The deadline registerCommercial company · financial year-end
French annual accounts: approving them within the 6-month limit and filing at the registry
SARL, EURL, SASU and SA normally approve accounts within six months of year-end; a multi-shareholder SAS follows its articles. Judicial extension depends on the applicable text, notably for SARL or SA. Filing follows actual approval within one month, or two online: its date cannot automatically follow the approval limit. Confidentiality depends on size and legal exclusions, activity and group membership (L232-25).
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Give the company form, the year-end date and where the meeting stands.
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What are the deadlines for your financial year?
Choose the company form and the year-end date: the register places the approval limit, the notice to shareholders, filing at the registry and payment of dividends. The example: an SARL whose year ends on 31 March 2026 and which will file its accounts online. The result is indicative: confirm the ordinary-case conditions; a special case or unknown decisive fact prevents calculation.
Fictional example · accounts approval register
Approval by 30 September 2026. The filing deadline requires the actual approval date.
Days left: to be calculated
End of the financial year
Approval by the shareholders in a meeting at the latest: 6 months, article L223-26 of the Commercial Code
Voted dividends paid at the latest: 9 months after the year-end, article L232-13
Publication of the accounts: Confidentiality declaration: the annual accounts are not published.
The 6 months can be extended: application to the president of the commercial court, by the manager (article R223-18-1 of the Commercial Code).
Does the 6-month limit apply to every French company?
No. It is set by law for the SARL (Commercial Code, article L223-26), the EURL (L223-31), the SASU (L227-9) and the SA (L225-100). For an SAS with several shareholders, article L227-1 rules out the SA’s 6-month rule: the articles of association organise the collective decision on the accounts (L227-9).
Even without a legal time limit, an SAS must pay the dividends voted within 9 months of the year-end, unless extended by a court (article L232-13). A year-end on 31 December 2025 therefore requires payment by 30 September 2026 at the latest.
Sources: C. com. L223-26 · C. com. L227-9 · C. com. L232-13
How do you get more time to approve the accounts?
In an SARL, the manager applies to the president of the commercial court, who can extend the 6-month limit by order (Commercial Code, article R223-18-1). In an SA, the request comes from the board of directors or the management board (article R225-64).
With no meeting within the time limit and no extension, the public prosecutor or any interested person, a shareholder for example, can ask the president of the court in summary proceedings to order the manager, under a daily penalty, to call the meeting, or to appoint an agent to do so (article L223-26).
Sources: C. com. R223-18-1 · C. com. L223-26
Within what time must the accounts be filed at the registry after approval?
Within a month of approval, or within 2 months if filed online (Commercial Code, articles L232-22, L232-23 and R123-111). The time limit runs from the date of the meeting or of the sole shareholder’s decision, not from the year-end. If the accounts are not approved, a copy of the resolution is filed within the same time limit.
The filing includes the annual accounts, the proposed and adopted allocation of the result and, if there is one, the statutory auditor’s report. According to Entreprendre Service Public, it is made online on the business formalities portal, on site at the registry or by registered post.
Sources: C. com. L232-22 · Entreprendre Service Public F31214
What are the penalties for late or missing filing?
Not filing the accounts is a class 5 petty offence: a €1,500 fine, €3,000 for a repeat (Commercial Code, article R247-3, and Criminal Code, article 131-13). The president of the court can also order the director, under a daily penalty, to file the accounts, at the request of any interested party or the public prosecutor (article L123-5-1).
Not submitting the accounts for approval is an offence punished by a €9,000 fine for the manager of an SARL (article L241-5), as for the chairman or directors of an SA (article L242-10).
Sources: C. com. R247-3 · C. com. L242-10
Who approves the accounts, and within what time, depending on the company form?
The approval time limit runs from the year-end; the filing time limit, from approval.
| Form | Who approves | Approval time limit | Filing at the registry |
|---|---|---|---|
| SARL | The shareholders in a meeting | 6 months after the year-end (L223-26) | 1 month after approval, 2 months online (L232-22) |
| EURL | The sole shareholder | 6 months (L223-31); sole shareholder who is the manager: filing counts as approval | 1 month, 2 months online (L232-22) |
| SAS with several shareholders | The shareholders, as the articles provide | Set by the articles; dividends paid within 9 months (L232-13) | 1 month, 2 months online (L232-23) |
| SASU | The sole shareholder | 6 months (L227-9); sole shareholder who is the chairman, an individual: filing counts as approval | 1 month, 2 months online (L232-23) |
| SA | The ordinary general meeting | 6 months (L225-100) | 1 month, 2 months online (L232-23) |
Extending the 6 months: application to the president of the commercial court (articles R223-18-1 for the SARL and R225-64 for the SA).
Sources: C. com. L223-26 · C. com. L227-9 · C. com. L232-22
What has changed for approving and filing accounts since 2024?
Three texts changed the thresholds, the documents and the penalties.
New thresholds for micro, small and medium-sized companies, which open confidentiality of the accounts: €450,000 balance sheet and €900,000 turnover for a micro-company, for financial years starting from 1 January 2024 (decree no. 2024-152 of 28 February 2024, Commercial Code article D123-200).
Source: C. com. L232-25
For the companies concerned, the report certifying sustainability information joins the documents sent to shareholders and filed at the registry (ordinance no. 2023-1142 of 6 December 2023).
Sources: C. com. L223-26 · C. com. L232-22
An SA director who does not submit the accounts to the meeting no longer faces 6 months’ imprisonment; the €9,000 fine remains (law no. 2026-403 of 26 May 2026 on simplifying economic life, Commercial Code article L242-10).
Source: C. com. L242-10
What does article L223-26 of the Commercial Code provide for the SARL?
Article L223-26 is the text of the 6-month limit and of the summary proceedings open if no meeting is held.
Le rapport de gestion, l’inventaire et les comptes annuels établis par les gérants, sont soumis à l’approbation des associés réunis en assemblée, dans le délai de six mois à compter de la clôture de l’exercice sous réserve de prolongation de ce délai par décision de justice. Si l’assemblée des associés n’a pas été réunie dans ce délai, le ministère public ou toute personne intéressée peut saisir le président du tribunal compétent statuant en référé afin d’enjoindre, le cas échéant sous astreinte, aux gérants de convoquer cette assemblée ou de désigner un mandataire pour y procéder.
In English, briefly (our summary, not an official translation): The management report, the inventory and the annual accounts drawn up by the managers are submitted for approval to the shareholders in a meeting within six months of the end of the financial year, unless a court extends that time. If no meeting has been held within that time, the public prosecutor or any interested person may apply to the president of the competent court, ruling in summary proceedings, to order the managers, under a daily penalty where appropriate, to call the meeting or to appoint an agent to do so. The shareholders receive the accounts, the management report and the text of the resolutions at least 15 days before the meeting (article R223-18).
What do company directors ask at the financial year-end?
Must an EURL hold a meeting to approve its accounts?
No. The sole shareholder approves the accounts alone within 6 months of the year-end and records the decision in a register. If they are also the sole manager, filing the signed inventory and accounts at the registry within that time counts as approval (Commercial Code, article L223-31).
Can a small French company keep its accounts confidential?
Yes, depending on its size. A micro-company can declare that its accounts will not be published; a small company can keep its income statement confidential, unless it belongs to a group (Commercial Code, article L232-25). The confidentiality declaration goes with the filing.
When is a company a micro-company for its accounts?
When it does not exceed 2 of the following 3 thresholds for the last closed financial year: €450,000 balance sheet total, €900,000 net turnover and 10 employees on average (Commercial Code, articles L123-16-1 and D123-200). A change of category counts after 2 consecutive financial years.
Must the accounts be filed if the meeting rejected them?
Yes. If approval is refused, the company files a copy of the meeting’s resolution, or of the sole shareholder’s decision, within the same time limit of one month, 2 months online (Commercial Code, articles L232-22 and L232-23).
Which texts set these time limits for approval and filing?
- Commercial Code, articles L223-26 and R223-18 (SARL: approval within 6 months, documents 15 days before)Légifrance, in French
- Commercial Code, articles R223-18-1 and R225-64 (extension of the time limit on application)Légifrance, in French
- Commercial Code, articles L227-1 and L227-9 (SAS and SASU), L223-31 (EURL) and L225-100 (SA)Légifrance, in French
- Commercial Code, articles L232-22, L232-23 and R123-111 (filing at the registry)Légifrance, in French
- Commercial Code, article L232-13 (payment of dividends within 9 months)Légifrance, in French
- Commercial Code, articles L232-25, L123-16 and D123-200 (confidentiality and thresholds)Légifrance, in French
- Filing a company’s annual accounts (fiche F31214)Entreprendre Service Public, in French · checked by the publisher on 11 June 2025
- Commercial Code, articles R247-3 and L123-5-1 (failure to file: fine and injunction)Légifrance, in French
- Commercial Code, articles L241-5 and L242-10 (failure to submit the accounts)Légifrance, in French
Texts cited last checked: 25 September 2026