Accountants and corporate service providers in Stockholm

What Stockholm firms offer

All 50 Stockholm firms handle tax compliance, 45 keep accounts, 43 register companies and 42 run payroll. Thirty-nine file VAT and 15 offer audit. The services a company owned from abroad leans on in its first year are also concentrated here: 13 Stockholm firms act as company secretary, nine provide a virtual office, seven help open a business bank account and five assist with residence and work permits. Those five are the only firms in Sweden on Accountanty that list permit work, so a founder who needs a permit alongside the company will find that help in Stockholm or not at all on this site.

Ask early which of these steps a firm carries out itself and which it passes to a partner, and who you contact when the bank or the Migration Agency asks for more documents. The residency and visas and bank account assistance pages show who covers each step.

Company structures named in Stockholm

Limited companies (aktiebolag) are named most often by Stockholm firms, by 17 in those words and by more under the Swedish name or the letters AB. Branches come next with 15 mentions, a high figure that reflects how many Stockholm practices serve foreign groups opening a Swedish branch rather than a new company. Nine name sole proprietorships, six subsidiaries and five holding companies. Four each mention economic associations and trading partnerships, three name housing cooperatives and several sell shelf companies (lagerbolag), ready-registered companies that a buyer takes over and renames.

If you are choosing between a branch and a subsidiary, ask each candidate which of the two it set up most recently and for what kind of parent company. The Sweden guide explains the legal steps, and company formation in Sweden covers choosing a provider.

Industries and client groups in Stockholm

Construction is the sector Stockholm firms name most, by eight of them, followed by real estate with seven and startups with five. Four mention non-profit organisations, and three each mention e-commerce and service companies. Two firms each name consulting, media, manufacturing, private equity, restaurants, IT and financial services. Ask for an example engagement in your own field before you compare fees.

Small and medium-sized companies are the client group named most often, by eight Stockholm firms, ahead of owner-managed companies with seven. Several profiles are written for owners from abroad: three firms each name foreign companies entering Sweden and foreign entrepreneurs, and two each name foreign-owned companies, international companies establishing in Sweden and Swedish companies expanding abroad. In all, 29 of the 50 say they focus on foreign clients, and the accountants for foreign clients page gathers them.

Languages, credentials and track record

Thirty-four Stockholm firms work in Swedish and 27 in English. Five also offer Finnish and four Polish, while two each work in Arabic, Estonian, Bosnian, Kurdish, Russian and Norwegian, and single firms offer Lithuanian, Latvian, Croatian, Serbian and Persian. If your board reads only English, ask which documents the firm will translate for you and which you will sign in Swedish.

Declared credentials vary widely. Several Stockholm practices describe themselves as authorised accounting firms within Srf konsulterna, one names authorised payroll consultants, one is a member of FAR and one is an authorised audit firm. One states that it is authorised by Bolagsverket as a liquidator, and licences issued in the United Kingdom and in Estonia are also declared, which can matter to a group with companies there. Ask to see the credential that matters to your engagement.

Nineteen firms state a founding year: the oldest dates from 1923 and the median from 2001. Eleven publish their prices.

Choosing an accountant in Stockholm

With so many Stockholm firms to choose from, narrow the list by structure first, then by language and by whether you need audit or permits. Agree a monthly reporting date and the format your head office expects. The other Swedish city pages cover Gothenburg and Mölndal, and a few firms in Solna, Lidingö and Täby appear on the Sweden page. To reach several Stockholm firms with one message, send a quote request through Accountanty.