Accounting and tax services for companies in Finland

What the compliance year looks like

A Finnish company's accounting year has three layers, and they have different deadlines. The first is daily and monthly bookkeeping and document flow. The second is periodic reporting, whose calendar depends on the company's tax period and whether it pays wages. The third is annual work: the corporate tax return, the financial statements, the general meeting's decisions and keeping the Trade Register data correct.

Building the calendar at the start of the financial period is what makes the rest manageable. The tax period, the financial period, the number of employees and the company's registrations differ from company to company, so there is no single calendar that fits everyone.

• Monthly: bookkeeping, bank and invoice reconciliation, receipts and payroll
• Each VAT period: the VAT return, including a nil return for a period with no activity
• Each payroll run: earnings-payment reports to the Incomes Register
• Monthly for a registered regular employer: the employer's separate report, including a no-wages-payable report where the rules require it
• Annually: the corporate tax return and the financial statements
• Within eight months of the end of the financial period: financial statements filed with the Trade Register

VAT registration

Vero currently requires VAT registration when taxable business turnover exceeds EUR 20,000 in a calendar year. A business can also register voluntarily below that threshold if it carries on taxable business activity. Once registered, VAT returns must be filed for each tax period even when there has been no activity in that period.

Employer Register

A company is a regular employer and must register in the Employer Register when it regularly pays wages to at least two employees, or regularly pays one permanent employee plus temporary employees, or pays wages to at least six employees at the same time. Casual employers may not need registration, but wage payments still have to be reported to the Incomes Register.

Payroll and Incomes Register

Wages and employer contributions must be reported correctly even when the employer is not registered as a regular employer. A registered regular employer must also file the employer's separate report for months with no wages where the reporting rules require it.

Prepayment and tax planning

Prepayment tax and registrations should be based on realistic forecasts. Tax positions should not be treated as guaranteed. When the business changes materially, the estimated taxable income and registrations should be reviewed instead of waiting until year-end.

What you send us each period

Every sale and expense has to rest on an accounting document. A transaction with nothing behind it is the hardest item to correct afterwards, and unexplained transfers accumulate on the shareholder's current account, which causes problems both in a tax audit and when the financial statements are approved.

• Sales invoices and the sales ledger
• Purchase invoices and receipts, including card and cash purchases
• Bank and payment-account statements covering the whole period
• Payroll data: hours, salaries, absences and taxable benefits
• Contracts that affect revenue recognition, leases and loans
• Any shareholder withdrawals or private costs paid from the company account

What this costs

ENB's published fee for tax and accounting consultation is EUR 120 per hour, excluding Finnish VAT, where the standard rate is 25.5%. Ongoing bookkeeping is scoped and priced case by case, because the work follows transaction volume, payroll and the length of the VAT period rather than a headcount.

The ranges marked indicative below are Finnish-market budgeting figures from ENB's company-formation guide, not a quotation. Fees charged by Vero or PRH are separate and are paid to the authority.

• ENB tax and accounting consultation: EUR 120 per hour excluding VAT
• Monthly bookkeeping service: indicatively EUR 80-350 per month
• Annual financial statements and filings: indicatively EUR 300-900 per year
• Authority fees charged by Vero or PRH: separate, set by the authority

What ENB delivers

• Bookkeeping onboarding checklist
• Monthly document-flow structure
• VAT and tax-calendar review
• Payroll and employer-reporting coordination
• Prepayment review points
• Year-end and financial-statement handover checklist

What this service does not include

• It is not a tax ruling and no tax outcome is promised
• It is not a way around bookkeeping, VAT or payroll reporting duties
• It is not investment advice or portfolio management
• It does not replace an auditor where the company is subject to statutory audit