MINDING YOUR BUSINESS - CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette - page 316

Documentation Pratique with detailed information on each
form of enterprise.
Entreprises Individuelles : the simplest form whereby
one person, whose assets are at risk, receives the profit
or loss. No minimum capital investment required. Sole
proprietorships, independent business people and
sole traders.
Société en Nom Collectif (SNC) : rarely found, it is a private
corporation of at least two partners, jointly and severally
liable without limitation for losses.
Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL) : private limited
company with a minimum capital of just

1 and liability
limited to investment. For medium-sized businesses
requiring little financing, this is the simplest type of limited-
liability company, with a minimum of two shareholders
and a maximum of 50. Headquarters may be in a private
home for a maximum of five years.

€

Societé Unipersonnelle à Responsabilité Limitée (EURL) :
like a SARL, but with sole proprietor as a limited-liability
company. Liability is limited to investment in company.

Societé Anonyme (SA) : corporate structure for large
companies traded on the stock exchange involving at least
seven shareholders and a minimum capital of

€ 37,000.

Strict auditing standards are required.

A succursale is a branch office of any company that is
registered in France: it must keep its own accounting books
(except for the balance sheet), issue its own invoices and
receipts, and pay taxes. A filiale (subsidiary) is a separate
entity of a company operating under French statutes, with new
partners and new capital stock. Both must be registered at the
Tribunal de Commerce. A bureau de représentation is a small
office that represents a company headquartered elsewhere.
For alternative strategies for starting businesses and
marketing ideas in France, you might consult David
Applefield, the publisher of Paris Anglophone , at 32 rue
Edouard-Vallant, 93100 Montreuil (tel: [phone]; fax:
01.48.59.66.68; email: [e-mail]; website:
http://www.paris-anglo.com).