Writing by-laws
When you’re creating a company in France, it is mandatory that you write by-laws for your company. But what exactly are they, and how do you write them?
Summary:
- What are by-laws?
- The rules to know when writing by-laws
- If I want to write the by-laws myself
- If Iwant to ask a professional to write them
What are by-laws?
The by-laws are basically the set of rules that oversee the interactions between associates and third-parties. In other words, it’s the document that defined how the company is managed.
For associates, this is the document that is going to define how important they are when it comes to voting for decisions in Board Meetings; while third parties will get most of the important information about the company from there.
The rules to know when writing by-laws
You should know that by-laws must always be written, and they must have certain pieces of information:
- The type of company
- Its duration
- Its name
- The head office
- Its corporate purpose
- The contributions of the associates
- How the company is managed
- How much social capital (or equity) the company has
If I want to write the by-laws myself?
Technically, nothing prevents you from writing the by-laws yourself. However, because of inexperience, it’s likely that you forget certain points, or that you don’t understand just how important other sections are.
If you want to take a model from the Internet, make sure that it is written by a professional, or that it comes from a trusted website! Even if they don’t actually write the by-laws, it might still be a good idea to have professionals look at the finished document to make sure you haven’t forgotten something important.
If I want to ask a professional to write them?
While this is undoubtedly the safest option, remember that is has a cost! Depending on whom you ask, and how difficult the by-laws are to write, this can cost between a few hundred euros to a few thousand.
As for who could write them, lawyers or notaries are usually the most qualified, though you could also ask an accountant.
