APE / NAF code: choosing and correcting it

Quick answer. The APE code is assigned by INSEE to every company and establishment when it is registered in the SIRENE directory, based on the declared main activity. Its purpose is statistical: it has no binding legal scope. NAF 2025, approved by decree no. 2025-736 of 31 July 2025, becomes the reference classification for APE codes on 1 January 2027.

At incorporation, the APE code often feels like just another formality, picked in seconds on an online form. Yet in our company-formation files, it is one of the items that creates the most confusion once the business is registered: a director discovers a code that does not match their trade, worries about their collective agreement, or receives an occupational-accident rate that seems off. Let us put things back in proportion: what the APE code actually does, what it does not, and how to correct it without overreacting.

APE stands for "activité principale exercée", the main activity carried out. It is assigned by INSEE when the company is registered in the SIRENE directory, based on the main activity you declare at incorporation. This assignment relies on the NAF, the French activity classification, which lists every economic activity as a standardised code.

The NAF code and the APE code describe, in practice, the same thing seen from two angles. The NAF is the classification, that is, the reference catalogue of activities. The APE code is the code drawn from that classification and allocated to your company. So we speak of the "APE code" for a given company, and of the "NAF code" for the general grid it comes from.

Every company receives an APE code, and each of its establishments may receive one too, depending on the activity actually carried out at that site. A company whose head office and production workshop perform different activities may therefore hold two distinct codes, which is perfectly normal.

This is where misconceptions are most stubborn. The APE code first has a statistical function: it lets INSEE and the authorities classify companies by sector, produce economic statistics and track sector trends. It also serves as a reference point for certain administrative parameters.

By contrast, the APE code has no binding legal scope. It creates no obligation in itself, does not set your tax regime and does not, on its own, define the applicable employment law. This distinction is essential for approaching corrections calmly: a coding error does not invalidate your contracts, invoices or legal acts.

This is the most frequent question, and the answer deserves nuance. The APE code does not, on its own, determine the applicable collective agreement. The agreement depends on the company's actual main activity, assessed concretely, and not solely on the code shown on your INSEE record.

In practice, the APE code often serves as a starting clue to identify the likely agreement, because collective agreements frequently refer to families of activities close to the NAF codes. But an employer whose code does not exactly match their activity still has to apply the agreement linked to their effective activity.

The underestimated risk lies precisely here. Some directors reason backwards: they align their collective agreement on the APE code they received, without checking that the code truly reflects their trade. If the code is wrong and the agreement was chosen on that basis alone, the company may apply an unsuitable collective text, with concrete effects on minimum wages, classifications or bonuses. Securing the choice of agreement from the first hire is part of what we handle in our payroll and HR management.

A wrong APE code can be corrected, and the process remains accessible. The aim is to make the code match your real main activity. Here is the path to follow today.

1. Identify your real main activity. Where several activities coexist, the main one is whichever weighs most in your operations, under INSEE's criteria.
2. Check the code currently assigned on your INSEE record, starting from your SIREN number.
3. Find, in the classification in force, the code that best matches that main activity.
4. File a correction request with INSEE, through the dedicated online procedure, justifying your real activity.
5. Keep the useful supporting documents (articles of association, activity description, representative invoices) to back the request.
6. Once processed, check that the new code appears correctly on your record.

Because the APE code has no binding legal scope, an error does not invalidate your past acts. But it can be a nuisance day to day: distorted sector statistics, an unsuitable occupational-accident and disease parameter, or simply a blurred image with partners who consult your record. So it is better to deal with it promptly.

A substantive change is coming. The classification currently in force for APE codes is NAF revision 2, dating from 2008. A new classification, NAF 2025, was approved by decree no. 2025-736 of 31 July 2025. It becomes the reference classification for assigning APE codes from 1 January 2027, and the statistical directories start integrating it from 2026.

Concretely, INSEE automatically assigns each company a new APE code under NAF 2025. From 12 January 2026, you can check on sirene.gouv.fr, with your SIREN number, the new code allocated to you. If that new code seems inaccurate against your activity, a requalification request is possible during the first quarter of 2026, through an online form.

Vigilance points for 2026: do not confuse this new statistical code with an extra filing obligation. The classification changes, not your activity. Simply use the first-quarter window to check that the assigned code is consistent, especially if your current code was already approximate.

The matter plays out slightly differently depending on your situation. As a micro-entrepreneur, the APE code is assigned at the start-of-activity declaration; its purpose stays statistical, and it carries no collective-agreement obligation as long as there is no employee. Our guide to setting up a micro-business in 2026 details the first associated formalities.

For a company, whether SAS, SARL, SCI or other, the APE code flows from the real purpose and main activity carried out, not from the sometimes broad wording of the corporate purpose. During the full procedure for setting up an SAS, we make sure the activity declared to INSEE faithfully reflects the operational activity, to limit later corrections.

For liberal professions and mixed activities, combining for instance advice and sales, determining the main activity takes some analysis, as the dominant share sets the code. It is also the moment to check overall consistency with your company-formation support.

A director recently contacted us, worried: their young services company had been assigned an APE code pointing to a trading activity, unrelated to its real trade. They feared a substantive irregularity. After analysis, we reassured them on the essentials: their contracts and invoices remained fully valid, as the APE code has no legal scope. The real issue lay elsewhere: they had based their thinking about the collective agreement on this wrong code. So we ran two parallel tracks, correcting the code with INSEE and checking the applicable agreement against their effective activity.

Our reading is the following. The APE code is neither trivial nor decisive. Neglecting it exposes you to administrative friction and poor reflexes in employment law; over-investing it leads to dramatising errors with no legal consequence. The right stance is to declare a faithful main activity at incorporation, check the code obtained, then clearly separate two questions that are often mixed up: the statistical code on one side, the truly applicable collective agreement on the other. As chartered accountants registered with the Ordre, this scoping work is exactly what we carry out to secure your first decisions.

Hayot Expertise tip. From incorporation, declare a main activity that reflects your trade, then check the APE code assigned on your INSEE record. Never infer your collective agreement from the code alone: assess it against your real activity. Use the first-quarter 2026 window to check your new NAF 2025 code, and get support if several activities coexist. Our chartered accountancy firm in Paris 8th can secure these decisions.