Company formation in Denmark

Company formation in Denmark: who does what

Party	Role in a formation
Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen)	Registers the company or branch, issues the CVR number, keeps the beneficial owner and auditor registers, receives the annual report
Virk	The public business portal where Start virksomhed and the registration forms are filed
Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen)	VAT, corporation tax and withholding on dividends and wages
Bank	Receives the share capital before registration, then runs the operating account
Accounting firm	Bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll, the annual report
Approved auditor	Audit and assurance work, where the company is not exempt
Corporate services provider	Coordination across countries, document handling, an address

Only the Authority registers. A provider can deliver a complete and correct file; it cannot promise the bank’s decision or a date for a case that goes to manual handling, which the Authority puts at 2 to 4 weeks.

Where a provider earns its fee

Four points tend to slow founders who try alone.

• The log-in. Start Company needs a Danish CPR number with MitID, or an eIDAS-approved foreign eID, according to Business in Denmark. Without either, a non-Danish company uses form 40.112. A provider should tell you on the first call which route fits your case and who will file.
• Documents in Danish. A limited company needs a founding document and articles of association, and the Authority’s templates must be in Danish. Ask for a translation of both before you sign.
• Capital and the deadline. The Authority’s guide says registration can only happen once the share capital has been paid in, and the formation must be registered within two weeks of signing. A good provider sequences the bank, the signature and the filing so the deadline is not missed.
• What follows registration. Beneficial owners, VAT and, once you hire, employer registration all start soon after the CVR number arrives.

What a formation mandate covers

Expect a full mandate to include:

• Structure advice: ApS, A/S, branch or sole proprietorship, and what each means for capital, management and later investors.
• The log-in route: MitID, foreign eID or the form for non-Danish companies.
• Drafting: the founding document, the articles and the register of owners, with a translation for you.
• Capital: coordination with the bank so the payment is documented before filing.
• Filing through Start virksomhed on Virk, within the two-week window.
• Beneficial owners: the registration with the Authority after the company exists.
• Tax set-up: VAT registration where needed, and employer registration for ATP.
• Handover: the CVR number, Digital Post and a NemKonto, and the first deadlines in writing.

Matching the firm to your project

In Denmark, 10 of the firms on Accountanty offer company formation: 8 accounting firms and 2 corporate services providers. Five are small, 2 medium-sized and 3 belong to a large network, and all 10 focus on foreign clients.

• Accounting firms suit founders who want formation and the years after it in one place. All 10 formation firms also offer accounting and tax compliance, 9 payroll and 7 VAT work.
• Corporate services providers suit groups that need coordination across countries; 4 of the formation firms offer corporate secretarial work and 3 a virtual office.
• A large network can help when the parent company sits abroad and wants the same adviser at both ends.

Firms used to owners abroad are also gathered under accountants for foreign clients in Denmark.

Licence titles to check

Danish law protects two titles: statsautoriseret revisor and registreret revisor. Only a person approved for the title may use it, and the Authority keeps a public register of approved auditors and audit firms, searchable through the CVR. Every registered auditor and audit firm has a number starting with MNE.

In practice:

• If a firm says it audits, ask for the MNE number of the auditor who will sign and look it up.
• An auditor approved in another EU state cannot start work in Denmark before passing an aptitude test, and the same applies to non-EU citizens.
• Ask who does the day-to-day bookkeeping and who would sign an audit, since they may be different people.

A few of the formation firms state a state-authorised auditor licence on their profile; treat it as a starting point and check it in the register.

What to prepare before the first call

• The business: what you will sell, to whom, and whether you will sell to private customers in Denmark or hire staff in the first year.
• The people: passport copies of every shareholder and planned manager, and who has a CPR number, MitID or an eIDAS eID.
• The form and capital: your view on ApS or A/S, the capital, and the bank you plan to use.
• A corporate parent: official proof that it exists, no more than three months old, which the Authority’s branch guidance asks for, plus its statutes if it sits outside the EU and EEA.
• An address: the guide to form 40.110 warns that a postal address does not qualify as a business address.
• Privacy expectations: the Companies Act publishes the home address of registered persons in the CVR, so check what will appear under your name.

How to read a company formation quote

Ask each firm to price three blocks separately.

Official charges

• 670 kr. to found an ApS, A/S or P/S, or a branch of a foreign ApS or A/S, on the Authority’s fee table;
• 180 kr. for each later change;
• free registration of ownership details and beneficial owners.

The share capital, DKK 20,000 for an ApS or DKK 400,000 for an A/S under the Companies Act, belongs to the company. It is never part of a provider’s fee.

The provider’s fee

Structure advice, drafting and translation, the bank coordination, the filing and the follow-up registrations. Ask what is excluded: bespoke articles, a corporate shareholder, a branch file, a VAT representative, and changes after the first draft are common extras.

Recurring costs

Ask for a two-year price covering bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll, the corporation tax return and the annual report. Ask too whether the company is likely to qualify for the audit exemption, since an audit changes the yearly cost. Only 2 of the formation firms publish some pricing, so expect to ask. Requesting quotes through Accountanty is free, and each firm sets its own price.

Questions to ask before you sign

• Which log-in route will we use, and who files?
• Will I get an English translation of the founding document and the articles?
• Which bank do you expect to use for the capital, and what will it ask me?
• Are the official fees inside your price or billed to me at cost?
• Who registers the beneficial owners and checks them each year?
• Does my company need a VAT registration from day one, or a VAT representative?
• Who files the annual report, and how do you track the six-month deadline?
• After the CVR number arrives, who handles my file day to day, and in which language?

On language, 9 of the formation firms work in English, 8 in Danish and 2 in Polish.

Branch or subsidiary

A foreign company can open a branch instead of founding a new ApS. A branch has no capital of its own, but its managers file the foreign parent’s audited annual report in Denmark, and late charges fall on each branch manager. A subsidiary keeps the Danish business in its own company, with its own capital, annual report and audit rules. Ask your provider to compare both for your plan before any document is drafted. Branches are the entity type the formation firms mention most often in their profiles (6 of the 10).

Services after incorporation

• accounting and tax compliance for the books, the corporation tax return and the annual report;
• VAT for registration and returns;
• payroll once staff are hired;
• audit, offered by 3 of the formation firms, where the company is not exempt;
• bank account assistance, offered by 4;
• residency and visas, offered by 5, useful when a founder from outside the EU plans to relocate.

Warning signs

• No answer on the log-in. Without one, nothing can be filed.
• Danish documents with no translation. You should understand what you sign.
• Capital counted as a fee. It is the company’s money.
• A bank account promised as certain. Only the bank decides.
• No mention of beneficial owners or VAT. Both follow soon after registration.
• An auditor with no MNE number. The register is public; ask for it.

Choosing a provider

Send the same brief to two or three firms and compare how they handle the log-in, the translation, the fee blocks and the team that will keep your books. Seven of the 10 formation firms are based in Copenhagen, and one in Aarhus. A single free quote request reaches several of them: Accountanty reviews your brief and forwards it to firms suited to your company formation in Denmark.