels: the filing goes through the <em>Guichet unique<\/em> online, the declaration is uploaded with the accounts and the allocation documents, and the registry records the filing. What the public then sees is the trace, not the content: third parties consulting the registry learn that accounts for the year were filed, but the balance sheet, the profit-and-loss account or the full notes \u2014 depending on the tier \u2014 are withheld from sale and from consultation. Infogreffe, the commercial courts&#8217; joint information service, summarises the rule plainly: qualifying companies may ask the commercial court registry to keep their filed accounts confidential, with the micro thresholds of 450,000 euros of balance-sheet total, 900,000 euros of turnover and up to 10 employees, and the small-company thresholds of 7.5 million, 15 million and 50 employees (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.infogreffe.fr\/actualites\/depot-des-comptes-annuels-et-confidentialite--pour-qui--\">Infogreffe on confidential filing<\/a>). Medium-sized companies, Infogreffe confirms, cannot opt for full confidentiality but may publish the simplified presentation instead.<\/p>\n<p>Three preparation steps decide success, and all three can be done from abroad. First, verify the category before the year-end rush: pull the draft balance-sheet total, net turnover and average headcount, apply the two-out-of-three test, check the two-consecutive-years rule, and confirm the company is neither a holdings vehicle nor a group member. Second, align the approval mechanics with distance: if the SAS articles do not yet allow collective decisions by videoconference or written consultation, amend them during a quiet year, not in June under deadline pressure; if the company is a SASU with a non-shareholder president, remember the shareholder still approves personally and cannot delegate. Third, calendar the filing with a margin: electronic filing gives two months from approval instead of one, but waiting until the last day leaves no room to fix a rejected upload. Companies that file early and confidentially get the best of both worlds \u2014 full legal compliance and minimum public exposure.<\/p>\n<p>One more Paris-region practical point: banks, landlords and public buyers in \u00cele-de-France routinely ask young companies for recent accounts even when those accounts are confidential. A landlord in La D\u00e9fense will not accept &#8220;our accounts are confidential&#8221; as an answer to a request for financial references; it will ask for the full documents under a non-disclosure agreement. Prepare a clean PDF pack \u2014 full accounts, auditor&#8217;s report where one exists, Kbis (the company&#8217;s official registration certificate, its identity card) of less than three months \u2014 so the finance team can answer within days. Confidentiality keeps your figures out of the public file; it does not dispense you from proving your solidity to counterparties who are entitled to ask.<\/p>\n<h3>B. The four mistakes that cost foreign-run companies money<\/h3>\n<p>The first mistake is the gravest: not filing at all. Some foreign directors assume that a small French subsidiary with no local staff can skip the filing, or that the parent company&#8217;s consolidated accounts suffice. They do not. When directors fail to file within the legal periods, the president of the commercial court may, on his own motion or at the request of an economic observatory, &#8220;leur adresser une injonction de le faire \u00e0 bref d\u00e9lai sous astreinte&#8221; \u2014 order them to file promptly under a penalty payment (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000044052535\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000044052535\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L.611-2, II, of the Commercial Code<\/a>). If the order is ignored, the court summons the directors and may apply prevention measures; more immediately, any interested person or the public prosecutor can separately ask the court president in summary proceedings to order any legal entity&#8217;s director to complete RCS filings under penalty, and to appoint an agent to do it at the company&#8217;s expense (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006219291\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006219291\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L.123-5-1 of the Commercial Code<\/a>). The Cour de cassation has given this mechanism teeth that every director living abroad should memorise: &#8220;lorsque le pr\u00e9sident d&#8217;un tribunal de commerce, ayant enjoint sous astreinte au repr\u00e9sentant l\u00e9gal d&#8217;une personne morale de d\u00e9poser les comptes annuels, constate le d\u00e9faut d&#8217;ex\u00e9cution et liquide l&#8217;astreinte, le repr\u00e9sentant l\u00e9gal est condamn\u00e9 \u00e0 titre personnel&#8221;. In that widely published ruling, a director was ordered to pay 3,000 euros personally for ignoring the filing injunction (Cass. com., 7 May 2019, appeal no. 17-21.047, published in the Bulletin, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courdecassation.fr\/decision\/5fca7091c468a05c4aab5ec7\">full decision of the Cour de cassation<\/a>). Distance is no defence: the penalty falls on the legal representative personally, wherever he lives. Alongside this civil track runs a criminal one: failure to file exposes the director to a criminal fine of 1,500 euros, 3,000 euros for a repeat offence, prosecutable for one year after the filing date, as the official filing guidance recalls. Unfiled years also accumulate silently \u2014 recent commercial court practice shows companies summoned over two missing years at once \u2014 and banks treat missing filings as a red flag for any credit decision.<\/p>\n<p>The second mistake is claiming the wrong tier \u2014 most often the group trap. A French SAS owned by a British, American or Gulf group, consolidated into the parent&#8217;s accounts, files three years of &#8220;confidential&#8221; accounts, then discovers during a dispute or an audit that the confidentiality was void from the start because group companies are excluded. The exposure cannot be undone: accounts already communicated to the registry&#8217;s public file for those years stay consultable. Symmetrically, a French holding company managing the founder&#8217;s participations can never claim confidentiality because of its activity, whatever its size. The category check \u2014 thresholds, two-year rule, holdings activity, group membership \u2014 belongs in the file before every filing, documented in a one-page memo the accountant signs off. When the group situation is ambiguous, for example a minority foreign shareholding without consolidation, get the analysis in writing rather than guessing.<\/p>\n<p>The third mistake is overestimating what confidentiality delivers. It does not bind your shareholders: every shareholder keeps the right to receive the full accounts, reports and draft resolutions before the annual meeting, and in a SARL any shareholder may at any time obtain the company documents for the last three years. A minority shareholder in conflict with the foreign majority will always see the complete figures \u2014 confidentiality never disarms an internal dispute. It does not bind the Banque de France either: the central bank&#8217;s company database continues to score the company on the full filed accounts, and that score drives the banking system&#8217;s view of your subsidiary. And it does not bind the contractual counterparties who make access a condition of doing business. Treat confidentiality as camouflage against the general public, not as armour against informed insiders.<\/p>\n<p>The fourth mistake is purely procedural: forgetting the declaration, filing it late, or filing accounts that do not match the approved version. The declaration must travel with the filing; the allocation resolution voted by the shareholders must match the allocation filed; and the figures filed must be the approved ones, including any amendments the meeting made. A frequent variant among foreign-run companies is the mid-summer rush: approval signed late, filing uploaded on the last day, declaration forgotten, then a corrective filing attempted months later \u2014 with the original public accounts sitting in the file in the meantime. Build the declaration into the closing checklist next to the allocation resolution, and have the person who uploads the filing confirm all three attachments: accounts, allocation documents, declaration. That single control costs nothing and saves the entire strategy.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>France publishes company accounts by default, but it lets most young foreign-owned companies step out of the shop window. A micro-enterprise keeps everything back; a small company hides its profit-and-loss account; a medium-sized company publishes a simplified picture. The price of that discretion is discipline, not money: approve within six months, file within one month \u2014 two electronically \u2014 attach the confidentiality declaration to the filing itself, and check every year that the thresholds, the holdings test and the group test still point to the same tier. What confidentiality cannot do, no procedure can: the courts, the tax authorities, the Banque de France, your bank and your shareholders will always see the full accounts, and a director who files nothing at all faces an injunction, a personal penalty confirmed by the Cour de cassation, and a criminal fine. Done correctly, from Paris or from abroad through the <em>Guichet unique<\/em>, the confidential filing gives a foreign-run company exactly what it needs: full compliance with French corporate duties, and competitors left reading an empty file.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Filed accounts are public in France, unless you opt out. Who qualifies for confidential filing, how to file from abroad, and what stays visible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251031309,"featured_media":16335,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kj_source_type":"","_kj_official_id":"","_kj_official_url":"","_kj_judilibre_id":"","_kj_jur":"","_kj_lieu":"","_kj_chambre":"","_kj_rg":"","_kj_date":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[80314,80313],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2149222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-decryptage","category-doing-business-in-france"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.2 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps - Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Filed accounts are public in France, unless you opt out. Who qualifies for confidential filing, how to file from abroad, and what stays visible.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-16T00:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kohen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kohen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"17 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kohen\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6254a643e6239d803134a01c800381bd\"},\"headline\":\"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-16T00:00:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3397,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/laura-adai-KfphgU3nUqQ-unsplash-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"D\u00e9cryptage\",\"Doing Business in France\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"citation\":\"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps\",\"about\":[{\"@type\":\"Thing\",\"name\":\"D\u00e9cryptage\"},{\"@type\":\"Thing\",\"name\":\"Doing Business in France\"}],\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-16T00:00:06+00:00\",\"speakable\":{\"@type\":\"SpeakableSpecification\",\"cssSelector\":[\".article-content > p:first-of-type\"]}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/\",\"name\":\"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps - Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/laura-adai-KfphgU3nUqQ-unsplash-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-16T00:00:06+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/laura-adai-KfphgU3nUqQ-unsplash-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/laura-adai-KfphgU3nUqQ-unsplash-scaled.webp\",\"width\":7077,\"height\":4724},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/16\\\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kohen Avocats\",\"description\":\"Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, attorney specialized in real estate and business law in Paris, advises and assists companies and individuals in their real estate, commercial and contractual transactions. He also handles real estate litigation and the resolution of complex commercial disputes.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Kohen Avocats\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Logo-2-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Logo-2-1.webp\",\"width\":2114,\"height\":1253,\"caption\":\"Kohen Avocats\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6254a643e6239d803134a01c800381bd\",\"name\":\"Kohen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kohen\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/author\\\/kohenmlk\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps - Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps","og_description":"Filed accounts are public in France, unless you opt out. Who qualifies for confidential filing, how to file from abroad, and what stays visible.","og_url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/","og_site_name":"Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris","article_published_time":"2026-10-16T00:00:06+00:00","author":"Kohen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kohen","Est. reading time":"17 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/"},"author":{"name":"Kohen","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6254a643e6239d803134a01c800381bd"},"headline":"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps","datePublished":"2026-10-16T00:00:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/"},"wordCount":3397,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/laura-adai-KfphgU3nUqQ-unsplash-scaled.webp","articleSection":["D\u00e9cryptage","Doing Business in France"],"inLanguage":"en-US","citation":"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps","about":[{"@type":"Thing","name":"D\u00e9cryptage"},{"@type":"Thing","name":"Doing Business in France"}],"dateModified":"2026-10-16T00:00:06+00:00","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".article-content > p:first-of-type"]}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/","url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/","name":"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps - Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/laura-adai-KfphgU3nUqQ-unsplash-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-10-16T00:00:06+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/laura-adai-KfphgU3nUqQ-unsplash-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/laura-adai-KfphgU3nUqQ-unsplash-scaled.webp","width":7077,"height":4724},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/foreign-company-france-confidential-accounts-filing-private-abroad\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Your French Company Can Keep Its Accounts Private While You Run It From Abroad: Confidential Filing, Thresholds and Traps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/","name":"Kohen Avocats","description":"Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, attorney specialized in real estate and business law in Paris, advises and assists companies and individuals in their real estate, commercial and contractual transactions. He also handles real estate litigation and the resolution of complex commercial disputes.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#organization","name":"Kohen Avocats","url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Logo-2-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Logo-2-1.webp","width":2114,"height":1253,"caption":"Kohen Avocats"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6254a643e6239d803134a01c800381bd","name":"Kohen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Kohen"},"url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/author\/kohenmlk\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251031309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2149222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2149222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2149222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2149222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}