The head office corresponds mainly to the legal address of a company. It determines its nationality and therefore, the legislation it is subjected to, under the authority of a designated court.

It also serves as the company’s administrative and tax address and must appear on all important documents : status, K-bis, invoices and mail. However, do not confuse the head office with the place of business. Both can certainly be at the same place, but your business can also be conducted in a secondary facility.

 

Why change the address of your head office ?

  • Transfer from the manager’s place of residence :

At the creation of the company, the legal representative’s home address can be designated as the head office. But that means having your work life interfering with your private one, by exposing your personal address.

  • Changing the place of business :

One day, you could also end up having to change your place of business. If the business address is the same as the head office, you will have to change it. Though if you decide to change it several times during the company’s existence, it can be bad for you image and your credibility in the eyes of your clients and your potential customers since it will be more difficult for them to find you.

  • Improve the company’s image :

It is also a matter of cost, since your are being charged for the transfer of your head office. The different costs entail : legal notice fees, registration fees to the Commercial Court where your company is affiliated to, and possibly fees charged by your board for holding a General Assembly to approve the new head office.

Transferring your head office might nevertheless be a smart decision to take in order to gain more notoriety and visibility. You could set up your head office in a big city like Paris for instance, even if you live outside of the capital or abroad. Your choice must be strategic in order to ensure the growth of your company. According to your line of business, focus on a business quarter or an iconic district.

 

What are the different steps for the transfer of your head office ?

  1. Change the status :

The status define the company’s characteristics (term, head office, corporate purpose, amount of the capital, inflows), as well as the business processes.

If the decision is to take amid the associates : summon a general assembly.

But if the decision can be taken by the legal representative : first of all, you need to establish a statement of your decision to transfer the head office. This statement will be an essential item to register your new head office.

Secondly, it will be necessary to confirm this transfer during your next annual general assembly.

  1. Publish a notification of change in a legal announcements newspaper :

You must publish a notification of change in a legal announcements newspaper within a month after the change of the status. It must be published in a qualified legal announcements newspaper, in the county where is located the company’s head office.

If your new head office is located in the same county, therefore it depends on the same commercial court. In this case, one notification is enough.

But if your head office is transferred to another county, it will depend on a new commercial court, requiring two legal announcements.

Please note : as for the Paris area, legal announcements newspapers are regional. Thus, only one announcement is enough.

  1. Advise the Registry of the Commercial Court of your head office’s transfer :

The modification of the status must be registered within the Registry of the Commercial Court on which the new head office depends, in order to obtain an updated K-bis extract.

This involves not only time-consuming administrative procedures which require expertise, but also a cost (registry fees + legal announcement fees). If not executed correctly, you will have to make modifications that will result in additional costs.

 

Why choose a domiciliation company and why DomaParis ?

Choosing a domiciliation company as your head office address is to choose stability by benefitting from a secure and prestigious address, very well located most of the time.

It also gives you access to numerous services such as mail management, office rent or even paperwork and formalities management (company creation or transfer), and allows you to stay focus on your core business.

At DomaParis, 55 boulevard Pereire, we can provide you with this stability, in the very heart of a dynamic business and commercial district that is the 17th arrondissement of Paris. Moreover, we are qualified to carry out, on your behalf, all the formalities within the Registry of the Commercial Court.

 

For more information please contact us by email or by phone : contact@domaparis.com – (+33) 1 44 29 73 73