Complete Guide to BODACC 2026

In brief: the BODACC is the Official Bulletin of Civil and Commercial Announcements: the official journal that publishes the life of French companies every day. Incorporations, filing of accounts, collective proceedings, removals from the register: everything that changes in a company is announced there. It is free, public and available online, our work at BODACC.io: bringing order to this data, and above all keeping it free and accessible to everyone.

Introduction

The BODACC is the official bulletin that publishes the official life of French companies every day: creations, registrations, filing of accounts, collective proceedings, removals from the register. This complete guide to the BODACC 2026 tells you everything: where this data comes from, how to consult it free of charge, read a notice step by step and use it via the API, with real examples and figures verified day by day.

This guide was designed to meet a concrete need: understanding the BODACC without unnecessary jargon, with real examples and figures verified day by day. Our mission at BODACC.io can be summed up in one sentence: bringing order to public company data, and above all keeping it free and accessible to everyone. That is exactly what you will discover page after page.

💬 "Public data that sleeps is of no use to anyone: our role is to wake it up and make it useful." Nans M., founder of BODACC.io

What is the BODACC?

The BODACC (Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales) is an official publication issued by DILA (Direction de l'information légale et administrative), under the authority of the Ministry of Justice. It gathers legal notices concerning businesses and traders: registrations, incorporations, amendments, filing of accounts, insolvency proceedings, removals from the register, and sales of business assets.

Many people wonder why this bulletin exists and what it really contains. The answer comes down to one sentence: when a company is incorporated, amended, placed in receivership or liquidation, or removed from the trade register, the event must be made public, and it is the BODACC that provides this legal publicity. In practice, each publication day brings several thousand notices to the BODACC, a daily pace that makes this bulletin a unique source of information on the French economic fabric. Every day, thousands of events that change the lives of businesses pass through this bulletin: a goldmine for anyone who knows how to read it.

It should not be confused with the Journal officiel (which publishes laws and decrees), nor with the journaux d'annonces légales (JAL) where companies publish their paid notices. This guide details these differences below, because they are the source of much confusion and, sometimes, unpleasant surprises.

Who publishes BODACC?

BODACC is published by the DILA (Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information), a service of the Prime Minister. The DILA is also the publisher of the Official Journal, the Official Bulletin of Mandatory Legal Notices (BALO) and the Official Bulletin of Public Procurement Notices (BOAMP). Put plainly: it is the administration that centralizes legal publication in France, and BODACC is one of its most widely consulted showcases.

The notices found in BODACC come from the registries of commercial and judicial courts, which transmit information from the trade and companies register (RCS). This chain is important to understand: the registry records, the DILA publishes. It is this two-step process that guarantees the official and enforceable nature of the information: when a notice appears in BODACC, it is authoritative, and no one can claim to be unaware of it. This also explains the short delay between the event (for example a judgment) and its publication in the bulletin: the time it takes for the information to travel from the court to publication.

The 4 BODACC publications: A, B, C, E

The BODACC is organized into four series according to the type of notice and the audience concerned. This is a very frequent question, because the letters A, B, C and E appear everywhere without ever being explained:

Series	Content
A	Commercial companies: registrations, modifications, removals, transfers
B	Individual traders and craftspeople: registrations, modifications, removals
C	Acts and judgments: collective proceedings (receivership, liquidation, transfer plan), filing of accounts
E	Foreign individuals and companies with an establishment in France

In practice, when you search for a company, you will most often come across series A. When you search for an individual trader, it will be series B. Series C and E concern more specific situations: collective proceedings and foreign establishments. Knowing these four series saves you precious time in your searches, because you immediately know where to look and what each notice means.

Precision note: the exact details of the scope of each series are to be confirmed in the official DILA documentation at the time of final publication.

BODACC is free and public

Yes: BODACC is free. The bulletin can be consulted freely and is open to everyone, with no account, no subscription, no payment. It is public data produced by the French administration, freely reusable. Many entrepreneurs are surprised to discover that this source exists and that it is free: accustomed to paying for information about companies, they often do not know that the essentials are freely accessible.

Free access is not a detail: it sets France apart from most of its European neighbours (see below). And it paves the way for services like ours: because the data is open, it can be consulted in real time, translated, cross referenced with other sources and used to create automatic alerts, for example being notified when a specific company changes status. That is the whole difference between data that exists and data that works for you.

An official source, and ways to read it

BODACC is published by DILA, and it is the reference. Access is free, open to everyone, and that is already huge. But a source, even an official one, does not tell what it contains all by itself. Between the raw publication and the useful information, there is a step that everyone takes in their own way: reading.

On bodacc.fr, each notice can be viewed exactly as it was published. It is the raw material, accurate and complete. To verify a specific point, the date of a publication, the existence of a proceeding, it is the right place, and it must be said clearly: the official site does its job perfectly.

What BODACC.io offers is another way of reading the same source. The notices are linked to one another: a company, its successive events, its directors, its changes of registered office or share capital. A business founder can look at what is happening in their sector. A buyer can compare the sale prices of a type of business. A journalist can follow a company's evolution over the months, without having to look up each notice one by one.

Let us take a concrete example, that of a sale of a business. The official notice states the activity, the location, the stated price. That is already valuable information. But to know whether that price is in line with its sector, it must be compared with other recent sales, of the same type, in the same region. It is possible, but doing it by hand requires considerable work. This is exactly the kind of reading that our site makes accessible.

Another example, more everyday: a company changes its director, transfers its registered office, increases its share capital. Each event appears in BODACC. Linked together, they tell a trajectory. For a supplier, a partner, a candidate for a management position, that trajectory is first hand information.

It is not about setting the source against its readings. The source remains the source, and we refer to it, we cite it, we depend on it. It is simply about stating what everyone knows: the same piece of data does not have the same value depending on how it is read, compared and followed. It is that reading that we are building, notice after notice.

BODACC or Journal officiel: what is the difference?

This is probably the most common confusion, and it is understandable: both publications are called "official", both are published by DILA, and yet they do not publish the same thing at all. The Journal officiel (JO) publishes laws, decrees, appointments and association notices. The BODACC publishes the life of companies and traders.

• Journal officiel → legal texts, associations, BALO (listed companies), BOAMP (public procurement)
• BODACC → legal notices of companies, traders and collective proceedings

The simple rule to remember: if you are looking for a company, you go to BODACC. If you are looking for a law, an association or a public contract, you go to the Journal officiel and its satellites (BALO, BOAMP). Many people waste precious time looking for a company in the wrong place, simply because they confuse the two publications. Now that you know, you will not get it wrong again.

BODACC or legal notices journal (JAL): what is the difference?

Legal notices journals (JAL) are authorized newspapers (e.g. Les Échos, Le Moniteur, regional newspapers) where companies pay to publish a notice, mandatory before a registration or a modification (transfer of registered office, change of manager, capital increase…). Once published in the JAL, the notice is then transmitted to the court registry, which has it appear in the BODACC.

• JAL → the company publishes (paid, voluntary step to fulfill an obligation)
• BODACC → the administration publishes (free, mandatory, enforceable)

The key point to understand: the JAL is a step in the process (the company must publish, so it pays), whereas the BODACC is the final result (the administration publishes, and it is free for the reader). Beware of the trap: some "legal notices" websites charge a high price for a mandatory publication, playing on urgency and the fear of a fine. At the BODACC, consultation is always free: never pay to read a notice.

BODACC, RCS, registry, INPI: who does what?

Many people get lost among all these acronyms: BODACC, RCS, registry, INPI… They look alike, they complement each other, and yet they do not do the same thing. Here is the chain to remember:

• RCS (trade and companies register): the official register of companies, kept by the registries of the commercial courts. It is the official memory of each company: its creation, its share capital, its directors, its registered office.
• Registry: the authority that keeps the RCS and sends the notices to the BODACC. It is the intermediary between the court and the publication.
• INPI: the National Institute of Industrial Property, which manages the national business register (RNE) and trademarks/patents. In recent years, it has also centralized RCS data at the national level.
• BODACC: the bulletin that makes public what happens in the RCS. It is the showcase, the visible part of the iceberg.

In summary: the RCS is the source, the registry keeps it, the INPI centralizes it, and the BODACC publishes it. If you want to verify the existence of a company and its recent status, the BODACC is the simplest and fastest place: free, online, up to date. That is why it forms the foundation of BODACC.io.

Four real notices, dissected

The best way to understand the BODACC is still to read real notices. Here are four, taken from the 12 August 2026 edition, which give a striking overview of what the bulletin reports on a daily basis.

The commercial bridge between China and Angola. First intriguing notice: a commercial intermediary based in Chelles, specialising in sourcing, negotiating and purchasing goods from Chinese suppliers, on behalf of clients based in Angola and Africa. A commission business without taking possession of the goods. Behind this notice of registration of a sole trader lies a real entrepreneurial story: SAPALO ESTEVES RAFAEL. The BODACC does not tell the strategy, but it certifies the existence and the precise purpose of the activity: that is already huge for anyone wanting to verify a partner.

The video game and artificial intelligence studio in Lyon. Second notice: a Lyon company whose purpose is the development, publishing and release of mobile video games, as well as technology services for marketing and digital advertising with AI. A resolutely modern activity, published in the bulletin like any other: Leyo Technology Investment. It is this democracy of the bulletin that fascinates me: the micro-enterprise of the bicycle delivery rider and the technology SAS appear side by side in the same publication, with no hierarchy.

The baby spa and belly painting. Third notice, more surprising: a beauty care business in Saint-Germer-de-Fly, with nail prosthetics, eyelash extensions, tattooing, baby spa (wraparound baths) and belly painting (body painting), plus the customisation of shoes and various objects. Behind this colourful catalogue: HELIE MARION. This kind of notice is a reminder that the BODACC reflects the real economy, including in its most creative forms.

The café-restaurant-caterer changing hands for €50,000. Fourth notice: a café-restaurant-caterer in Saint-Philbert-de-Bouaine, sold by MANABLE ERIC to a buyer, at the stated price of €50,000. A few lines are enough to say the essentials: the establishment, the activity, the price. For a potential buyer, for a supplier, for a curious neighbour, this notice is valuable and free information.

These four notices have one thing in common: they tell the story of French economic life better than any report ever will. And on BODACC.io, each one is linked to its company record, like that of this real bakery: BOULANGERIE SAINT MARTIN. Click, look: you will see what a notice makes it possible to build when it is linked to other public data.

A recent history: from paper to open data

The BODACC has not always been a website. It is a story that often surprises: an institution so "administrative" actually has a modern history, that of public data opening up. A look back in 4 acts:

1. The creation (1980s): the BODACC was created to centralize the legal publicity of companies, previously scattered between authorized newspapers and court registries. It was a small administrative revolution: for the first time, the life of companies was published in a single, official bulletin.
2. The paper era: the bulletin was published in printed form; the historical archives (some dating back to the 1950s and 1960s) can now be consulted via Gallica (BnF). That era seems distant, but it shaped the culture of publication: everything is preserved, everything is traceable.
3. The digital switch and open data: publication moved online, then the data became open, with open data publication on data.gouv.fr and an official API made available by the DILA. The law for a Digital Republic (2016) enshrined the default openness of public data: this is the moment when the BODACC became a reusable raw material.
4. Real time: today, notices are available as soon as they are published, and third party services (such as BODACC.io) make them searchable, translated and alertable in real time. It is the logical outcome: the data is free, all that remained was to make it circulate quickly and well.

This evolution tells a broader story: French public data, long locked away in paper publications, has become a raw material reusable by everyone. And this movement is not over: every year, access improves, and it is society as a whole that benefits.

France versus Europe: where does open data stand?

Comparison with our neighbours is illuminating, and rather flattering for France on this specific point. The first question European professionals ask is always the same: "does this type of data exist in our country, and at what price?" The answer varies greatly from one country to another:

Country	Equivalent register	Access
🇫🇷 France	BODACC	Free, open data, official API
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	Companies House	Free, open data, API, the global benchmark
🇩🇪 Germany	Handelsregister	Historically paid, electronic access gradually opening up
🇪🇸 Spain	Registro Mercantil	Paid (extracts)
🇮🇹 Italy	Registro Imprese	Paid (extracts)
🇳🇱 Netherlands	KvK	Paid (extracts)
🇪🇺 EU	BRIS (interconnection of registers)	Limited interconnection between national registers

The French paradox: BODACC is one of the most open registers in Europe, free and reusable, whereas the RCS itself remains partly paid through the registries (registration extracts). In other words: France opens the door to notices, but still keeps locks on the register itself. This is exactly the gap that BODACC.io exploits: the most useful official data (the notices) is free, all that is needed is to bring it to life. By way of comparison, Companies House enabled a major leap forward for the United Kingdom in terms of innovation and transparency: the potential to be seized in France is of the same order.

Common mistakes to avoid

Some mistakes come up regularly among entrepreneurs, investors and journalists. Here are five of them, along with the right approach:

• Confusing BODACC with the Journal officiel: the JO publishes laws and associations, the BODACC publishes companies. If you are looking for a company, go to the BODACC, you will save precious time.
• Paying to consult the BODACC: consultation is free. If a website makes you pay for a simple consultation, be careful: it is either an intermediary or a scam.
• Looking for a company in the wrong place: a registration or a removal from the register is found in the BODACC, not in the directory of associations. The rule: company = BODACC, association = JO.
• Believing that the BODACC contains everything: it publishes events from the RCS, not the accounts filed with the registry, nor trademarks, nor tax data. You have to cross-reference sources to get a complete picture.
• Ignoring the time lags: between publication in the journal of legal notices and appearance in the BODACC, there is a delay (usually a few days). An announcement "of the day" may reflect an earlier event: always check the date of the event, not just the date of publication.

Limits and alternatives

BODACC is an official and reliable source, but it has its limits, and it is better to know them before using it:

• No annual accounts: accounts filed with the registry are not in BODACC (they can be consulted at the registry or via RNE/INPI).
• No associations: association notices appear in the Journal officiel, not in BODACC.
• No public procurement: contract notices are in BOAMP.
• Paper archive: older notices (before digitization) require a visit to the archives (Gallica).

Alternatives depending on the need: the Journal officiel (associations, legal texts), BOAMP (public procurement), BALO (listed companies), RNE/INPI (national business register) and registries (annual accounts, extracts). Our position is simple: we do not replace these sources, we complement them. BODACC is our core business; for everything else, we point you to the right door.

Take action

You now know what BODACC is, who publishes it, what it contains, and why it is so valuable. Put it into practice: the best way to understand data is still to see it for real.

• View today's notices: the notices published today, free and in real time
• Search for a company: by SIREN, name or city, with its full profile
• Create a free SIREN alert: be notified automatically when a company changes status (filing of accounts, liquidation, receivership…)

And if a question remains unanswered, write to us: we reply to every message.