---
title: Declaring and managing BDESE databases
description: Get to know the module, declare one BDESE per company or per economic and social unit, read its headcount and its 50 and 300 employee thresholds, and request a full export of your data.
url: "http://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/bdese-databases/"
updated: "2026-11-11"
category: BDESE
---

# Declaring and managing BDESE databases

The BDESE (economic, social and environmental database, art. L2312-18 of the French Labour Code) brings together the information the employer makes available to the works council (CSE) and serves as the basis of its recurring consultations. In Illizeo, you declare one BDESE per company governed by French law, or a single one for several companies grouped into an economic and social unit (ESU). This article introduces the module as a whole, then explains the **BDESE databases** tab: declaring, editing and deleting a database, reading its headcount and thresholds, and requesting a full export of your data. It is aimed first at HR and administrators; contributors and CSE members will find what they see on their side.

## The module at a glance

The module opens from the **BDESE** menu entry. It has nine tabs; each appears only if your role carries the matching right, and the tab bar is shown only if you have more than one.

- **BDESE databases**: one BDESE per company governed by French law or per ESU, with its headcount and thresholds — this article.
- **Structure**: the content of each database (default model or company agreement), its fiscal years and its contributors — see [Choosing a BDESE’s structure and designating contributors](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/bdese-content-structure/).
- **Data**: the values of each fiscal year, calculated or entered, then validated and published — see [Entering, validating and publishing data](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/bdese-data-entry-and-publication/).
- **Payroll**: where the BDESE remuneration comes from (Silae, file import, Budget actuals); Illizeo estimates none — see [BDESE payroll data](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/bdese-payroll-data/).
- **Gender equality index**: the gender equality index of each database, calculated, corrected by HR, then published — see [Calculating and publishing the gender equality index](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/bdese-gender-equality-index/).
- **Works council area**: the staff list for CSE benefits, the register of mandates and the experts’ links — see [The works council area: staff list, mandates and experts](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/bdese-works-council-area/).
- **Works council consultations**: the three recurring consultations, their calendar, their file and the opinion given — see [Recurring works council consultations](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/bdese-works-council-consultations/).
- **Group view**: every database side by side, broken down by entity, read-only — see [The group view](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/bdese-group-view/).
- **Settings**: the statistical confidentiality threshold and how exit and absence types are mapped — see [BDESE settings](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/bdese-settings/).

### What the three profiles see

- **HR and administrators** declare databases, choose their structure, open fiscal years, designate contributors, calculate and enter values, validate, publish, and manage the works council area and consultations. They see the databases of the entities their role covers; an administrator, whose role covers the whole workforce, sees them all.
- **The contributor** (for example a CFO or a CSR manager) is designated on certain sections. They see the database where they are designated, complete only their own sections in the **Data** tab, and the home page quick action takes them there. HR validates their work.
- **The CSE member** sees the database of their company, or of the ESU that covers it, as well as those of their current mandates. They read the published fiscal years, read-only, download the consultation file and, if they are a full member, can submit the committee’s opinion. An expert appointed by the CSE sees only the databases of their mandate, for its duration.

## Before you start

- The BDESE module must be subscribed to and installed in your workspace: **App Store**, **BDESE** card, **Install** button. It must also be open to your account.
- Installation creates three system roles, with no members: **Works council member**, **Works council expert** and **BDESE contributor**. They cannot be renamed or deleted. Uninstalling the module closes them without removing their members; reinstalling reopens them.
- To see the tab, you need one of the BDESE read rights (structure, data entry, contribution, publication, works council space or confidentiality).
- To declare, edit or delete a database, and to request the full export, you need the **BDESE structure** right at **Execute** level. The Administrator and HR roles carry it.
- Scope: everyone sees only the databases of the entities their role covers. A database none of whose entities you cover does not exist for you. There is no administrator override: an administrator sees everything because their role’s population is the whole workforce.
- An Illizeo support session can never open the BDESE, whatever role is chosen: the database holds confidential information and pay aggregates.

## Reading the list of databases

Open **BDESE › BDESE databases**. The tab shows one card per declared database.

![BDESE databases tab seen by an administrator: the module’s nine tabs, the sentence on where the headcount comes from (annual average), the Declare a BDESE button on the right, then one database card marked Company with its pencil and bin icons, its headcount in France of 2, the Under 50 employees and Under 300 employees badges and its covered entity with its country and headcount; at the bottom, the Full export (reversibility) card, with no export requested yet.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/bdese-bases-01.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C493&quality=80&ssl=1)
One card per database, with its headcount and thresholds.

Each card shows:

- the database label and its type: **Company**, or **ESU · N entities**;
- the **Headcount in France**, or “—” if it is unknown;
- the position against the thresholds: **50 employees reached** or **Under 50 employees**, **300 employees reached** or **Under 300 employees**, or **Headcount unknown**;
- the **Covered entities**, with their country and their own headcount.

### Where the headcount comes from

The headcount is the one from France compliance: only contracts in France count. A database’s headcount is the sum of the known headcounts of its entities. A sentence at the top of the tab recalls the calculation method set in **Settings › Compliance**, France card, **Medical visits and headcount** tab:

- “Active employees today”: employees working in France today;
- “Annual average”: last year’s average, pro rata of working time (art. L130-1 of the French Social Security Code); the figure may then have one decimal place.

If France compliance counts the headcount over the **Whole workspace**, no entity has its own headcount and the cards show “—”. Choose the **Per sub-company** scope to see each entity’s headcount.

### The 50 and 300 employee thresholds

The thresholds are shown for information. The 50 employee threshold marks the obligation to keep a BDESE (art. L2312-18); the 300 employee threshold separates the two default models (art. R2312-8 and R2312-9). The module never chooses the model for you: you do so in the [Structure](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/bdese-content-structure/) tab.

## Declaring a BDESE

1. In **BDESE › BDESE databases**, click **Declare a BDESE**.
2. The **Declare a BDESE** dialog opens. In the **Covered entities** section, tick the company the database covers, or several companies for an ESU.
3. Check the **Label** field. If it was empty, it has been filled with “BDESE —” followed by the name of the first ticked entity. Change it if needed; it is mandatory.
4. Click **Save** (one entity) or **Save the ESU (N entities)** (several entities). The button stays greyed out while the label is empty or no entity is ticked.
5. The message “BDESE declared.” confirms the save. The new card appears in the list.

![Declare a BDESE dialog: the mandatory Label field, still empty, then the list of covered entities with their country and headcount, no box ticked; three entities marked Outside France, one marked Inactive: cannot be declared and one marked Covered by another database; at the bottom, the Cancel and Save buttons, the latter greyed out.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/bdese-bases-02.en_.png?resize=576%2C477&quality=80&ssl=1)
The badges explain why an entity cannot be declared.

### Entity badges

The list shows the entities within your scope. A badge describes the situation of each one:

- **Suggested**: a French entity not yet covered by any database. It is suggested, never ticked automatically.
- **Outside France**: only a company governed by French law keeps a BDESE; the box is greyed out. An entity with no country entered can still be declared.
- **Inactive: cannot be declared**: an inactive sub-company does not hold a BDESE. Reactivate it in the reference data to declare it.
- **Covered by “…”**: the entity already belongs to another database. An entity belongs to one database only.

If the list is empty, the message “No entity within your scope.” appears: your role covers no entity.

### Company or ESU

You do not choose the type: it follows from the number of ticked entities. One entity gives a **Company** database; several give an **ESU** database. An ESU has a single CSE, so it shares a single database.

## Editing a database

1. On the database card, click the pencil icon.
2. The dialog opens under the database’s name, with its entities already ticked.
3. Change the **Label**, tick or untick entities.
4. Click **Save**. The message “BDESE saved.” confirms.

Removing or adding entities can turn an ESU database into a Company database, or the reverse. To bring a company into an ESU, first remove it from its current database, or edit the existing database directly. To save a database, your role must cover all its entities.

## Deleting a database

1. On the database card, click the bin icon.
2. Confirm in the “Delete “…”?” dialog by clicking **Delete**. Its entities become free to be declared again.
3. The message “BDESE deleted.” confirms.

A database that has a published fiscal year cannot be deleted: the deletion is then refused and the message explains why. Otherwise, deletion removes its unpublished fiscal years, its structure and the attached agreement file.

## Requesting the full export

The **Full export (reversibility)** card, at the bottom of the tab, gathers all the databases you administer into one archive: a machine-readable JSON file (structure, values, published versions, confidentiality, consultations), one Excel workbook per fiscal year and version, and the uploaded files (agreements, attachments, works council opinions).

1. Click **Request a full export**. The message “Export requested: the bell will tell you when the archive is ready.” appears.
2. Follow progress in the table (**Requested on**, **Status**, **Size**, **Available until**). It refreshes itself during preparation; the **Refresh** button forces a refresh. The statuses are **Queued**, **Being prepared**, **Ready** and **Failed**.
3. When the archive is ready, the bell and an email let you know, with a link to this tab.
4. Click **Download**. The message “Archive downloaded.” confirms.

![Full export (reversibility) card: the text describing the archive’s content and its 7-day availability, the Request a full export button, then a table with one row in Ready status, its size, its expiry date and a Download button.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/bdese-bases-03.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C185&quality=80&ssl=1)
The archive can be downloaded for 7 days, by you alone.

Only one export can be in preparation at a time for the same person; the button stays greyed out meanwhile. The archive stays downloadable for 7 days, and only the person who requested it can download it. It includes confidential data, marked as such: keep it somewhere safe. Once the deadline has passed, the row is marked “expired” and the archive is deleted.

## What contributors and CSE members see

The contributor sees the database or databases where they are designated. The CSE member sees the database of their company, or of the ESU that covers it, and those of their current mandates; the expert sees only the databases of their current mandates. Neither has any button: no declaration, no pencil, no bin, no export. With no visible database, the message “No BDESE is open to you yet.” appears.

![BDESE databases tab seen by a CSE member: six tabs (BDESE databases, Structure, Data, Gender equality index, Works council area, Works council consultations), a single card, the database of their company, with its headcount, thresholds and covered entity, with no Declare a BDESE button, no edit or delete icon, and no export card.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/bdese-bases-04.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C330&quality=80&ssl=1)
The CSE member reads their company’s database, with no actions.

## Good to know

- An entity can belong to only one database.
- The Company or ESU type follows the number of ticked entities.
- The 50 and 300 employee thresholds are for information: the choice of model is yours, in the Structure tab.
- A database with a published fiscal year can no longer be deleted.
- Installing the module reopens access for all active employees; the module’s roles, however, have no members until you assign them.
- Illizeo support sessions never open the BDESE.
- The module’s legal content (models, articles cited) follows the law pack published by Illizeo; the screen indicates when that pack is awaiting review.

## Frequently asked questions

### Why is one of my companies greyed out as “Outside France”?

Only a company governed by French law keeps a BDESE. The module reads the sub-company’s country from the reference data. An entity with no country entered can still be declared.

### Why does the headcount show “—”?

Either France compliance counts the headcount over the whole workspace: choose the “Per sub-company” scope in its settings. Or the entity has no counted contract in France.

### A CSE member cannot see their company’s database. What should I check?

They must hold the Works council member role and have a contract in one of the database’s entities, or a current mandate on that database. The module must also be open to their account.

### The export stays “Queued”. Is that normal?

The archive is prepared in the background; depending on the size of the databases, this can take a while. The bell tells you as soon as it is ready. If the status changes to “Failed”, request a new export.

### *Similaire*