Sole trader registration
We register a sole trader end to end: the tax group, the activity codes, the application, the registrations. What matters here is not speed but the choice of group - getting it wrong costs you the whole next year.
Registering as a sole trader is technically easy, which is exactly why people rush it. The consequences are asymmetric: the application takes a minute, but you live with the group and the activity codes you chose until the year ends.
We handle the registration together with the decision about how the business will actually work: which group, which activities, whether VAT is needed, whether a cash register is.
What the service covers
- going through your situation: who your customers are, what volumes to expect, whether there will be staff;
- choosing the single-tax group or the general system, with the consequences explained;
- selecting activity codes for what you will actually do, not “just in case”;
- preparing and filing the registration application;
- the application for the simplified system, within its deadline;
- tax registration, and VAT registration where it is needed;
- advice on cash registers where the activity falls under the requirement;
- help opening a bank account and setting up the electronic cabinet.
The group is the decision that matters
Group two is cheaper but restricts who you may sell to: individuals and other single-tax payers. One invoice issued to a company on the general system, and the group can be lost retrospectively. Group three carries no such restriction, but the rate is charged on turnover.
The general system looks like the worst option until costs make up a large share – then it often beats group three. We calculate all three scenarios on your numbers; that is part of the registration, not a separate service.
What differs between the groups, and how to change them later, is on the sole trader bookkeeping page. We do not work with group one.
Activity codes: why more is not better
A common mistake is to register twenty codes for the future. Some activities are incompatible with the simplified system, and merely holding such a code raises questions. We register the codes you will actually trade under and add the rest when they are needed.
After registration
Deadlines start running from the day of registration: the social contribution accrues regardless of income, and the return is filed on the group’s schedule. You can keep the books yourself or hand them to us – then the calendar stops being your problem.
If the sole trader format turns out to be wrong, there is company registration; and if you need to wind up, closing the registration.
What it costs
It depends on whether you need only the registration or the scenario calculations, VAT and a cash register as well. We quote before starting.
Common questions
How long does registration take?
The registration itself takes a few working days. The conversation about which group to choose usually takes longer – and it is the best-spent time in the whole procedure.
Can it be done remotely?
Yes. Being in Ukraine is not required; the procedure runs under a power of attorney or through the electronic services.
When must the simplified-system application be filed?
For a newly registered sole trader, within the deadline the Code sets – otherwise you land on the general system automatically and wait for the next quarter. It is one of the two deadlines most often missed by people registering themselves.
Is a cash register needed straight away?
It depends on the activity and how you take payment. On the consultation we say plainly whether the requirement applies to you and what to do if it does.
Enquiry
Tell us what you need
We answer the same day. The consultation is free and commits you to nothing.
Practice areas
Every area we cover
Each area is handled by an accountant who works in it daily.
01
Accounting for Diia City residents
Diia City is not a relief you obtain once and forget. It is a regime with criteria to be met every year:…
02
Foreign trade and currency accounting
Foreign trade differs from ordinary accounting not in the difficulty of the entries but in who is watching. The bank monitors the…
03
Sole trader registration
Registering as a sole trader is technically easy, which is exactly why people rush it. The consequences are asymmetric: the application takes…
04
VAT registration
VAT adds not only a rate but a way of working: invoices have to be registered on time, the registration limit has…
05
Company liquidation
Liquidating a company is not one application but a procedure lasting several months, during which the state checks whether the company left…
06
Restoring accounting records
Restoration is needed not when the books are "a little behind", but when there is no answer to "show me how this…
07
Closing a sole trader registration
The commonest mistake in closing a sole trader registration is assuming the application is enough. State registration ends quickly, but tax registration…
08
Payroll and HR records
Payroll is the one area of accounting where a mistake is noticed immediately by two parties: the employee who did not see…
09
Bookkeeping for sole traders
Being a sole trader looks simple right up to the first missed deadline. The return is filed quarterly or annually, the social…
10
Removal from the risky VAT payer list
Landing on the list of risky taxpayers is not a formality - it hits operations directly. Tax invoices stop registering, buyers lose…
11
Unblocking tax invoices
Suspension of a tax invoice in the unified register is one of the most painful situations a VAT payer faces. The buyer…
12
Grant consulting and reporting
Grants are a real way to fund a business or an organisation without loans and without investors. But the money arrives with…
13
Turnkey company registration
Your own company starts with a registration done properly. Turnkey company registration from Business Light means having a limited liability company registered…
14
Bookkeeping for companies
Handing over your accounting is not handing over paperwork. It is handing over responsibility for deadlines, for source documents matching contracts, and…
15
Tax and accounting advice
A consultation is a single piece of work on a single question. It differs from tax planning in that planning rebuilds the…
16
Tax planning and optimisation
Your tax burden is mostly decided not by how you calculate tax but by how the business is built: which regime you…
17
Financial analysis and cost control
Financial analysis answers a question about the past: what has already happened to the company's money, and why. It is not the…
18
Financial planning
Financial planning looks forward. Unlike financial analysis, which explains the past, a plan answers the question of what comes next and what…
19
Preparing for a tax inspection
There is almost always time before an inspection. A scheduled documentary inspection is published in advance in the tax authority's plan, and…
20
Support during tax inspections
Support starts at the moment an inspection becomes a fact: the order has arrived, or the notice, or the inspector is already…
21
Voluntary audit
An initiative audit is commissioned by the owner or the management when an objective picture is needed. A statutory audit confirms the…
22
Legal services
Most legal questions in business end as a figure in the accounts. A contract decides when a tax liability arises. The form…
23
Virtual finance director
A virtual finance director is not a one-off consultation or a report. It is a role: somebody who owns the company's financial…
24
Tax audit
A tax audit is a check of reporting that already exists. We take the periods you care about and look not at…
25
Tax consulting
Tax consulting, as we practise it, is work on one concrete situation rather than a set of general advice. The question is…
26
Accounting services
The law requires books to be kept from the day of registration to the day of liquidation. The only question is who…