A supplier rarely disappears without warning. Before deliveries stop, there's usually a trace in an official source: a change of registered office, a sale of the business, the opening of collective proceedings, a cessation. The problem is that nobody is reading those sources for your suppliers. This guide shows which official French sources carry these signals, what each signal means, and how to set up a simple routine to catch them.
The descriptions of each source come from INSEE, service-public.fr and Légifrance, read on 9 October 2026.
What you'll learn
- The signals worth following for a French supplier
- Where each one is published
- What collective proceedings mean for you as a customer
- A routine that fits the size of your supplier list
- What these sources won't tell you
Two sources, two kinds of signal
INSEE's Sirene directory holds each company's administrative status. A legal unit is either active or ceased, with a date; each establishment is either active or closed. When a company ceases, Sirene records it. This is the clearest end-of-life signal, but it often comes late: a company in liquidation can remain active in Sirene until the proceedings close.
The BODACC, the official bulletin of civil and commercial announcements, publishes the acts registered in the trade and companies register. According to service-public.fr, that includes sales and transfers of businesses, registrations, changes and removals, collective proceedings, conciliation and recovery procedures, and notices of filed accounts. This is where the earlier signals appear.
The signals, from early to late
A sale or transfer of the business
If your supplier sells its business (fonds de commerce) to another company, the people and the product may stay the same while the legal entity you contract with changes. Your contract, your invoices and your payment details must follow.
A change of registered office or legal name
Not a warning in itself, but your records must be updated, and a move far away or a series of quick changes deserves a question.
Safeguard, receivership, liquidation
Collective proceedings published in the BODACC are the key signal for a customer. According to service-public.fr:
- Safeguard (sauvegarde) is for a business with difficulties it can't overcome, which must not be in cessation of payments. It lets business continue.
- Receivership (redressement judiciaire) is for a business in cessation of payments (its available cash no longer covers its due debts). It lets business continue.
- Judicial liquidation (liquidation judiciaire) is for a business in cessation of payments whose recovery is clearly impossible. It ends the business, and its assets are sold to pay creditors.
For a customer, what matters is practical: will deliveries continue, who decides on ongoing contracts, and what happens to any prepayment. If you've paid a deposit or depend on the supplier for a critical part, talk to your legal advisers as soon as the judgment is published: claims follow specific rules and deadlines.
Cessation in Sirene
The company is closed. Stop orders, close the account in your systems with the date and source, and check whether another company has taken over the business. See how to check whether a French company is still active.
Don't forget the subcontractor's vigilance attestation
If you subcontract work of at least €5,000 excluding tax, article R8222-1 of the Labour Code makes the vigilance checks mandatory, and, according to service-public.fr, the client must obtain the contractor's attestation de vigilance when signing and then every six months until the work ends. A supplier who can't produce a current attestation is a signal in itself. See how to check a French company before you sign.
A routine that fits your list
You don't need to watch every supplier the same way. Sort them into three groups:
| Group | Examples | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Single source, large prepayments, long contracts | Status and BODACC every week or two |
| Important | Regular suppliers with open orders | Status and BODACC every month |
| Occasional | One-off purchases | Before each new order |
Each check is the same: is the company still active, and has anything been published since the last check? Write down the date you checked and what you found. When something changes, the person who owns the supplier relationship decides what to do: the register gives facts, not decisions.
What to write down when something changes
When a check finds something, the note you write is what lets someone else act on it later. Keep it short and factual:
- What changed: the status, or the title of the BODACC announcement.
- Where you saw it: Sirene through the Annuaire des Entreprises, or the BODACC, with the announcement's date.
- When you checked.
- Who was told, and what they decided: continue, pause new orders, ask for a guarantee, look for a second supplier.
Avoid adjectives. "Receivership opened, published in the BODACC on that date" is useful a year later; "supplier in trouble" isn't. And keep the note with the supplier's record, not in an email thread: the next person to deal with this supplier should find it without asking.
Doing it for many suppliers
Checking ten suppliers by hand is a short task. Checking two hundred every month isn't, and that's where routines break. The status part is a lookup per SIREN, which is easy to automate as long as you keep the source and date with each answer. Reading collective proceedings is a separate step, from the BODACC. For a wider view of register checks across teams, see register checks beyond KYB.
Fuentio's API will return, for a SIREN, the current status and its date, with the source and the check date. Collective proceedings are read in the BODACC. The API isn't open yet: join the waitlist below to hear the day it opens.
See what we cover in France and Spain.
Limits. The descriptions of the sources come from INSEE, service-public.fr and Légifrance, read on 9 October 2026. A cessation can be recorded in Sirene weeks after the business stops; collective proceedings are published in the BODACC. Neither source predicts a failure, and Fuentio doesn't assess a company's solvency. Not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Can a supplier in receivership keep delivering?
Often, yes: according to service-public.fr, receivership lets business continue. Ask the supplier, and get advice on your ongoing contract.
Where are collective proceedings published?
In the BODACC, which publishes the acts registered in the trade and companies register, including collective proceedings.
Is a ceased company in Sirene always closed?
Yes, a ceased legal unit has stopped. But a company can still be active in Sirene while in liquidation, until the proceedings close.
How often should I check my suppliers?
It depends on the risk: every week or two for critical ones, monthly for important ones, before each order for occasional ones.
Sources
- Service-public.fr, consulting the BODACC (page checked on 2 October 2026): entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr
- BODACC: bodacc.fr
- Service-public.fr, safeguard, receivership and liquidation (read on 9 October 2026): safeguard, receivership, liquidation
- Légifrance, article R8222-1 of the Labour Code: legifrance.gouv.fr
- Service-public.fr, using subcontracting: the client's vigilance duty (page checked on 27 June 2026, read on 9 October 2026): entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr
- Annuaire des Entreprises: annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr