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AC4 form: declaration of cancellation of activity for a sales agent

The AC4 Cerfa 14354 form enables a sales agent, whether running a sole proprietorship or a company, to declare the cessation of his activity to the authorities. Once the declaration of cessation of activity has been received and processed by the relevant Centre de Formalité des Entreprises, there is no turning back.

When should I complete the declaration of cancellation of my commercial agent activity?

Form AC4 is reserved for commercial agents registered with the RSAC, the special register for commercial agents, whether they have set up a sole proprietorship (individual) or a company (legal entity).

This form must be completed when a company decides to definitively cease trading, either voluntarily or by filing for bankruptcy. The declaration of deregistration must be made within 30 days of the cessation of activity.

The company is then struck off the special register of commercial agents, as well as the register of commerce and companies, the special register of limited liability sole proprietorships or the register of trades, depending on its status.

It has also been removed from the Sirene directory, from the files of active professionals kept by the tax authorities, and from the files of professional affiliates of social security bodies.

Download form AC4 Cerfa 14354, declaration of cancellation for commercial agents

How do I fill out form AC4?

The declaration of cancellation of commercial agent activity, or AC4 form, has several sections:

  • A section dedicated to identification reminders;
  • A section reserved for individual commercial agents, i.e. sole traders;
  • A section reserved for commercial agents who are legal entities and have created or taken over a company;
  • A section for additional information.

Natural or legal person

First and foremost, you need to specify on the declaration of cancellation of commercial agent activity whether the activity is being carried out as a natural or legal person, by ticking the appropriate box.

A sales agent who has set up a sole proprietorship, whether a micro-business, a traditional sole proprietorship or a limited liability company, operates as a natural person.

Conversely, a sales agent who has set up a company, whatever its form (société anonyme, société par actions simplifiée, société en nom collectif, société à responsabilité limitée, etc.) is considered a legal entity.

Individual sales agents must complete boxes 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 and 11 of form AC4 and, in some cases, boxes 4 and 9.

Commercial agents who are legal entities must complete boxes 1, 6, 8, 10 and 11, as well as boxes 7 and 9 if necessary.

Identification reminder

In this section, sales agents, whether sole proprietorships or partnerships, must enter their SIREN number. The SIREN number, which stands for "Système d'Identification du Répertoire des Entreprises", is a 9-digit number assigned as soon as the company is created.

The SIRET number, for "Système d'identification du répertoire des établissements", is made up of the 9 digits of the SIREN number and the 5 digits of the NIC ("numéro interne de classement"), for a total of 14 digits.

These two numbers, generated by INSEE, are issued when the company is created, and serve as a unique identifier for the administration.

Declaration for individual commercial agents

This section must be completed by a sales agent who has set up a sole proprietorship. In box 2, he/she indicates his/her birth name, customary name, first name, as well as date, department, town and country of birth.

In box 3, he must declare the date from which he will definitively cease his activity. In the event of the termination of employment of any employee, the date must also be entered.

Box 4 is reserved for sales agents who have set up a sole proprietorship with limited liability. They must check the corresponding box, and attach the PEIRL PL-AC form to the declaration of deregistration, i.e. the declaration of assignment of assets, in order to update it.

In box 6, the sole trader must indicate his business address.

Declaration concerning the commercial agent as a legal entity

Sales agents who have set up a company must enter the company's name, acronym, registered office address, zip code and municipality, as well as its legal form, in box 6.

Box 7 is reserved for company directors with self-employed status, whether they are majority managers or sole partners. In this case, the identity of the manager must be entered in box 2, normally reserved for the individual sales agent.

In box 8, the corporate sales agent must indicate the date from which he/she will definitively cease his/her activity. If he ticks the box marked "This cessation entails the company's dormancy", the company's activity is suspended, but it continues to exist socially and fiscally, and retains its registration.

Further information

This section must be completed by both individual and corporate sales agents. They may add comments and must specify their correspondence address, if different from the addresses given in the other sections. The declaration of cancellation must then be dated and signed.

Who should I send the Cerfa 14354 form to?

The AC4 form must be sent to the appropriate business formalities center. For commercial agents, this is the clerk's office of the commercial court.

If the administration deems it necessary, it may subsequently request supporting documents to complete the declaration of deregistration. In all cases, commercial agents running a sole proprietorship with limited liability must accompany form AC4 with the PEIRL PL-AC insert in order to update their declaration of assignment of assets.

The declaration of deregistration is followed by the liquidation of the company, whether amicable or judicial. The commercial agent must then file a declaration of income within 60 days of definitive cessation of activity. This declaration will enable the tax authorities to determine the profits made since the last closed accounting period.

The sales agent must also pay VAT, payroll tax and the territorial economic contribution, which includes the business value-added contribution and the business property contribution.