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Your French Customer or Supplier Is "Radiée" or "Cessée": What It Means and What to Do

What "radiée" and "cessée" mean for a French company, where each appears, how collective proceedings fit in, and what creditors and customers should do next.

· By the Fuentio team · 7 min read

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You look up a customer that owes you money, or a supplier that stopped answering, and the register says radiée (struck off) or cessée (ceased). Two French words, two different registers, and a lot of questions: is the company gone, can you still get paid, who do you talk to now? This guide explains what each status means, where it comes from, how collective proceedings fit in, and the practical next steps.

Rules come from service-public.fr and Légifrance, read on 10 October 2026.

What you'll learn

  • The difference between "cessée" and "radiée"
  • Where each status appears, and when
  • How liquidation and other collective proceedings fit in
  • The two-month deadline for creditors to declare a claim
  • What to do as a customer, a supplier or a creditor

"Cessée" and "radiée": two registers, two words

Cessée comes from INSEE's Sirene directory, the statistical and administrative directory of all French businesses. A legal unit is either active or ceased, with a date. When a company stops, Sirene records it as ceased. See how to check whether a French company is still active.

Radiée (struck off) refers to the company registers: removal from the trade and companies register (RCS) or the national company register (RNE). It's the formal end of the registration. According to service-public.fr, the BODACC publishes the acts registered in the RCS, including removals (radiations) of natural and legal persons.

In practice, both usually tell the same story at the end of a company's life, but at different moments and with different dates. Don't be surprised if one shows the change before the other.

Where liquidation fits in

A company can end in two broad ways:

  • It closes voluntarily: the partners decide to wind it up, a liquidator settles its affairs, and the company is then struck off.
  • It goes through collective proceedings: safeguard, receivership or judicial liquidation, opened by a court. According to service-public.fr, judicial liquidation concerns a business in cessation of payments whose recovery is clearly impossible; it ends the business, and its assets are sold to pay creditors.

The key point for you: a company in liquidation can still show as active in Sirene until the proceedings close. The signal to watch is the BODACC, where collective proceedings are published. Service-public.fr has a page explaining how to find out whether a company is in collective proceedings. See keeping an eye on French suppliers.

If the company owes you money: the two-month deadline

This is the most important rule in this guide. Under the Commercial Code's provisions on claims (articles R622-21 to R622-26), when collective proceedings are opened, creditors must declare their claims within two months of the publication of the opening judgment in the BODACC. For proceedings opened by a court in metropolitan France, that deadline is extended by two months for creditors who don't reside there.

A creditor who misses the deadline risks not being paid; there's a procedure to ask for relief, but it's strict. So:

  1. Check the BODACC as soon as a customer stops paying or a supplier stops answering.
  2. Note the publication date of any opening judgment: your two months start there.
  3. Declare your claim to the court-appointed representative named in the judgment, with your invoices and contracts.
  4. Get advice if the amount matters: claims follow precise rules.

What to do, by situation

You're a customer and your supplier has ceased or been struck off

  • Stop orders and payments to the old entity.
  • Close the account in your systems, with the date and the source.
  • Find out whether the business continues under another company (a new SIREN), and start your checks again with that one. See how to check a French company before you sign.
  • If you paid a deposit for goods not delivered, you're a creditor: see the deadline above.

You're a supplier and your customer has ceased or been struck off

  • Stop delivering on credit.
  • Check the BODACC for collective proceedings and their dates.
  • Declare your claim within the deadline if proceedings are open.
  • Keep the record: invoices, delivery notes, the status and the date you saw it.

You find an old customer marked "cessée" in your CRM

What to keep in your file

Whatever your situation, a short, dated file makes the next steps easier:

  • the company's legal name and SIREN;
  • the status you saw (active, ceased, struck off) and where;
  • the BODACC announcements you read, with their publication dates;
  • your invoices, delivery notes, contracts and any correspondence;
  • the date you declared your claim, and to whom, if proceedings are open.

Keep the file with the customer or supplier record in your systems, not in someone's inbox: the person who handles the next step may not be the one who noticed the problem.

Prevention beats recovery

Most of these situations announce themselves earlier: a change of registered office, a sale of the business, safeguard or receivership published in the BODACC. A routine check of your important customers and suppliers, monthly or before each large order, catches the early signals while you can still act.

Fuentio's API will return, for a SIREN, the current status (active or ceased) with its date, the source and the check date. Collective proceedings are read in the BODACC. It isn't open yet: join the waitlist below to hear the day it opens.

See what we cover in France and Spain.

Limits. The rules come from service-public.fr (BODACC, page checked on 2 October 2026; judicial liquidation; collective proceedings) and Légifrance (Commercial Code, articles R622-21 to R622-26), read on 10 October 2026. Deadlines can depend on the procedure: get advice for any claim. Fuentio returns register facts and doesn't assess solvency. Not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between "radiée" and "cessée"?

"Cessée" is the status in INSEE's Sirene directory; "radiée" means removed from the company register (RCS or RNE). Both mark the end of a company, from different registers.

Can a company in liquidation still be "active"?

Yes. It can remain active in Sirene until the proceedings close. Look at the BODACC.

How long do I have to declare a claim?

Two months from the publication of the opening judgment in the BODACC, extended by two months for creditors outside metropolitan France when the court is in metropolitan France.

Can I still be paid by a struck-off company?

It depends on the procedure and the company's assets. Declare your claim in time and get advice.

Sources

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