Initiative · Project

Setting up a subsidiary or branch

A register entry doesn't pay salaries.

Founding a subsidiary or branch and making it operational: formation, registrations, bank, accounting, payroll, contracts and local administration.

The situation

“We need our own company on the ground.”

The decision is made: you need your own company. Notary and register are the visible part.

After that, much of what a company needs day to day is still missing: an account that can pay salaries, accounting to local rules, employment contracts valid on the ground. Plus post, deadlines and access to the parent company's systems.

Management often sits in another country and signs from a distance.

Where it often goes wrong.

  1. The bank wants to know more

  2. Contracts copied from home

  3. Duties after formation

  4. Accounting by group logic

  5. Business via private inboxes

Which disciplines work together here.

You decide the scope.

The smallest starting point is a formation roadmap: which steps, which documents, who is responsible. It gets bigger when we coordinate the formation and take over administration afterwards. Until your own team is in place, or for good: both work.

How an engagement starts

Good questions. Straight answers.

Do you form the company for us?

No, but we prepare everything. Notarisation, legal and tax advice come from a notary, a law firm and a tax advisory firm, which we appoint on your behalf. We plan the steps, keep deadlines and are the one point of contact for everyone involved.

Is a branch enough instead of a subsidiary?

Sometimes. A branch is legally part of the parent company; a subsidiary is a company in its own right. Which fits better depends on liability, tax and your plans on the ground.

The recommendation comes from tax advisory and law firms; we put all the facts in front of them.

Can our head office keep doing the accounting?

Partly, yes. Approvals and payments often stay at head office, while bookkeeping on the ground follows local rules. We set up the interface so both sides see the same figures.

Annual accounts and tax returns are prepared by a tax advisory firm.

Do we need local staff from day one?

No. Post, deadlines, accounting and administration can sit with us at first, with a fixed point of contact. Your own people pay off once local business can carry them; then we find them and get them up to speed.

Does this also apply to starting in Germany?

Yes, for the company itself. If you also want to build market, sales and team here, Entering the German market shows the full picture.

Proof first. Contract second.

In the free Initiative Check, we listen for 45 minutes and ask the questions that usually only come up after the contract is signed. Then you get a short written assessment: what we see, how we would go about it and roughly what it would take.

No obligation. And if we're not the right fit, we'll tell you.