{"id":1864,"date":"2026-02-09T13:24:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T11:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fmd.ee\/?p=1864"},"modified":"2026-02-09T13:29:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T11:29:06","slug":"business-accounting-basics-for-foreign-founders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fmd.ee\/en\/business-accounting-basics-for-foreign-founders\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Accounting Basics for Foreign Founders"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>Established in 2014, we are an innovative and reliable accounting partner for startups, service companies, and manufacturing businesses operating in Estonia.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Estonia makes it easy to establish a company. Running it correctly requires understanding. It requires compliance with Estonian accounting, tax, and labour regulations, regardless of where the business owner is located. If you are an E-resident, Startup founder, international business owner- or manager, running businesses registered in Estonia.<\/p>\n<h2>Key topics<\/h2>\n<p>You should get to know these 9 key topics, that international business owners most often struggle with, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Which business expenses are allowed under Estonian law<\/li>\n<li>What constitutes a compliant and acceptable expense document<\/li>\n<li>Which expenses can be treated as tax-free<\/li>\n<li>Who is allowed to issue invoices and under which type of contract<\/li>\n<li>How to correctly purchase services from private individuals<\/li>\n<li>Employee rights and employer obligations under Estonian labour law (employment contracts, holidays, termination rules, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Capitalisation of development costs and when costs can or cannot be expensed<\/li>\n<li>How accounting decisions affect taxes, cash flow, and reporting<\/li>\n<li>When and why to seek professional advice before issues arise<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Our colleague Maimu recommends that both local and foreign entrepreneurs engage with an accountant already at the start of their operations. This helps ensure clarity regarding:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>accounting and reporting<\/li>\n<li>financial information for managers and investors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is important also to choose suitable accounting software so that payment solutions and the e-shop (or SaaS environment) integrate seamlessly with the accounting system, avoiding an unreasonable amount of manual work and additional costs. We promote digitalisation at every possible opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>Maimu is our Accounting Specialist for International Founders. English is her second native language as she spent 25 years of her life in Canada, which gives her a strong understanding of international business culture. With over 20 years of experience in accounting and a background in business operations in Estonia, Maimu and our team help foreign founders navigate Estonian accounting and tax requirements clearly and confidently from the start.<\/p>\n<p><i class=\"fas fa-arrow-right\"><\/i> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/fienta.com\/practical-accounting-basics-every-foreign-business-owner-in-estonia-must-know\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Established in 2014, we are an innovative and reliable accounting partner for startups, service companies, and manufacturing businesses operating in Estonia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1856,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-useful-info"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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