Setting up a Finnish LLC (Oy) as a foreigner in 2026: steps, timelines and costs

Quick answer: you can own a Finnish limited company (osakeyhtiö, Oy) and live anywhere. What PRH checks is the board: at least one ordinary board member, and one deputy if the board has deputies, must live in the EEA, or PRH has to grant a permit first. You file online at ytj.fi, because paper filing ended on 1 January 2026, and PRH's fee is 400 EUR when anyone involved has no Finnish personal identity code. On 5 October 2026 PRH was registering ytj.fi start-up notifications that had arrived on 28 September, about a week in the queue. The business bank account is usually the slowest step.

I set up and take over Finnish companies for founders who don't speak Finnish. This guide follows the order we work in, with PRH's and the Tax Administration's published processing times and the timelines we've seen ourselves in 2026.

1. Choose the company type

For most foreign founders the right choice is a limited liability company, osakeyhtiö (Oy). The company carries its own debts, and in ordinary businesses the law doesn't restrict who can own the shares or where the owners live.

• Osakeyhtiö (Oy): limited liability company. A private company has no minimum share capital (Companies Act, chapter 1, section 3), so you can start with 0 EUR.
• Toiminimi (sole trader): cheaper to start, but you're personally liable, and you must live in the EEA. A trader living outside the EEA needs a PRH permit, and PRH says it has granted those to people living in Switzerland.
• Branch (sivuliike): for an existing foreign company. A branch of a company from outside the EEA needs a PRH permit. See branch or subsidiary.

Mario chose an Oy for his education business.

2. Settle the board before anything else

This is where most foreign formations stall. The Companies Act requires at least one ordinary board member to live in the European Economic Area unless PRH grants a permit (chapter 6, section 10). A board with fewer than three members must also have a deputy member (chapter 6, section 8), and PRH looks at ordinary members and deputies separately: if no deputy lives in the EEA, the deputies need a permit too.

Citizenship doesn't matter, residence does. A Finnish citizen living in Dubai is not an EEA resident, and a US citizen living in Portugal is.

PRH's own guidance shows how strict the permit practice is. It has granted board permits to people living in Switzerland and to US citizens living in the United States, and a managing director permit when at least one ordinary board member lives in the EEA (PRH, permits to persons from outside the EEA). Outside those cases, plan for an EEA-resident board member. A permit costs 150 EUR per person plus a 6.50 EUR invoicing fee, paid to PRH, and its decision is attached to the start-up notification.

Two more rules follow from residence:

• A managing director, if you appoint one, must live in the EEA unless PRH grants a permit (chapter 6, section 19).
• If PRH grants a permit and nobody registered for the company lives in the EEA, the company also needs a representative living in Finland who can receive summons on its behalf.

We don't take board seats or act as a company's representative, so these people come from your side.

3. Choose a name that will pass

The name must be distinguishable from names already in the Finnish Trade Register. Check it at ytj.fi (free search). The name must include the company form, for example "Oy" or "Ab".

Very generic names get rejected (for example "Trading Oy" alone). Two or three words that describe the business, or a distinctive element, work better. Mario chose "Sheimar Education Finland Oy": Sheimar is the name of his Spanish education agency, and Finland shows the scope.

4. Prepare the documents and file at ytj.fi

The start-up notification is filed in the ytj.fi online service, which works only in Finnish and Swedish. PRH stopped accepting start-up notifications for limited companies on paper forms on 1 January 2026. The same notification registers the company in the Trade Register and with the Tax Administration (PRH, start a limited liability company).

PRH offers two routes:

A founder without a Finnish personal identity code is always on route B. Filing in ytj.fi also needs Finnish strong electronic identification. If you don't have it, an agent who has it files for you with your power of attorney. That's how we file for foreign founders.

The notification contains the memorandum of association (perustamissopimus), the articles of association (yhtiöjärjestys), the board and the managing director, the auditor or the decision not to elect one, the beneficial owners, and the tax registrations you want. People without a Finnish identity code are identified with a passport copy.

Three rules to know before you sign:

• The company must be filed for registration within three months of signing the memorandum of association, or the formation lapses (Companies Act, chapter 2, sections 8 and 12).
• PRH doesn't refund its handling fee if the notification lapses or is refused, or if you withdraw it.
• If you choose share capital, a cash subscription must be paid into an account in the company's name, and the notification must show that it was paid (chapter 2, sections 5 and 8). Before the company exists that account is hard to get, which is why we usually recommend 0 EUR share capital to foreign founders.

5. How long registration takes in 2026

PRH processes notifications in order of arrival and updates its queue weekly. On 5 October 2026 it was working on these (PRH processing status):

A complete ytj.fi filing therefore waited about one week and a form-based one about eight weeks. A notification sent on PRH's online form also takes about five working days to become pending. Missing or unclear details add a correction round on top.

Our own 2026 cases match this. Four companies we work with that were registered this year were entered in the Trade Register 3, 4, 15 and 35 days after their Business ID was issued. The 4-day case was one we filed at ytj.fi as the founder's agent, and we also asked PRH in writing to expedite it, which PRH does only for a justified reason. The 35-day case was filed on a PRH form and needed a correction round.

The Tax Administration then handles the tax registrations. It estimates registrations at three weeks on average, including PRH's part (Tax Administration processing times, updated 17 September 2026). In one of our 2026 cases the VAT and prepayment register decisions came 23 days after the application.

6. Choose the tax registrations in the same notification

• Prepayment register (ennakkoperintärekisteri): if you're not in it, whoever pays you for work generally has to withhold tax from the payment (Prepayment Act, section 25). Almost every operating company should join.
• VAT register: mandatory once turnover goes over 20,000 EUR in the current or the previous calendar year (VAT Act, section 3), voluntary below that. A voluntary registration starts at the earliest on the day you apply and can't be backdated, so VAT on purchases made before that date can be deducted only in limited cases. Apply in the start-up notification if you'll have costs with VAT from the start.
• Employer register (työnantajarekisteri): needed before you start paying salaries regularly (Prepayment Act, section 31).

The default VAT period is a calendar month. With turnover up to 100,000 EUR you can choose quarterly returns, and up to 30,000 EUR a yearly return. For a new company the Tax Administration can keep the monthly period for up to a year. The VAT guide covers rates and deadlines.

7. Open the business bank account

For most foreign founders this is the slowest step. A bank has to identify the founders, the board and the beneficial owners and understand the business before it opens an account, and it can refuse.

In two companies we keep the books for, the business account opened seven and eight weeks after the company was registered. We've also seen an account opening wait until the beneficial owner notification had been registered and showed on the Trade Register extract.

If the company wasn't set up in ytj.fi, the notification of beneficial owners must be filed without delay after registration. It's free, but PRH can impose a negligence fee if it's missing (PRH, beneficial owners). More on the account itself: opening a business bank account in Finland as a foreigner.

Until the account is open, founders often pay the first costs, such as PRH's fee, from their own cards. Keep those receipts. Obligations from acts after the memorandum of association was signed transfer to the company when it's registered (chapter 2, section 9), and the costs go into the company's books.

8. Bookkeeping starts on day one

The bookkeeping covers the company from the start, setup costs included. The financial statements and the books are kept for 10 years from the end of the financial period, and receipts and other vouchers for six years from the end of the year in which the financial period ended (Accounting Act, chapter 2, section 10).

You can do it yourself, but Finnish software, filings and terms are in Finnish. Most foreign founders hire an accountant. We do the bookkeeping in English for a fixed monthly price by voucher volume: 99, 149, 199, 299 or 349 EUR a month, VAT 0.

9. Mistakes we see in foreign formations

1. Filing before the board meets the EEA rule. The notification is refused and PRH keeps its fee.

2. Missing the three-month deadline. Signing the memorandum early and filing late means signing again.

3. Choosing share capital you can't pay in yet. Without an account in the company's name you can't show the payment.

4. Using the form route when an agent could file at ytj.fi. On 5 October 2026 the difference in PRH's queue was about seven weeks.

5. Forgetting the beneficial owners. If the company wasn't set up in ytj.fi, the notification is a separate step, and banks ask for it.

6. Registering for VAT after the first costs. A voluntary registration can't be backdated.

7. Paying setup costs privately and losing the receipts. They belong in the company's books.

10. Steps and cost summary

1. Choose the company type and the name, and collect passport copies.
2. Settle the board: an EEA-resident ordinary member (and deputy, if the board has deputies), or a PRH permit first.
3. Sign the memorandum and the articles of association. The three-month clock starts.
4. File the start-up notification at ytj.fi with the beneficial owners and the tax registrations.
5. Wait for registration: about a week in PRH's ytj.fi queue on 5 October 2026, then the tax registrations.
6. Open the bank account with the Business ID and start the bookkeeping.

Our formation service for founders who work in English is 1,200 EUR. It covers the English documents, filing as your agent with a power of attorney, the identity checks, and preparing a PRH permit application if the board needs one. PRH's fees are paid to PRH: 400 EUR for the notification and, if needed, 150 EUR per permit plus 6.50 EUR.

The bookkeeping starts with a one-off 99 EUR onboarding fee. After that it's 99 to 349 EUR a month depending on vouchers, and months with no vouchers aren't invoiced. The financial statements with the tax return are 480 EUR a year: we go through the past year, forecast the next one and make a tax plan, so the prepayment tax matches the forecast and the split between salary and dividends is worked out. Our prices are VAT 0, and Finnish VAT is added where it applies. You pay what the price list says. Nothing else goes on the invoice unless we've agreed it with you first.

Sources

• Companies Act 624/2006 (osakeyhtiölaki), chapter 1 section 3, chapter 2 sections 5, 8, 9 and 12, chapter 6 sections 8, 10 and 19, consolidated text in Finlex, checked 7 October 2026: finlex.fi
• PRH, start a limited liability company: routes A and B, the 300 and 400 EUR fees and the end of paper filing, page updated 28 August 2026: prh.fi
• PRH, processing status of Trade Register notifications, status of 5 October 2026 (PRH updates it weekly, so today's queue may differ): prh.fi
• PRH, permits to persons from outside the EEA, including the permit practice for board members, managing directors and private traders: prh.fi
• Tax Administration, processing times for returns and applications, registrations three weeks on average, page updated 17 September 2026: vero.fi
• VAT Act 1501/1993 section 3, Prepayment Act 1118/1996 sections 25 and 31, Accounting Act 1336/1997 chapter 2 section 10, Act on the Tax Procedure for Self-Assessed Taxes 768/2016 sections 11, 12 and 15, all checked in Finlex on 7 October 2026.
• Our own cases: Trade Register and Business ID dates of four companies from the public YTJ data, and the bank and tax register dates from our client records, 2026.