Estonian accounting for French owners, in practice

What does Estonian accounting cover?

It has four parts: bookkeeping from the bank and documents, the VAT return, payroll and the annual report. Each has its own deadline, and each builds on the books for the month.

The books are kept under Estonian law, and filings go electronically to the Estonian authorities. What matters to you is that the figures arrive on time and fit into your own accounts.

How does the monthly bookkeeping work?

We start from the bank: we post each movement, match it to a document, and close the month before we prepare the VAT return.

What cannot be matched we ask you about instead of estimating. At month end we also reconcile receivables, payables and balances with the French company, so the trial balance (the list of all account balances) can be relied on. If months are behind, we bring them up to date first, before the ongoing work starts.

What do we need from you each month?

We usually need five things:

1. statements for every company bank account, or better, read-only bank access,
2. sales and purchase invoices with their documents,
3. staff changes: starters, leavers, salaries and absences,
4. new contracts and services invoiced between the French and the Estonian company,
5. your answers to our queries on open items, within a few days.

When is the VAT return due?

The VAT return (KMD) is due by the 20th of the following month. In plain terms, every month the company tells the Tax Board how much VAT it charged and paid, and settles the difference.

The standard rate has been 24% since 1 July 2025, and the registration threshold is 40,000 EUR. We prepare the KMD from the reconciled books and file it. If the company has customers or suppliers in other countries, we check with you that the invoices and the return match. Our Estonian VAT guide covers the rules in detail.

How does payroll work in Estonia?

On gross pay, the employer pays 33% social tax and 0.8% unemployment insurance, and the employee pays 1.6% unemployment insurance.

That gives an employer multiplier of 1.338. At 1,000 EUR gross, an employee costs the employer 1,338 EUR. We run payroll every month, file it in Estonia and send you the payroll cost for your own tracking. How to treat an employee who also lives or works in France is a question for your expert-comptable.

When must the annual report be filed?

The annual report must be filed with the Estonian commercial register by 30 June.

We prepare it from the books of the financial year, agree it with you and file it electronically once the management board has approved and signed it. We plan this work backwards from 30 June. That leaves you and your expert-comptable time to review it before filing.

What does your expert-comptable receive, and when?

They receive a trial balance and reports after each month end, and the annual report at year end.

The chart of accounts, the layout and the dates are agreed once with them. After that, the Estonian figures arrive without being keyed in twice.

What does it cost?

Our monthly plans are fixed and run from 20 to 299 EUR a month, excluding VAT.

These prices are a starting point, not a quote. The price depends mainly on how many people you pay and how many transactions you have, and a written offer confirms it before work begins. The annual report is included in every monthly plan. For a company we do not serve monthly, it starts at 190 EUR. Catch-up work on past months is quoted separately.