What’s the cost to modify the by-laws of a French company?

Modifying by-laws in France

Sometimes, when running a company, you’ll have to modify the by-laws in order to let your company grow and evolve. However, changing these has a cost; and in France, there are three main costs when changing the by-laws:

The costs to publish the modification in a JAL

If you’re modifying your by-laws, then you’ll have to publish an official statement to a JAL, which stands for “Journal d’Annonces Légales” (or Legal Anncouncement Journal). Generally, this will cost around 150€. However, sometimes, you’ll have to make these publications in two different Journals. This is the case, for example, if you’re modifying your by-laws because you’re moving your head office in another department. In these cases, you’ll have to pay twice, so the costs will be up to about 200€.

Filing these modifications to the CFE

When changing your by-laws, you also have to send a complete file detailing these modifications to the CFE, or “Centre de Formalités des Entreprises” (Companies Formalities Center). Here, the cost will be about 185€ if you don’t change departments, and can go up to 250€ if you do.

Having a professional write your by-laws

If you’re not a legal expert, especially if you’re not used to French Law, it might be a good idea to have a professional write your by-laws. Of course, this does insure that your by-laws will suit your needs, but it is also an additional cost that should be taken into account.

As such, modifying your by-laws can be an expensive procedure. Thus, you should always pay attention while writing them, so that you have to modify them as little as possible!