Under Law No. 2019-486 of May 22, 2019 on the growth and transformation of businesses, known as the PACTE law, the government is pursuing its goal of dematerializing and simplifying administrative procedures for French businesses around the one-stop shop and the National Business Register (RNE).

The one-stop shop, the only access point to facilitate business formalities

Since January 1, 2023, the INPI's e-procedures portal is the only access point for creating a company, declaring a legal change, transmitting the publication of its annual accounts or carrying out the formality for the cessation of its activities.

Entirely dematerialized and secured, this electronic business formalities window is called "Guichet unique". It replaces the six networks of Business Formalities Centers (CFE) that were managed respectively by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Chambers of Trade, the Registries, the DGFIP and the Urssaf, as well as in some cases by the Business Tax Services (SIE). However, the former CFEs will continue to be responsible for examining the files submitted by companies via the Guichet unique.

Within this new framework, there is no longer any distinction between the activities carried out by companies. All types of companies (SAS and SASU, SARL and EURL, SCI, SNC, Civil companies, SEL, etc.), as well as individual entrepreneurs and micro-entrepreneurs must carry out their formalities via the One-Stop Shop.

Only associations, co-ownership syndicates and foundations are not concerned by the One-Stop Shop. For those who are not very comfortable with computers, the annual accounts can still be filed in paper form at the relevant registry.

The one-stop shop for businesses (companies, merchants, businesses in the trades and crafts sector) centralizes all formalities and saves business owners from having to apply to different organizations. Nevertheless, the registration of information in the event of registration, amending registrations or the filing of documents in the RNE is still subject to a fee, depending on the nature of the formality to be carried out. Decree n° 2022-1015 of July 19, 2022 sets the fees for these formalities .

In this desire for simplification, the decree n° 2021-631 of May 21, 2021 for more than 95 administrative procedures, companies communicating their SIREN number are exempted from providing a K extract for micro-entrepreneurs, Kbis for commercial companies or D1 for craft companies.

What changes for businesses with One-Stop shopping in 2023?

The benefits of OWNERS

formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr becomes the only site to carry out all business formalities.
Dematerialization of formalities, to declare the creation, the modifications or the cessation of a company.
The RNE is :
- The only registration body for French entities carrying out an economic activity.
- Access to centralized and accessible information on all national companies (INSEE, registries, chambers of trades and crafts, agricultural social mutualities, tax or social security services, etc.)

A single dematerialized portal for centralized access to all information and formalities for the creation, modification and cessation of activities, regardless of the legal form and sector of activity.
Elimination of the 56 forms in favor of a single dynamic form accessible online.
A personalized space allowing to :
- have visibility on the status of the processing of formalities,
- put a formality on hold, resume it at a later date and submit additional documents to the files.
The head of the company can delegate the company's formalities to an employee or an agent. To do so, he must draw up a delegation of authority.

The National Register of Companies directly fed with data by the One-Stop-Shop

The National Register of Companies (RNE) is now responsible for registering French companies engaged in economic activity. It is managed by the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) and digitally stores all information concerning companies and their managers. The data provided by the declarants, the creators and the company managers are automatically sent and recorded in the RNE which :

replaces the National Register of Commerce and Companies (RCS) without eliminating it. The clerks of the Commercial Courts still have the mission of keeping the RCS and the RSAC for commercial agents. Moreover, they also continue to issue the Kbis and to feed the Bodacc (Bulletin Officiel Des Annonces Civiles et Commerciales) with registered acts.
includes the Répertoire des Métiers (RM) and the Registre des Actifs Agricoles (RAA).
includes companies that were not previously included in any register, such as sole traders.

When a company is created, it receives a unique identification number called SIREN and a main activity code (APE) issued by INSEE. This company, also called a legal unit, is registered with this information on Data INPI; with the exception of certain confidential information, this data can be consulted by anyone.

The Guichet unique is responsible for feeding and updating the National Register of Companies. For commercial or craft companies, the information provided is checked and validated before being integrated in order to prevent documentary fraud.

The clerks of the commercial courts or courts of law with jurisdiction over commercial matters, the presidents of the chambers of trade and crafts, and the agricultural social security funds are authorized to verify the information collected by the Guichet unique. Decree 2022-1014 provides that these validation bodies may request additional supporting documents if there is any doubt about the authenticity of the documents produced by the company, check their validity and automatically deregister any person who has not regularized his or her situation within one month.

Since the introduction of the One-Stop Shop, it has been observed that many formalities have been rejected. Approximately two-thirds of the formalities were subject to at least one request for additional documents or information, and 20% of the formalities were finally rejected for non-compliance, compared to less than 10% previously.

It is compulsory to publish a legal announcement in a medium authorized to receive legal announcements (SHAL) at the time of various events in the life of a company (SARL, SA, SAS, etc.). This publication is required at the creation or dissolution of a company, as well as at the time of transformations or modifications such as a change of director, a change of corporate purpose, a transfer of registered office, an increase in capital. Craftsmen and merchants operating as sole proprietorships (EI, EIRL, micro-entrepreneur) and EIGs are not concerned by this publication obligation.

The RNE merges and centralizes business registers
Activity	Old register	Registry as of January^1, 2023
Commercial	National Register of Commerce and Companies (RNCS)	National Business Registry ; As an additional item:
	Special Register of Commercial Agents (RSAC)	- National Register of Commerce and Companies (RNCS)
		- Special Register of Commercial Agents (RSAC)
Artisanal	Trade Directory (RM)	National Register of Companies
Liberal		National Register of Companies
Agricultural	Register of Agricultural Assets (RAA)	National Register of Companies