Company formation – 6 important actions

1. Order NemID employee signature for the company

For you to operate your company digitally, you need to order a NemID employee signature. In principle, a NemID employee signature works in the same way as your private NemID. With an employee signature, you can identify yourself on behalf of your company and access the public digital systems. You decide how many of your employees, who must have a NemID employee signature. Typically, those who work with the company's administration needs to have one.

Order NemID employee signature here.

2. Activate the company's Digital Mailbox

When you have a company and a CVR number, you are required to use Digital Post in order to receive mail from the public. Your company is automatically assigned a digital mailbox when it is established. Follow the link below to start setting up your company's digital mailbox.

Enable Digital Post here.

3. Create NemKonto for the company's business account

All companies in Denmark must have a NemKonto. The company's NemKonto is the bank account which all public authorities pay out money to, for example excess VAT. A NemKonto can easily be the same account that you use as the company's operating account. To do so, you must contact your bank and ask them to register your operating account as your NemKonto.

4. The company's finances needs to be separate from your personal finances

As the company’s owner, it is extremely important that your company's finances and your personal finances are separated from each other. This means that you are not allowed to spend the company's money for private consumption, nor do you, as a rule, borrow money from the company for you or your family. It is illegal and can result in fines. However, it is possible to take out a so-called shareholder loan and thus borrow money from your company, but only if you fulfill certain conditions – which most owners rarely do. Read more about this here (article is in Danish).

When you have to keep track of your new company's finances, it is always helpful to use an accounting software program. The accounting software program e-conomic is an easy-to-use online tool where you can write and send invoices, scan receipts with your phone and get your accounts reconciled automatically.

You can try e-conomic for free for 90 days here.

5. Director's service agreement

If you, as the owner, wish to be the director of your company, you must create a director's service agreement. The same applies if there are several owners who wish to be directors. The Companies Act stipulates that any agreement between the owner(s) and the company must be documented in writing, and this therefore also includes any agreements on employment.

If the future director is not the owner of the company, then there is no legal requirement about creating a director's service agreement. However, it is still an advantage for all parties that a director's service agreement is created. The reason for this is that there is a great deal of freedom of contract, when it comes to hiring directors because directors are neither covered by the Civil Service Act nor by any agreements. A director's service agreement therefore take far more employment conditions into account than a regular employment contract. In addition, a director's service agreement is an advantage if, for example, you want to deduct salary from the company further down the road.

Read more about the director's service agreement here (article is in Danish).

6. Take out occupational accident insurance

If you have established an ApS, A/S or IVS, it is compulsory that you take out an occupational accident insurance. This also applies if you are the sole owner and only employee. This is due to the fact that these company formations are so-called capital companies, which means that the company in the eyes of the law is regarded as an independent legal entity and therefore has legal responsibility for its owner.

The occupational accident insurance covers in the event that employees are injured during working hours. The insurance covers medical expenses, compensation for loss of earning capacity, allowance for survivors and more. We cooperate with Tryg Forsikring, a Danish insurance company, which offers an advantageous occupational accident insurance. You can get a quote free of charge and without obligation here.

Read more about Tryg's occupational accident insurance and get a quote here.

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Start your own company with Legal Desk

If you have not yet started your own company, you can do it online with Legal Desk. We help you through the entire process, so you can be sure that your documents will end up 100 % legally valid.

All you have to do is fill out our online form that asks you all the same questions that a lawyer would – at a fraction of the cost. Press 'Start now' at the bottom of the page to begin starting your own limited liability company (“anpartsselskab” or "ApS" in Danish) or limited company (“aktieselskab” or "A/S" in Danish)!*

*Note that it is not possible to start a sole proprietorship if you are a foreign citizen – but you can still start a limited liability company or limited company!