Guichet Unique: all you need to know to be ready by 1 January 2023

All French business procedures will soon be centralized in a one-stop-shop called the Guichet Unique. Starting 1 January 2023, all French-based companies in the process of being registered will need to go through it. Already existing companies will gradually use the new Guichet Unique platform for their business admin needs later on.

What is that going to change for you? What will the main differences be compared to the current system? What impact can we expect from this shift? Let’s explore the changes in this article.

The one-stop-shop, Guichet Unique, is a measure implemented by the French Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation (loi PACTE - link in French) and designed to make your life as an entrepreneur easier.

The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) will manage this online platform.

• whether you have a company (SAS; SARL; SASU; EURL) or a sole enterprise (including a micro-enterprise);
• whatever your field (merchants, artisans, liberal or agricultural activities, etc.).

In its first phase, however, the Guichet Unique will become the sole point of contact for company creators. It’ll then progressively open to all entrepreneurs in a later phase.

In fact, when it comes to company registrations, this new online service is already open to all. On it, you’ll find a single form you’ll use to declare anything related to the company you wish to register. 

Allowing entrepreneurs to declare anything at every stage of their company’s life, from registration and modification to closure, 100% online, on a single, centralized platform is a massive undertaking. So, a transition phase is likely to first be put in place.

According to Ouest France (link in French), company registrations should be the first available on the Guichet Unique platform starting 1st January 2023.

To modify information about your business or to terminate it, for the time being, it looks like you’ll still want to use the Guichet des Entreprises platform. In practice, what is that going to mean for you?

Let’s see how registering a company will work going forward.

Starting 1 January 2023, to register a new company, you’ll want to hop on the Guichet Unique website. The currently existing platforms will most likely no longer work.

With the Guichet Unique, to start a business, you’ll no longer need to identify which is the correct form for your legal structure (SAS, SARL, SASU…) yourself.

Instead, there’ll be a single form to fill out online, where you’ll answer several questions about your future company. This form alone will replace a total of 56 forms that were previously available in paper format.

You’ll also need to upload all the required supporting documents (link in French).

In case you need assistance, you’ll find several tools (link in French) at your disposal on the Guichet Unique website, including tooltips, a chatbot, a hotline, and an online contact form.

Are you looking to declare a change in your business activity, address, name, or in the company’s executives? Soon, you’ll be able to declare any modification to your company’s information on the Guichet Unique’s website. Then, once you locate the company you wish to modify in their database, you’ll be able to directly change the sections that need to be updated in the form.

Closing down your business (or terminating it) puts an official end to its existence.

To close down your company, you’ll need to use the “cessation de l’entreprise” (termination of the business) form. This form is different from the creation and modification form, as specific information is required from you to terminate your business.

The current system involves the 6 French Business Formalities Centers (Centre des Formalités des Entreprises or CFE), all specialized by activity and situated in different parts of France.

The Guichet Unique’s goal is to remove the need for such a system by entirely digitizing and simplifying the whole process.

Currently, paperwork for all company procedures is sent, either online or via postal mail, to the relevant Business Formalities Center (CFE).

Then, that center transmits your file(s) to all the other qualified organizations (such as the French Statistics and Economic Studies Institute - INSEE -, the URSSAF, and the Corporate Tax Office - SIE - and so on).

On 1 January 2023, once the Guichet Unique will be live, it looks like it’ll become your sole point of contact for company creation. It’ll be in charge of:

• receiving all future company creation requests;
• sending these requests simultaneously to the relevant Greffe (registry) and the various other administrations involved (INSEE, URSSAF, SIE);
• and then collecting back the documents from the different administrations (such as the SIREN number and the APE code provided by the INSEE).Everything will then be done online on the Guichet Unique website. There'll no longer be any paper-based applications to mail.

Another change is the creation of a new register: the National Register of Companies (Registre National des Entreprises or RNE in French), which collects, stores, and disseminates information on companies. It will replace the existing registers, which were:

• the National Register of Commerce and Companies (Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés or RCS in French);
• the Trade Directory (Répertoire des métiers or RM in French);
• the Register of Agricultural Assets (Registre des actifs agricoles or RAA in French).

As a reminder, all companies need to register to exist legally. This registration takes place when you start your business.