Kbis extract

A Kbis extract is the official identity document for a French company registered in the Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés (RCS). It lists the company's legal name, SIREN/SIRET numbers, registered address, legal form, share capital, and the identity of its directors or legal representatives. Businesses request it to prove a company legally exists and to check who is authorized to sign on its behalf.

How it works

The Kbis is issued by the clerk of the Commercial Court (greffe du tribunal de commerce) where the company registered, and it is generated directly from RCS data. Unlike many corporate documents, it cannot be produced by the company itself: only the court registry can issue it, which is what gives it evidential weight. It is sometimes called the company's "birth certificate."

A Kbis is only valid for a limited window, typically a few months, because company data (address, directors, capital) can change. For this reason, KYB and onboarding teams generally require an extract dated within the last one to three months, not an old scan sitting in a shared drive.

For document processing, a Kbis is a semi-structured document: the layout is fairly consistent across registries, but fonts, stamps, and field ordering still vary. Extracting the data reliably means locating key-value pairs like SIREN, legal form, and manager name, and matching them against known formats such as SIREN and SIRET. Because the document often arrives as a scan or photo, layout analysis and OCR quality directly affect extraction accuracy, particularly for handwritten annotations or low-resolution stamps.

Why it matters for document processing

Kbis extracts sit at the center of French KYB and supplier onboarding workflows. Getting the extraction wrong (misreading a SIREN digit, missing a legal representative's name) can let an onboarding decision proceed on bad data, which creates compliance risk and rework later.

Automated extraction has to handle two separate problems: pulling the fields accurately, and verifying that the document itself is genuine and current. A well-designed pipeline cross-checks the SIREN/SIRET against the extracted legal name and address, flags extracts older than a defined threshold, and routes low-confidence reads to a human reviewer instead of silently accepting them. This matters more in AML and KYB contexts, where regulators expect a documented, auditable verification trail rather than a rubber stamp.

Related terms

• SIREN and SIRET
• KYB (Know Your Business)
• KYC (Know Your Customer)
• Document fraud detection
• Key-value extraction

FAQ

How can I verify a Kbis extract is genuine?

The safest method is to compare the extract's data against the official RCS registry via the Infogreffe portal or the free INPI Registre National des Entreprises lookup, checking SIREN, legal name, and director names match. A Kbis with inconsistent fonts, mismatched dates, or an unverifiable SIREN should be treated as suspect and escalated for manual review.

How old can a Kbis extract be and still be accepted?

There is no single legal rule, but most administrative and financial processes require an extract issued within the last one to three months, since it reflects a snapshot of RCS data that can change. Banks and public tenders often specify their own threshold, so check the requesting party's stated requirement before accepting an older copy.