Starting a business in Finland: the steps in order

Steps to your own company

1. 1Uusyrityskeskus

   Start with free advice, not with registration

   The Uusyrityskeskus network — 46 centres across the country — advises new entrepreneurs free of charge and impartially. They will work with you on exactly the three documents the start-up grant application requires: a business plan, a profitability calculation and a financing plan.

   In some areas the grant application additionally requires a statement from the municipal business adviser. That is another reason to come here before you apply, rather than after a refusal.

   • Find your nearest centre and book an appointment
   • Material for new entrepreneurs is available in Finnish, English and Swedish
   • The network runs a separate track for immigrant entrepreneurs
   • In the capital region the same services are free from Business Helsinki, formerly NewCo Helsinki
   uusyrityskeskus.fi — services for starting entrepreneurs →
2. 2Migri

   Separate two different things: owning a company and working in it

   You can found a Finnish company and own it without any residence permit: Finnish law sets no citizenship or residence requirement on founders or shareholders. The reverse is also true — owning a company gives you no right to stay. Migri puts it plainly: you cannot get a residence permit only because you own a company; you must also work in the company in Finland.

   A first entrepreneur residence permit is applied for from abroad. The decision comes in two parts: the elinvoimakeskus issues a partial decision, Migri the final one. For a shareholder in a limited company there is a further condition — a holding of at least 30 per cent.

   The start-up permit is a separate route. It requires a positive Eligibility Statement from Business Finland, no more than four months old, before you apply; you do not need to have a company yet.

   • Decide whether you need a residence permit or will manage the company remotely
   • For an entrepreneur permit the business must be profitable and support you
   • A start-up permit cannot be applied for without the Business Finland statement
   migri.fi — entrepreneur →
3. 3Migri / PRH

   Temporary protection: what you may already do

   If you hold a residence permit on the basis of temporary protection, your right to work is unrestricted and it covers being an entrepreneur. Migri states it directly: with a temporary protection permit you are allowed to start a business, or work as a light entrepreneur or a freelancer. Article 12 of EU Directive 2001/55/EC guarantees the same. No separate entrepreneur permit is needed for this — that permit is for people whose business is itself the ground for their stay.

   A private trader business (toiminimi) is open to you directly. PRH states explicitly that people who have come from Ukraine and hold a Migri decision on temporary protection do not need a PRH permit, and that the Finnish personal identity code arrives with that decision. You can register with the Tax Administration only, free of charge, or additionally in the trade register for EUR 75. The mandatory electronic filing that began on 1 January 2026 does not apply to private traders.

   A limited company is harder, and the reason is not your citizenship. PRH does not determine your place of residence itself — it refers you to DVV, which means it reads the population register. Until you have a municipality of residence (kotikunta) you appear there under a temporary address only, and the question of EEA residence can arise. Once kotikunta is registered the question disappears: you are resident in the EEA and satisfy the board requirement yourself.

   • The rule is simple: kotikunta first, then a limited company
   • You can apply for kotikunta once you have a Finnish identity code, a permit valid for at least a year, and one year of continuous residence in Finland after moving. The application is online at DVV, no visit needed
   • All income, including business income, must be reported to your reception centre and reduces the reception allowance. From 12 June 2026 client fees are charged to those with regular income, and can be charged retrospectively for up to three months
   • Reception services for people who already hold a permit and the right to move to a municipality ended on 1 September 2026
   dvv.fi — municipality of residence →
4. 4DVV / YTJ

   Settle how you will sign before anything else

   The real wall for a non-resident is not money but the ability to sign. Since 1 January 2026 electronic filing to the trade register is mandatory for companies, and it requires a Finnish personal identity code and a Suomi.fi strong identification method. The identity code cannot be obtained remotely: the application is online, but you must appear in person at DVV within a month.

   There are three official ways around this: a Finnish contact person with an identity code files through the web form; identification with an eIDAS means from an EU country, if you hold one; or filing through a lawyer. Paper filing survives only as an exception, and only with an explanation of why electronic filing is impossible.

   • The identity code is free at DVV but requires a personal visit
   • The Finnish Authenticator app gives a UID, not an identity code — whether YTJ accepts it is not officially confirmed, so do not plan a registration around it
   • A trap that lasts the life of the company: a person entered in the register without an identity code cannot later sign changes in YTJ themselves
   • For a private trader (toiminimi) the paper form Y3 is still accepted
   ytj.fi — filing in the YTJ service →
5. 5Employment area

   Apply for the start-up grant and wait for the decision

   The start-up grant (starttiraha) is EUR 37.21 a day, five days per calendar week — around EUR 800 a month before tax. The first period is six months, an extension of up to six more is possible, twelve in total. There is no longer any increased rate. Payment comes monthly in arrears against a separate payment application, which must be filed within two months of the end of each period.

   It is not only for the unemployed: an employee, a student or a part-time entrepreneur can receive it too, provided the business becomes their main occupation. A side business does not qualify.

   • Call your employment area first and ask about the budget
   • The application needs a business plan, a profitability calculation, a financing plan, a tax debt certificate no older than three months, and your CV
   • Plus a preliminary lease and any licences your sector requires
   • The grant is taxable income and counts towards your advance tax
   Työmarkkinatori — start-up grant →
6. 6Act 380/2023

   Do not register too early — this is the number one reason for refusal

   The law forbids granting the start-up grant if the main business activity began before the application reached the employment authority. Decisions are not made retroactively.

   Suomi.fi puts it more strictly than the law: do not register your company until you have the decision. Some areas apply the same reading — Hollola refuses if the activity began before the decision was issued, not before the application was filed. The difference between "before the application" and "before the decision" can cost you six months of payments.

   • Until the decision: do not register, do not invoice, do not sign a lease, do not buy stock
   • Exception: for an extension application, having started earlier is not an obstacle
   • If you have already registered, the grant is most likely lost, and there is no remedy
   suomi.fi — checklist for a new entrepreneur →
7. 7PRH

   Check the key word: residence, not citizenship

   This is where the confusion usually starts, and almost never because anybody is acting in bad faith. There is no citizenship or residence requirement on the founders or shareholders of a Finnish limited company: a non-EEA resident can found one alone and own all of it. The Business Activities Act requires a PRH permit from a natural person residing outside the EEA who trades in their own name, and from a branch of a foreign company. A Finnish limited company is a Finnish legal person and needs no such permit, whoever owns it.

   The EEA requirement does exist, but it applies only to positions, and it is about residence, not passports. PRH states it directly: a person’s citizenship does not determine whether a permit is needed. The practical consequence: if you live in Finland, you are already resident in the EEA and satisfy these rules yourself. You do not need a European.

   The rules themselves: at least one regular board member must reside in the EEA (Companies Act 6:10) — one, not a majority; if none does, every regular member needs a permit, and deputies are assessed as a separate group under the same test. A managing director, if one is appointed, must always reside in the EEA (6:19), and the same applies to a deputy managing director. But a managing director is optional in a limited company: do not appoint one and the question disappears. Any of these requirements can be waived by a PRH exemption costing EUR 150 per decision plus EUR 6.50.

   A historical note that keeps the myth alive. Until 1 September 2006 the old Companies Act did require at least half of the founders to reside in the EEA, with an exemption from the ministry. That rule has been gone for nearly twenty years. If someone tells you today that you cannot do it without a European, they may be quoting a law that no longer exists.

   • If you are told you cannot do it without a European, ask what is meant: a rule of law, or a limit of one particular filing route. They are different problems with different solutions
   • A residence permit in Finland means residence in the EEA. Check only whether your municipality of residence is registered — with a temporary B permit it is not automatic
   • The law sets no separate residence requirement for the chair of the board
   • A PRH exemption is charged per person: three people means EUR 450
   • For a private trader the regime is stricter: a non-EEA resident needs permanent residence in Finland, or a PRH permit obtained before filing the start-up notification
   prh.fi — permits for people residing outside the EEA →
8. 8Companies Act 6:8

   You need a second person — but not a European

   A board may have between one and five regular members, but if there are fewer than three, at least one deputy member (varajäsen) is required. A sole founder cannot be the board alone: a second person must appear in the register.

   This is a requirement about the number of people, not their nationality, and a partner or a trusted person will do. This is also where the advice "find a European" usually comes from. It sounds like a citizenship requirement, but it points at something else: most often exactly this second person on the board, sometimes at whoever has the Finnish credentials the electronic filing needs. The advice is sound in substance, just named imprecisely.

   • One board member plus one deputy is the minimum working configuration
   • A deputy does not need to be a shareholder
   • The deputy should also reside in the EEA: PRH applies the "at least one" test separately to regular members and to deputies
   • The EUR 2,500 minimum share capital was abolished on 1 July 2019 — a limited company can be founded with zero
9. 9PRH

   Word the line of business so you do not pay twice

   The toimiala is a description of your activity in words in the trade register. For a limited company it sits in the articles of association, so changing it means amending the articles: EUR 300. For a private trader it is an ordinary change of entry: EUR 55. For a general or limited partnership it is EUR 150. PRH itself instructs you to state every field in which the company operates or plans to operate in future.

   Do not confuse the toimiala with the statistical TOL 2008 code you give the Tax Administration on form Y. That is a different field, and PRH charges no fee to change it at all. Guides that frighten you with "three hundred euros to change your line of business" often mean the TOL code — and that is simply wrong.

   There is a lawful option called yleistoimiala: the articles say "all lawful business activity", and the question of future fees goes away for good. But PRH does not recommend it, with reason: a broad wording makes registering your name harder, weakens its legal protection, and expanding the toimiala triggers a fresh check of the name, which can be refused.

   • A sensible compromise: list the directions you actually plan, plus a general clause
   • For licensed activities a general wording does not replace the sector licence
   • For a limited company the EUR 300 covers several changes to the articles at once — domicile, line of business and the rules on representation
   prh.fi — line of business →
10. 10PRH / YTJ

    Register the company

    The 2026 fees do not depend on how you file. A limited company costs EUR 300 through the guided route, which uses standard articles and is available only if every person named has a Finnish identity code, no shareholder is a legal person and there is no share capital. In every other case it is EUR 400 — and for a non-resident it is almost always exactly that.

    A private trader costs EUR 75. But registration in the trade register is generally voluntary for a private trader: you can obtain a Business ID and all the tax registers through MyTax free of charge. The EUR 75 buys the register entry and legal protection of your name, not the right to trade. Registration becomes mandatory if the entrepreneur permanently resides outside the EEA.

    • Paper filing has been closed since 1 January 2026 for limited companies, partnerships and cooperatives
    • General and limited partnerships cost EUR 300; cooperatives and branches EUR 400
    • With electronic filing the trade register processes a notification in about five working days
    • A bank account is not needed to register: with zero capital there is nothing to pay, and the Companies Act 2:5 also allows a comparable foreign account. But a company has no right to a bank account — the bank must identify the beneficial owners and may refuse. Plan opening an account as a separate and the least predictable stage, after registration
    prh.fi — registration fees →
11. 11Vero

    Enter the tax registers — on the same form

    All three registers are applied for in the same start-up notification, and there is no separate charge. The prepayment register (ennakkoperintärekisteri) matters because without it your client must withhold tax from your invoices, which makes it effectively mandatory for working with business customers. The VAT register is mandatory once turnover exceeds EUR 20,000 in a calendar year; below the threshold registration is voluntary. The employer register is needed only by a regular employer.

    The VAT mechanics have become gentler, and this is worth knowing: both the current and the previous calendar year are considered, and liability begins on the date the threshold is crossed rather than retroactively from the start of the period. It is the very transaction that crosses EUR 20,000 that becomes taxable.

    • The Tax Administration takes about three weeks to process the registrations
    • The general VAT rate is 25.5 per cent; the reduced rate has been 13.5 per cent since 1 January 2026, down from 14
    • The small-business relief was abolished on 1 January 2025 — do not count on it
    vero.fi — how to register for VAT →
12. 12Pension provider

    Take out YEL — and do not understate your income

    YEL becomes mandatory when the activity lasts at least four continuous months and your confirmed work income (työtulo) reaches EUR 9,423.09 a year. The insurance must be taken out within six months of starting. The 2026 contribution is a single 24.40 per cent regardless of age, and a first-time entrepreneur gets a 22 per cent discount for 48 months. At the minimum work income that works out at roughly EUR 149 a month.

    YEL work income is the monetary value of your own labour input, not your turnover and not your profit. This is the main trap of the first year: work income determines not only your pension but also sickness and parental allowances, rehabilitation allowance, statutory accident insurance, housing allowance and unemployment benefit. Understating it cuts your entire social protection at once.

    • The threshold for accruing unemployment security is EUR 15,481 a year
    • Your insurer gives a recommendation with a plus or minus 30 per cent range
    • Work income is reviewed every three years; a single increase is capped at EUR 4,000
    • Pension accrues at 1.5 per cent of confirmed income per year
    tyoelake.fi — when do I need YEL insurance →
13. 13Vero

    Estimate your advance tax — modestly, but not at zero

    You have no income history, so the estimate of your operating profit is yours to give, either at registration or later through MyTax. The advance tax decision is based on it, and instalments fall due on the 23rd of each month. The calculation covers all your income for the tax year, including employment income and the start-up grant.

    You can change the estimate as often as you like, in either direction. If the advance is too low, you can top it up with an additional prepayment: for individuals and private traders this carries no interest until the end of January of the following year, after which relief interest of 4.5 per cent applies. Ordinary late-payment interest is 9.5 per cent.

    • The minimum additional prepayment is EUR 170 for individuals, EUR 500 for companies
    • Companies have one month after the end of the tax year to top up
    • Revise the estimate as soon as it is clear that reality has diverged from the plan
    vero.fi — tax prepayment →

While the Finnish business account is pending: a European option

A Finnish bank is slow to open a company account: it needs the trade register extract, identification of every beneficial owner and often a visit in person. Meanwhile you already have suppliers to pay and first payments to receive.

A European fintech account opens online within days, gives you a European IBAN and a card, and covers the first months while the Finnish account is being opened.

These are affiliate links: if you open an account through them we may earn a commission. It does not affect your price, nor the order of the list.

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Frequently asked questions

Does a non-EU citizen need a European co-founder to start a company in Finland?

No. Finnish law sets no citizenship or residence requirement on founders or shareholders: a non-EEA resident can found a limited company alone and own all of it. The EEA requirement applies only to positions, and it is about residence, not passports — PRH states directly that citizenship does not determine whether a permit is needed. If you live in Finland, you are already resident in the EEA and satisfy the rule yourself.

I was told a limited company is impossible without a European. What does that mean?

Most likely a real constraint under an imprecise name — the law has no citizenship requirement, but the phrase usually stands for one of three genuine reasons. The guided electronic route requires a Finnish identity code and Suomi.fi identification from every shareholder, board member and managing director — if anyone lacks an identity code, that route is closed, and "a European" really means "someone with Finnish credentials". A second common reason: with fewer than three board members a deputy is mandatory, so a second person is needed — any person, not necessarily a European. A third: the EEA rule is confused with citizenship. And a fourth, historical one: until 1 September 2006 the law did require at least half the founders to reside in the EEA, and that repealed rule is still being repeated.

Can I start a business while holding temporary protection?

Yes. The right to work under temporary protection is unrestricted and covers entrepreneurship — Migri states this directly, and Article 12 of EU Directive 2001/55/EC guarantees it. No separate entrepreneur permit is needed. A private trader business opens without a PRH permit: people from Ukraine holding a decision on temporary protection do not need one, and the identity code arrives with the Migri decision.

Does not having a municipality of residence stop me founding a limited company?

It can. PRH does not determine your place of residence itself — it relies on the DVV population register, and without kotikunta you appear there under a temporary address. With kotikunta registered you are resident in the EEA and satisfy the board requirement yourself. The practical rule is: kotikunta first, then the limited company. This does not apply to a private trader business.

Does time on temporary protection count towards a permanent residence permit?

No. Since 8 January 2026 every route to a permanent residence permit counts years held on a continuous A permit, and temporary protection is a B permit. For citizenship, time on a B permit counts as half, but only once you have obtained an A permit. Moving to an A permit is therefore worth planning early: that is when the clock starts.

How much does it cost to add a new line of business after registration?

It depends on the form. For a limited company the line of business sits in the articles of association, so changing it costs EUR 300. For a private trader it is an ordinary change of entry at EUR 55, and for a partnership EUR 150. The statistical TOL code you give the Tax Administration can be changed with no PRH fee at all. A limited company also has the yleistoimiala option — "all lawful business activity" — which settles the question for good but weakens the legal protection of your name.

Can I register the company first and apply for the start-up grant afterwards?

No. The law forbids granting it if the main activity began before the application reached the employment authority, and decisions are not made retroactively. Suomi.fi advises going further: do not register until you have the decision. This is the most common reason for refusal.

How much is the start-up grant and for how long?

EUR 37.21 a day, five days per calendar week — around EUR 800 a month before tax. Six months for the first period, up to six more as an extension, twelve at most. There is no increased rate. The grant is taxable and counts towards your advance tax.

Does everyone who meets the criteria get the start-up grant?

No. Since 1 January 2025 the decision is made by your municipal employment area out of its own limited budget, and it is discretionary: there is no subjective right to the grant. In some areas the money runs out mid-year. Before making plans, call your employment area and ask about the budget.

Can I found a company in Finland without a residence permit?

You can found and own one — no permit is needed for that. But you cannot work in the company in Finland without one, and owning a company does not by itself give you the right to stay. A first entrepreneur residence permit is applied for from abroad.

What stops a non-resident from filing the documents themselves?

The lack of a Finnish personal identity code. Since 1 January 2026 electronic filing is mandatory for companies, and it requires an identity code and Suomi.fi strong identification. The identity code requires a personal visit to DVV. The ways around it are a Finnish contact person, an eIDAS means from an EU country, or filing through a lawyer.

At what turnover do I have to register for VAT?

At EUR 20,000 in a calendar year — the threshold rose from EUR 15,000 on 1 January 2025. Both the current and the previous calendar year are considered. Liability begins on the date the threshold is crossed, not retroactively from the start of the period. The small-business relief has been abolished.

When does YEL insurance become mandatory?

When the activity lasts at least four continuous months and your work income reaches EUR 9,423.09 a year. It must be taken out within six months of starting. The 2026 contribution is 24.40 per cent, with a 22 per cent discount for a first-time entrepreneur lasting four years.