Check a French supplier with official sources

A new supplier sends a quote, a bank account and a SIREN. Before anyone pays or signs, someone has to answer three questions: does this company exist, is it still active, and is it in an insolvency procedure? Done by hand, that means two or three government websites, a screenshot and a note in a spreadsheet. Done with official sources through an API, it takes a couple of minutes and leaves a record your auditor can check.

Short answer: start from the SIREN. Read the company's status in the official register (INSEE's Sirene directory, through the State's Annuaire des Entreprises), check the BODACC for insolvency notices, and keep the source, the check date and, if you verify, a proof code with the result. Everything below uses real answers that Fuentio's live API returned on 12 October 2026.

What you'll learn

What to check, in which order, and why the SIREN comes first
How to read the status, including what “ceased” means and doesn't mean
How to check insolvency notices without mistaking silence for a clean record
What to keep in your supplier file
How to run the same check on a whole list

Step 1: start from the SIREN

The SIREN is the 9-digit number that identifies a French company in the national directory. Every other number derives from it: the SIRET (14 digits) identifies one establishment, and the French VAT number is “FR”, two check characters and the SIREN. If your supplier gives you a SIRET or a VAT number, you can still get back to the company.

A name alone is not enough. Many French companies share a name, and the first result of a search is often not the one you want. If you only have a name, search first, compare the address, then keep the SIREN. Our guide to finding a company's SIREN or SIRET explains where the number appears, and the formats explained shows how to catch a typo with the check digit before you look anything up.

Step 2: read the status in the official register

The register tells you whether the company is active or ceased, and since when. This is what the live API answered on 12 October 2026 for Danone's SIREN:

DANONE (FR, SIREN 552032534) is active as of 2026-09-10, source: Annuaire des Entreprises (API Recherche d'entreprises).

Three things matter in that line. The status (“active”), its date (“as of 2026-09-10”, the date the register gives for that state) and the source. With the same answer you also get the registered office, the legal form, the activity code, the SIRET of the head office and the VAT number as the source publishes it.

Now a company that no longer trades. We asked the API to verify Peugeot SA (SIREN 552100554) for onboarding:

FR data: partial coverage (All French companies in the public Sirene directory, live from the official Annuaire des Entreprises API (refreshed after 7 days).). PEUGEOT SA (FR, SIREN 552100554): unverified, inactive per Annuaire des Entreprises (API Recherche d'entreprises), checked 2026-10-12. Proof FUE-FR-20261012-C8G7R6.

The outcome is “unverified”, with the reason “company_inactive”: the register shows the company as ceased (cessée) since 16 January 2021. A valid number and a well-known name are not enough, and the answer says so instead of returning a green tick.

One caution on wording. In France, “ceased” is the directory's status: the company has stopped its activity in the register. It is not the same thing as a legal dissolution, which is a separate event with its own publication. Our article on whether a French company is still active or ceased goes into the difference, and why a closed establishment doesn't mean a ceased company.

Step 3: check insolvency notices in the BODACC

Collective proceedings (safeguard, receivership, liquidation) are published in the BODACC, the official bulletin of civil and commercial announcements. A company can be active in the register and in receivership at the same time, so this is a separate check.

For Peugeot SA, the insolvency check returned:

Insolvency: not_covered; 0 notice(s).

with this note from the API: “From BODACC A insolvency notices (DILA), linked by SIREN. Notices about people and personal sanctions are left out. No notice outside the loaded years is not proof of no procedure.”

That last sentence is the important one. Notices are loaded from 2008; “no notice found” means no notice in the years covered, never that the company is safe. A good check says what it could not cover, and so should your file. For a list of suppliers to watch, see how to watch French suppliers for cessation and collective proceedings.

Step 4: keep the evidence

A check is only useful later if you can show what you saw, when, and where it came from. For each supplier, keep:

The SIREN, and the company name as the register writes it.
The status and its date.
The registered office as the register writes it, so you can compare it with the invoice.
The source of each fact and the date it was checked.
What could not be confirmed: for example, VAT registration (which only the European VIES service confirms) or insolvency notices outside the loaded years.
If you ran a verification, its proof code. With Fuentio, verify_company returns a proof code such as FUE-FR-20261012-C8G7R6, which lets you, or your auditor, retrieve the exact verification later.

That is the difference between “someone looked at it” and a record you can defend.

Run it on a whole list

Checking one supplier by hand is fine. Checking two hundred every quarter is not. The same three steps run through an API:

Look up each SIREN (lookup_company, 1 unit): status, address, identifiers, source, check date.
Check insolvency for the ones you rely on (check_insolvency, 1 unit): BODACC notices and what is covered.
Verify the ones you are about to pay or sign (verify_company, 5 units): an outcome with reasons and a proof code.

You can call the REST API from your procurement tool or a script, or connect the MCP server to an AI agent and ask, in plain words, “Is SIREN 552032534 still active? Give sources.” Every answer has the same shape, so the results go straight into a spreadsheet. The docs list every tool and unit, and the examples page shows more real answers.

Want to see it on your own suppliers first? The free pilot checks up to 20 of them and sends back a file within 24 hours, with the sources, the check dates and what could not be confirmed.

Try it now without a key (20 units a day), or create a free key with 100 units a month: see the pricing page.

See what we cover in France and Spain.

Limits. France has no share capital in this source, and companies that opted out of public diffusion are not in it. Insolvency notices are loaded from 2008. VAT registration is not checked. No person's name is served. A register check confirms what the register records; the decision stays yours.

Frequently asked questions

Is a valid SIREN proof that a supplier exists?

No. A valid SIREN only means the number is well formed. You need the record in the register, and its status, to know the company exists and is active.

Does “ceased” mean the company was dissolved?

No. “Ceased” (cessée) is the directory's status. A legal dissolution is a separate event.

If the BODACC shows no notice, is the supplier safe?

No. It means no notice in the years covered. Record what was covered, and check again before large payments.

Can I check the supplier's directors too?

Fuentio checks companies only: no person's name is served. Read the officers in the official register if your process requires it.

Sources

Annuaire des Entreprises, the State's company directory: annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr
BODACC, official bulletin of civil and commercial announcements: bodacc.fr
European Commission, VIES VAT number validation: ec.europa.eu