What is a Kbis?
Every company registered with the French company register (RCS) will have a Kbis. It is a company identification document and is the only document that confirms that a business was officially registered with the Commercial Court. A Kbis certifies the company’s creation and existence and thus this document may be requested for a small fee by other firms or individuals in order to verify its legitimacy when undertaking company research before signing a contract. This is in accordance with the fact that the RCS is intended to be readily available to the public, preventing fraud and unlawful behaviour through its accessibility and ability to easily confirm a company’s validity in the eyes of the law. The Kbis extract contains certain information such as the business activity, SIRET/SIREN number, date of creation, company address, legal form and other relevant details. Auto-entrepreneurs will not have a Kbis since they are natural persons; however, all entities registered with the Commercial Court (SAS, EURL, SARL etc) will have access to one. If you require more clarification, or wish to incorporate your own business in France, do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or +33 (0)1 53 93 94 20.