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Comparing a startup's deck with its filed accounts

Comparing a startup's deck with its filed accounts means setting three figures from the document (revenue, headcount and the declared funding round) against what the official register and the BODACC publish, line by line. The comparison shows where the figures are consistent, where they differ and where no conclusion can be drawn. It prepares questions for the call; it proves no error.

By Sirven Flaynn Ouamba, founder and president of Flaynn

Published on 5 November 2026 · Version 1.0

This page describes what the official sources publish, then the fixed rule published in Flaynn's methodology: the analysis engine does not carry out the comparison.

Which three figures are compared?

Which three figures are compared?
Figure in the document	Set against	Rule	What the line never says
Revenue	The accounts published in the register for the same fiscal year, covering twelve months	Consistent within 5%; beyond that, the difference is expressed as a percentage	That the figure in the document is verified: it remains declared
Headcount	The INSEE employee headcount band, with its year	Within the band, it is consistent; outside the band, it is a difference	That the document is wrong
Declared funding round	The capital notices published in the BODACC	Search from 4 months before to 6 months after the period the document gives	That a funding round is consistent

Each line quotes the value from the document in quotation marks, with its page, then what the register publishes and the date it was consulted. What is in quotation marks is written by the company, never a finding by Flaynn.

What does the register publish, and what does it not publish?

An SAS, an SASU, an SARL, an EURL or an SA files its annual accounts with the clerk's office of the commercial court, within one month of their approval, or within two months if the filing is made online. Several months can therefore separate the close of a fiscal year from the filing of its accounts.

Filing is not always publishing. The French Commercial Code allows a micro-enterprise to declare that the annual accounts it files will not be made public, and a small company to ask that its profit and loss account not be made public, under conditions. The judicial authorities, the administrative authorities and the Banque de France nevertheless have access to the accounts in full.

The BODACC, the Official Bulletin of Civil and Commercial Notices, publishes the acts entered in the Trade and Companies Register; its notices are issued by the court clerks' offices. Its section B covers general amendments and strike-offs, its section C the filing of annual accounts. A capital increase must be published in a legal notices journal and declared on the business formalities portal, within one month of the decision; it is the insertion in the BODACC that makes it enforceable against third parties.

The register reflects the most recent filing, with its year shown, and a recent company may have filed no accounts there. The register contains only what has been filed with it.

Revenue: how is it compared?

Flaynn compares the revenue in the document with the accounts published in the register for the same fiscal year, covering twelve months. It is consistent within 5%; beyond that, the difference is expressed as a percentage.

The line is not comparable when the document does not date the fiscal year or does not state it in euros, when the register does not publish the accounts for that fiscal year or keeps them confidential, or when the published fiscal year does not last twelve months. A figure that the document presents as a forecast is never compared.

Fictional example. A deck states « Revenue 2025: €100,000 », page 6. The register publishes €97,000 for the 2025 fiscal year, covering twelve months. The difference stays under 5%: the line is consistent. If the register published €80,000, the difference would exceed 5% and the line would quantify it. If the deck stated « Annual revenue: €100,000 » without saying which fiscal year, the line would be not comparable.

A line that is consistent does not make the figure in the document verified: it remains declared. In the provenance grid, « Verified » means consistency with a register source, for a company identified by the company number entered in the form (SIREN in France) and whose company name in the register contains the declared name. Never an audit.

Headcount: what is the INSEE band worth?

In public sources, headcount is a band. Flaynn compares the headcount in the document with the employee headcount band published by INSEE (Sirene directory), with its year: within the band, it is consistent; outside the band, it is a difference.

The document may count founders, interns or contractors; the register counts employees. If the document counts the founders, or if the register publishes no headcount, the line is not comparable.

In INSEE's business databases, the employee headcount band relates to headcount at 31 December of year n, with data available in year n+2. INSEE presents it as an indicator of unit size, not intended to assess the volume of employment, and codes an unreported headcount as zero (INSEE). A recent company may therefore appear there at zero: a difference is first of all a question of date and scope.

Fictional example. INSEE publishes a band of 3 to 5 employees for the company. A deck that states « 4 employees » is consistent; « 12 employees » is a difference. A deck that states « a team of 6, including the two founders » counts the founders: the line is not comparable.

Funding round: what does the BODACC show, and what does it not show?

Flaynn searches the BODACC for capital notices from 4 months before to 6 months after the period the document gives. The line says whether notices appeared in that window, with their date and link. It never says that a funding round is consistent: the published capital does not measure an amount raised.

The absence of a notice is not a contradiction either: a funding round can go through a holding company, BSA AIR or convertible bonds without changing the published capital. The capital is read in the register as an amount; a cap table, by contrast, is not in the register.

No conclusion is drawn when the document does not date the funding round, when the window is not yet closed or starts before the available notices, or when the BODACC is unavailable or its reading is incomplete: the line says so.

Fictional example. A deck states « €400,000 raised in March 2026 ». The search covers from four months before to six months after March 2026. If a notice on the capital appears in it, the line gives its date and link, without saying that the €400,000 is consistent. If none appears, that is not a contradiction. Read in May 2026, the window is not closed: no conclusion is drawn.

Difference, To reconcile, Not comparable: what to do with each outcome?

For revenue and headcount, the result of the comparison is one of three: Consistent, Difference, Not comparable. Without a confirmed link, there is no verdict: the line is marked To reconcile.

Difference. A difference is neither a contradiction, nor a proven error, nor an opinion on the company. The scope may differ: group, subsidiary, consolidated accounts. It is a question for the call, the one in the pre-diligence checklist: « Why does the deck differ from the published accounts? » Start with these differences: they are the answers you will be able to cross-check afterwards.

To reconcile. The company's link to the register is not confirmed. It is confirmed only with a company number entered in the form (SIREN in France), a company name in the register that contains the declared name, and the register of the company's country. A company found by its name alone, a SIREN picked up from the text of the dossier or an unavailable register leave the line marked To reconcile: it quotes the document, says why, and says nothing about the company. The BODACC is then not read. First question: which entity will issue the securities? Common blind spot: namesake companies, wrong entity.

Not comparable. A common basis is missing. The question concerns that basis: which fiscal year, what length, which currency, who is counted. If the accounts are not published, ask for the document that the checklist lists: the filed annual accounts.

And for a company outside France?

The methodology puts it this way: « Revenue is set against the register of the company's country, France, Belgium or Luxembourg, when it publishes accounts. Headcount and capital notices are read in France only: for a company registered in another country, no conclusion is drawn on headcount or the funding round. »

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FURTHER READING: THE PROVENANCE GRID · THE METHODOLOGY · THE CHECKLIST