how to choose a service provider from the e-⁠Residency marketplace

E-⁠residents can outsource business administration - from company registration to taxation - to over 130 trusted service providers on the Marketplace.

Why choose a service provider for your business? Because, the more time and energy you have to concentrate on growing your business, the more successful you will be.

To save time from doing all of your company’s admin, consider outsourcing it to business service providers. Don’t get bogged down in accounts, or tear your hair out when considering your tax obligations. Instead, optimise your business operations and get professional help. This will also help ensure your business is complying with legal requirements.

The goal of this article is to help you choose the right service provider and service offerings for your business. It’s split into four parts, with the first part covering how to assess what services your company needs. The second section of the article introduces the e-⁠Residency Marketplace, its features and how it can help you find partners. And the third section covers the three types of service offerings we typically see e-⁠resident founders using: DIY, standard packages, and tailored support. We’ll go into more detail about each of these, including who they suit, their pros and cons, and some tips on how to find them in the Marketplace. The final part provides some questions to ask yourself to understand your own needs and preferences as an entrepreneur. 

First assess the services your company needs 

An Estonian contact person is the only mandatory service most e-⁠residents will need when starting a company. This is required for any business in which the management team is located outside of Estonia. A contact person acts as the local messenger and mailbox for your business. They have no legal responsibilities for the company and are not the same as having a local, shadow, or non-executive director, nor a nominee director (which is illegal in Estonia). 

Read more about the contact person requirement on our Knowledge Base.

If you’re new to the business environment in Estonia, it’s wise to hire an experienced accounting firm to manage your books and taxes here. The process of picking the right one requires preparation and know-how. 

Read this guide to picking the right accounting firm for your company.

Knowing where you should pay corporate taxes and how to take advantage of Estonia’s competitive tax system will depend on different laws, treaties and how your business activities are structured. We definitely recommend seeking the advice of experienced professionals to ensure you and your company comply with your tax obligations. 

Learn more about the basics of cross-border taxation.

E-⁠residents have several options when it comes to opening a business banking account, from traditional banks to fintechs from the European Economic Area. 

Get tips and recommendations on how best to open an account with a bank or fintech in our earlier blog post.

Estonia prides itself on the ease of starting a business 100% online and from anywhere. In fact, e-resident Dominic Panosch holds the world record for starting a company faster than anyone ever, in the incredible time of 15 minutes 33 seconds. However, there are many service providers who can help you register your company. Many include the costs of company formation in their package of services too.

Think about other support you will need for your business.  For example, are you operating in a regulated area of activity and need specialist help to obtain a licence or notice of economic activity? Or are you ready to hire people or rent an office or desk and so looking for the help of a recruitment, relocation, or coworking space? Maybe you’re in need of help to obtain public or private financing? Or you’re looking for an accelerator or incubator to go from startup to scaleup? 

These types of professionals and more are listed on the e-⁠Residency Marketplace, which we’ll introduce now.

Make best use of the Marketplace and its features

The e-⁠Residency Marketplace is a business directory of vetted business service providers,  developed by the e-⁠Residency Team especially for e-⁠residents. On the Marketplace, you can easily find trusted partners with good service quality, vetted backgrounds and reputations, and providing services relevant for your needs. Each service provider listed has a dedicated page providing details about their services, preferred clients, target markets, supported languages, ratings & reviews, and contact links.

• Filters: Easily browse service providers by filtering relevant categories according to your business and what you’re looking for.  You can filter by: ‘Services’ offered by different service providers, ‘Your Company Type’, ‘Industry’ of your business, ‘Preferred Language’, and ‘Campaigns’ (for example, our Ukraine campaign).
• Compare: compare pricing, restrictions and eligibility criteria of different service providers altogether on one page for similar services. This is a great way to quickly compare service packages offered by different providers.
• Ratings and Review: If you’re someone who likes to read testimonials or reviews of a partner before you use their services, this feature is for you. The Marketplace allows e-⁠residents to log into the Marketplace using their digital IDs to rate and review service providers they’ve had dealings with. This is a great resource as it means you can read what real e-⁠residents have experienced before making a decision to use a listed firm’s services.

Use the Services filters under 'Company establishment and management' for 'Company formation' and 'Legal address and contact person'. Try out the Compare feature with the results to see and easily compare them side-by-side.

Use the Services filter under 'Financial, tax and legal services' for 'Accounting' to browse service providers providing accounting services on the Marketplace.

Use the Services filters under ‘Business banking and payments’ to find the specific business banking or payment services you might need.

Or simply click ‘Browse all business banking and payment service providers’.

There are a few ways you can find tax consultants on the Marketplace, depending on exactly what you’re looking for. The first way is to use the filter ‘Financial, tax and legal services’ and then further filter by ‘Estonian tax consultants’ or ‘International tax consultants’.

Another way is to use the filter ‘Country-specific tax consulting’ and search for tax consultants from the country of your choice.

Choose a service provider that best fits your business

Get hands on with company administration. One-time services are a good option if you’re starting small and ready to be hands on with company administration. Do what you can and pick different service providers as you need them. Get a local contact person and accountant. Use other services as needed. 

To find DIY services in the Marketplace, browse service providers individually and use the ‘Services’ filters, depending on what you need. 

Doing company formation and the bookkeeping yourself can minimise starting costs, and not having to rely on anyone else means you can be nimble from the get go.

Managing business administration yourself may get time-consuming when growing. Wouldn’t you prefer to spend your time on client work and growing your business? Taking a DIY approach also requires you to keep yourself up-to-date with requirements, or be at risk of falling foul of the law.

Providers of standard offerings offer packaged support to typical business cases, including one-person companies. Often, this includes access to a self-service client portal. Local contact person, creating and sending invoices, accountant, extra services like invoicing, cash flow and expense management, etc. 

Find standard packages in the Marketplace by selecting the services you want using the filters and browsing the resulting service providers, or using the Compare feature. Examples of service providers offering standard packages include: e-Residency Hub, 1Office, Xolo, enty, Companio, e-resident store, eFinance, estx, e-raamatupidamine24, and many more.

A standard package can help you get started with everything you’ll need for a typical business case. Packages are also generally cost and time efficient as they generally use automations.

Packages may be costly for small enterprises to get started. More complex cases might need additional services. Automation might not suit your operations

Some providers offer more individualised support packages to companies with complicated structures or focusing on certain business activities. Find specialists in the Marketplace by using the Services filters. 

To find bespoke support in the Marketplace, we recommend reaching out to individual service providers to inquire whether they can tailor their services and packages according to your business needs.  Examples of service providers who might be willing to tailor services include: Finance Plus, Ecovis, KPMG, IBCCS, and many more.

Tailored packages and services will suit those e-⁠resident entrepreneurs needing complex accounting, tax and legal advice, and support in different languages.

Individualised support services or packages can be expensive, and may be time consuming to find and set up.

Think ahead and consider your own needs and preferences

Of the three offers above, the best solution for you will very much depend on your own entrepreneurial preferences and needs. Ask yourself the following questions when you’re considering which type of offer to choose.

If you see yourself as a more do-it-yourself type, consider one-time services. If you prefer to leave it to specialists, tailored support packages might suit you better

If you’re a one-person operator, preserve your time for client work by signing up for a self-service package

If you’re starting small, do-it-yourself services might be enough to assist. Or consider a monthly package to help with growth.

If you need support in different languages or are looking for compatibility in technology, time zone or cultural fit, tailored support packages might suit you best.

Before entering into any contracts, confirm their good reputation and financial standing, and that they can provide what you need.