Accountant for a new sole trader in Finland: bookkeeping and VAT

Karma Accounts · Published 19 October 2026

If you have just started a sole proprietorship (toiminimi), an accounting firm (tilitoimisto) can take over the bookkeeping and the VAT returns from your first month; many work online, so yours need not be in your town. Ask for a written monthly price that covers the books, the VAT returns and the business tax return in the spring, and check that you can work in your own language. The first month is mostly set-up: a few decisions, your start-up details and a Suomi.fi mandate, then a monthly rhythm set by the VAT due date: the 12th of the second month after a monthly or quarterly period, or the end of the following February for a yearly one.

Our own service and price are in the last section, kept apart from the general guidance.

Where to find an accountant for a new sole proprietorship

Accounting firms that take sole traders describe their services on their own websites, and many publish prices. Ask each the same things: what the monthly fee covers (bookkeeping, VAT returns, the business tax return, the software), whether the price depends on the number of receipts, whether there is a start-up fee or a minimum period, and which language you can use. Typical prices and what is often billed on top are in our guide to accounting costs in Finland.

What to decide first

Decision	The rule in 2026
Single- or double-entry books	Single-entry is enough below the size limits
VAT register	Compulsory once turnover passes 20 000 € in a calendar year
VAT period	Monthly; quarterly up to 100 000 €; yearly up to 30 000 €
Prepayment register	Voluntary; without it, customers generally withhold tax on work
YEL insurance	Compulsory from a YEL income of 9 423.09 € a year

Single- or double-entry books. Single-entry books are enough as long as, in both the last and the previous financial year, no more than one of these limits is exceeded: a balance sheet total of 100 000 euros, turnover of 200 000 euros, more than three employees on average (Accounting Act, kirjanpitolaki, chapter 1 section 1 a). Single-entry books run on the calendar year.

Cash or accrual. You may book income and costs when they are paid, as long as your unpaid invoices can be worked out at any time (chapter 2 section 3). For income tax, a trader (liikkeenharjoittaja) adjusts to accrual, while a professional practitioner (ammatinharjoittaja) on single-entry books is taxed on payments. See cash or accrual bookkeeping for a toiminimi.

VAT registration. You stay outside VAT only while your turnover is at most 20 000 euros in both the current and the previous calendar year, counted per calendar year even if you started part way through it. Liability starts on the day the limit is passed, so only the sales from that point carry VAT. Below the limit you may register voluntarily, and then all your business sales carry VAT. Some activities are exempt from VAT altogether; our article on the VAT registration limit covers what counts as turnover.

VAT period. A new business chooses its period when it registers for VAT; later, a longer period starts from the next calendar year and stays for at least a year. You are not entitled to a longer period if you have filed VAT returns late or left taxes unpaid. With turnover up to 500 000 euros, or no duty to prepare financial statements, you may also report VAT on a cash basis, when you are paid and when you pay. It covers sales and purchases in Finland only, not imports, exports, EU trade or reverse-charge services, and VAT on a sale still unpaid is due at the latest for the month in which 12 months have passed since the delivery.

Prepayment register. Joining the prepayment register (ennakkoperintärekisteri) is voluntary, but if you are not in it, customers paying you for work generally withhold tax from the work share of the invoice, not from goods. A household need not withhold while it pays the same person at most 1 500 euros in a calendar year. You join with the start-up notification or in MyTax. Your tax prepayment is separate: in the first year it is based on your own estimate, and your other income, such as wages or a start-up grant, affects it too.

A business bank account. The Accounting Act does not require a toiminimi to have a separate account, but the books must keep the business's money apart from yours, and Suomi.fi recommends a separate account so that private and business payments are easy to tell apart. If you use a personal account for business payments, check that your bank's terms allow it.

YEL. Pension insurance for the self-employed is compulsory when you are 18 to 69 or 70, depending on your year of birth, live in Finland, your self-employment has lasted four months without a break and your YEL income is at least 9 423.09 euros a year. YEL income is the money value of your work, roughly the wage you would pay someone to do it. Take the insurance out within six months of starting; see YEL in 2026.

What to hand over at the start

Start-up details: business ID (Y-tunnus), start date, line of business, your VAT registration date and period, and the profit estimate you gave.
Bank access or statements: a bank feed into the software where possible, otherwise monthly statements for every account and card the business uses.
A Suomi.fi mandate for MyTax (OmaVero). For a sole trader it is Managing of tax affairs, which covers personal and business taxes together; our Suomi.fi mandate guide shows the steps.
Invoice numbering: a full VAT invoice needs a unique identifier, never repeated in the same financial year, in a series that shows if one is missing; a simplified invoice, for example one up to 400 euros, needs fewer details. Our free invoice template makes an ordinary invoice with the required details.
A receipts habit: every entry rests on a dated voucher, and a voucher for a cost must show what you bought (chapter 2 section 5), so a bank line alone may lack the details a voucher needs. See what a receipt must show.

The firm will also identify you and verify your identity before work starts, as the anti-money laundering law requires of any business that keeps books for others.

The monthly rhythm

Cash payments are booked without delay and other entries in time for the tax returns to be prepared from up-to-date books (chapter 2 section 4). In practice the VAT return sets the date:

You send the month's sales invoices and receipts by an agreed date, for example the 5th of the next month.
The accountant books the month, matches it to the bank and asks about anything missing.
The accountant files the VAT return and tells you what to pay.
You pay by the due date, which is the same day as the return.

VAT period	Return and payment due
Month	12th of the second month after the month
Quarter	12 May, 12 August, 12 November, 12 February
Calendar year	end of February of the next year

A due date on a weekend or public holiday moves to the next business day. The full calendar is in our article on VAT return deadlines.

Your first VAT return

Say you are in the VAT register from 1 November 2026. On a monthly period, the November return is due on 12 January 2027. On a quarterly period, November and December go on one return due on 12 February 2027. On a yearly period, the 2026 return is due on 1 March 2027, because 28 February is a Sunday.

A return is due for every period, even a quiet one. When there is nothing to report, no sales, no VAT on purchases to deduct and no reverse-charge purchases, you tick "No activities during the tax period" in MyTax. Outside the VAT register you file no returns for your sales and your invoices must not show VAT, but buying services from a foreign seller under the reverse charge can still mean registering and paying VAT on those purchases.

Your first year-end

Your first financial year starts on the day you start the business and, on single-entry books, ends on 31 December. Formal financial statements are needed only when the financial year is not the calendar year, or when at least two of these limits were exceeded in both of the last two years: a balance sheet total of 450 000 euros, turnover of 900 000 euros, ten employees on average; see sole trader financial statements. What every sole trader files is the business tax return, Form 5, in MyTax each spring, every year, even a year with no activity; for 2025 it was due on 1 April 2026. It is built from the books, and it is where forgotten sole trader deductions are lost. Our article on the sole trader tax return covers the parts that go wrong.

Software alone or an accountant

Software handles the mechanical part well: bank lines, invoices, receipt photos, the VAT total. It books a transaction the way you tell it to, and leaves the judgement and the deadlines to you. Software alone can be enough with a handful of transactions a month, sales in Finland at one VAT rate and no employees. An accountant can reduce the administration and help with the harder cases: trading abroad, several VAT rates, salaries, or books that keep slipping. Either way, the legal duty to keep books stays with you.

Checklist for the first month

Get a written price covering the books, VAT returns and the tax return.
Decide on the VAT register, the VAT period and the prepayment register.
Keep the business's money in an account of its own.
Approve the accountant's Suomi.fi mandate.
Connect the bank, or agree how statements arrive.
Set your invoice numbering.
Photograph every receipt the day you get it.
Agree the monthly sending date, and note the six-month YEL deadline.

What we do

We keep the books for sole traders from the first month: bookkeeping, VAT returns, the business tax return and the accounting software, for 69 euros a month plus VAT 25.5 %, with no limit on receipts, for turnover up to 240 000 euros. There is no start-up fee and no fixed term, and the agreement ends with two months' written notice. You deal with us in English, Finnish, Hindi or Nepali; we deal with the authorities in Finnish. We are based in Helsinki and work online across Finland. See sole trader accounting and the price list, or request a quote.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find an accountant in Finland to handle bookkeeping for my new sole proprietorship?

Accounting firms (tilitoimisto) take on sole traders, and many work online across Finland. Compare written prices for the same work: monthly bookkeeping, VAT returns and the business tax return. We are one such firm, at 69 euros a month plus VAT with the tax return included.

Where can I find an accountant in Finland who handles bookkeeping and VAT returns for my new small business?

Look for an accounting firm whose monthly fee includes the VAT returns, filed in MyTax under a Suomi.fi mandate you approve, and check whether the year-end is billed separately. Our sole trader price includes the VAT returns and the business tax return.

Does a sole trader in Finland need a separate business bank account?

The Accounting Act does not require one, but the books must keep the business's money apart from yours, and Suomi.fi recommends a separate account for a toiminimi. If you use a personal account, check your bank's terms.

When is a sole trader's first VAT return due?

For a monthly or quarterly period, on the 12th of the second month after the first period ends: if a monthly period starts in November, that is 12 January. For a yearly period, by the end of the following February.

Sources

Please note: this is general information about Finnish rules, not advice for your own situation, and the rules change. Ask us before you act on it.

Accounting for your toiminimi

Bookkeeping, VAT returns and the business tax return from 69 € a month plus VAT, with no limit on receipts. See accounting for sole traders or accounting for food couriers.

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