How Much Does Accounting Cost for a Company in Georgia? 2026 Monthly Fees for LLC, IE & Virtual Zone
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How Much Does Accounting Cost for a Company in Georgia? 2026 Monthly Fees for LLC, IE & Virtual Zone
As of 2026, the accounting cost for a Georgian company typically ranges from about 100 GEL (about 30 EUR) a month for an Individual Entrepreneur to 2,000 GEL (about 630 EUR) or more for an active LLC with staff. In Georgia (the country), your fee depends on legal form, transaction volume, payroll and VAT status.
Your legal form sets the floor price. An Individual Entrepreneur with small business status files one short monthly turnover declaration. An LLC files monthly declarations even in months with zero income, so its accounting cost never drops to zero.
The fees in this guide are market-observed ranges from Tbilisi accounting firms as of 2026. They are not government charges. Tax rates come from the Tax Code and are published by the Revenue Service on rs.ge. Confirm any current threshold there before you build a budget around it.
What Does Accounting for a Georgian Company Include?
Every registered business in Georgia files tax declarations through the Revenue Service portal on rs.ge. Monthly returns are generally due by the 15th of the following month. Your accountant's job splits into three parts.
Monthly Tax Filings
The declarations you file depend on your structure and activity:
Turnover declaration for an IE with small business status, taxed at 1% of gross income.
Profit tax declaration for an LLC that distributes profit, taxed at 15% under the distribution-trigger model.
Income tax withholding on salaries, at the standard 20% income tax in Georgia (the country).
VAT return at 18%, only if you are VAT-registered.
An LLC that keeps all profit inside the company pays 0% corporate tax. It still files every month. You can see the full rate logic in our guide to Georgia corporate income tax.
Annual Obligations
Year-end work adds a second layer of cost:
Annual income declaration for IEs, generally due by 31 March of the following year.
Financial statements for LLCs, submitted to the accounting supervision authority (SARAS).
Status compliance for Virtual Zone companies, which must prove that their income qualifies.
Bookkeeping Versus Tax Compliance
Bookkeeping means recording transactions, matching bank lines to invoices and reconciling balances. Tax compliance means turning those records into correct declarations. A good accounting provider prices both together.
Take a Ukrainian designer registered as an IE who invoices five EU clients a month. Her bookkeeping takes under an hour. Her filing is a single number. That is why IE fees sit at the bottom of the market. Firms offering accounting and bookkeeping services in Georgia usually bundle both into one monthly package.
What Drives Your Monthly Accounting Fee?
Transaction count is the biggest single price driver. Most Tbilisi firms quote by bands of monthly bank lines, such as up to 30, 31-100 and over 100. Four other factors then push the price up or down.
Volume and Currencies
Each bank line needs a matching document. More lines mean more hours.
Multi-currency accounts in GEL, USD and EUR add revaluation work at official National Bank of Georgia rates.
Payment platforms like Stripe or PayPal create many small entries that need grouping.
Missing invoices force your accountant to chase documents, which some firms bill separately.
A founder with 15 large monthly invoices often pays less than one with 200 small card payments. This holds even when the second founder earns less.
Payroll and VAT
Hiring staff moves you into a higher bracket. Each employee needs monthly income tax withholding, pension contribution handling and a payslip record. Firms commonly add a per-employee charge on top of the base fee.
VAT registration adds a full monthly return. It also adds reverse-charge entries on imported services, such as foreign software subscriptions. The registration threshold is revised from time to time, so check the current figure on rs.ge.
Consider a German SaaS founder with an LLC, three Georgian developers and VAT registration. His monthly fee can easily be three to four times that of a solo LLC with no staff. Payroll and VAT drive most of that gap.
Special Regimes and Audit Readiness
Preferential regimes need extra tracking. A Virtual Zone company must separate qualifying foreign-source IT income from any other income. That split decides whether the 0% rate applies, and it is a core question when you look at taxes for an IT company in Georgia.
Clean books also protect you in a tax audit. The Revenue Service can review past periods. A cheap provider who skips reconciliations can cost you far more in corrections later.
IE vs LLC: Monthly Accounting Costs Compared
Item | IE (small business status) | Standard LLC | Virtual Zone LLC |
Typical monthly fee, low activity (2026 market) | 100-250 GEL (about 30-80 EUR) | 400-1,200 GEL (about 125-380 EUR) | 500-1,500 GEL (about 160-475 EUR) |
Headline tax | 1% of turnover | 15% on distributed profit | 0% on qualifying IT export profit |
Bookkeeping basis | Simple income and expense records | Full double-entry | Full double-entry plus income split by source |
Cost in a zero-income month | Very low | Base fee still applies | Base fee still applies |
Paying yourself | Income is already yours | 5% dividend withholding | 5% dividend withholding |
Extra annual work | Annual income declaration | Financial statements | Financial statements plus status review |
When an IE Is the Wrong Choice
The IE is the cheapest structure to run, but it does not fit everyone. Avoid it in these cases:
Turnover near the threshold. The 1% rate only applies up to an annual limit. Check rs.ge for how any excess is treated.
Excluded activities. Some activities cannot use small business status, so confirm yours before registering.
Partners or investors. An IE belongs to one person. You cannot share equity in it.
Plans to hire. Employing staff through an IE adds payroll work and erodes the cost advantage.
If any of these apply, the higher accounting cost of an LLC is the price of a structure that actually fits. Read our breakdown of small business status for Individual Entrepreneurs before you decide.
Why the Virtual Zone Premium Can Pay for Itself
A Polish developer runs an LLC that builds software for US clients. His company earns 300,000 GEL (about 95,000 EUR) in annual profit and distributes all of it. As a standard LLC, he would pay 15%, which equals 45,000 GEL (about 14,300 EUR) in profit tax.
With Virtual Zone status, qualifying profit is taxed at 0%. Suppose his accountant charges 250 GEL (about 80 EUR) more per month for the income split and status review. That adds 3,000 GEL (about 950 EUR) a year, a small fraction of the tax saved.
The math flips if most of your clients are in Georgia. Local-source income falls outside the exemption and is taxed at the standard rate. You still pay the higher accounting fee for the separation work. The annual checks are covered in our guide to Virtual Zone annual compliance.
The structure you pick is only the starting point. The next cost layer comes from what happens once you are actually trading.
What Extra Costs Appear Once You Start Trading?
A company that issues 5 invoices a month and one that issues 500 can share the same legal form. They will not share the same accounting bill. Volume, VAT, staff, and currencies each add their own line to the monthly fee.
VAT Registration Changes Your Workload
Georgia's standard VAT rate is 18%. Registration becomes mandatory once taxable turnover crosses a threshold over any continuous 12 months. That threshold has historically been 100,000 GEL (about 31,700 EUR). Confirm the current figure on rs.ge before you plan around it.
Once registered, your accountant files a monthly VAT return. They also match every incoming and outgoing electronic tax invoice on the rs.ge portal. As of 2026, Tbilisi firms commonly add 150-400 GEL (about 50-125 EUR) a month for VAT work, depending on invoice volume.
Many foreign founders forget one detail. Services sold to clients abroad are often outside Georgian VAT, but the turnover can still count toward registration questions. Ask your accountant to review the place-of-supply rules for your specific contracts.
Payroll Adds a Per-Employee Charge
Hiring locally creates new monthly duties. The employer withholds 20% personal income tax from each salary. Pension contributions apply too, with 2% from the employee and 2% from the employer for those enrolled in the scheme.
Take a Polish founder who hires 3 developers in Tbilisi. Her accountant now calculates gross-to-net pay every month. The firm also files the income tax declaration by the 15th of the following month and keeps employment records current. Market-observed fees run roughly 30-80 GEL (about 10-25 EUR) per employee per month on top of the base fee.
Larger teams often split this work out to a dedicated payroll management service. That keeps salary data away from general bookkeeping. It also makes headcount growth easier to price.
Foreign Currency and Crypto Transactions
Most foreign-owned companies bank in USD or EUR. Georgian books are kept in GEL. Every foreign-currency transaction must be converted at the official rate set by the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). Balances also need periodic revaluation, which creates exchange gains and losses on paper.
Crypto multiplies this effort. Each wallet transfer, swap, or payment needs a GEL value on the transaction date and a documented source. Firms that handle crypto-heavy companies often price per transaction or per wallet, not per month. Expect a quote well above a standard service business.
How to Get an Accurate Accounting Quote
A vague request like "how much for accounting?" gets a vague answer. A one-page summary of your activity gets a firm price within 2-3 business days. The steps below turn your first conversation into a fixed monthly fee you can budget.
Prepare Your Numbers Before You Ask
Gather these figures from your last 3 months, or your best forecast if you are new:
Sales invoices: how many you issue per month, and in which currencies
Purchase invoices: supplier bills, subscriptions, and contractor payments
Bank accounts: number of accounts and banks, including foreign ones
Staff: employees on Georgian payroll and their start dates
Tax status: VAT registration, Small Business Status, or Virtual Zone status
A German freelancer with an IE and Small Business Status might report 4 invoices a month, one bank account, and no staff. That profile gets quoted in minutes. A trading company with 300 invoices and 2 currencies needs a scoping call first.
Compare Quotes on Scope, Not Price
Two quotes of 400 GEL can cover very different work. Check whether each quote includes:
Monthly declarations to the Revenue Service
Bookkeeping entries and bank reconciliation
The annual financial report and its submission
Responses to Revenue Service letters and audits
A named contact who answers in English
Ask how the firm prices months above your expected volume. Some charge a flat overage. Others re-quote the whole package without warning. Our Georgia tax deadlines guide lists the filings any complete quote should cover.
Sign, Then Grant Access
Once you choose a firm, sign a written engagement letter. It should state the monthly fee, the scope, and the notice period for ending the contract. A 30-day notice period is common.
Your accountant then needs access to two systems:
The rs.ge portal, where you add the accountant as an authorized user under your tax ID
Your bank, through read-only online access or monthly statement exports
Some tasks still require a power of attorney. Examples include representing you at the House of Justice or opening accounts on your behalf. If you sign that document outside Georgia, it usually needs notarization and an apostille. The apostille and notary legalization process explains the steps.
DIY, Freelancer, Firm, or In-House: Which Costs Least?
Option | Typical monthly cost (2026, market-observed) | Best fit | Main risk |
Do it yourself | 0 GEL, plus 2-4 hours of your time | IE with Small Business Status and few invoices | rs.ge interface largely in Georgian, missed deadlines |
Freelance accountant | 150-500 GEL (about 50-160 EUR) | Solo IE or low-activity LLC | Single point of failure during holidays or illness |
Accounting firm | 300-1,500 GEL (about 95-475 EUR) | LLCs with VAT, payroll, or Virtual Zone status | Paying for scope you do not use |
In-house accountant | 2,500-4,500 GEL gross salary (about 790-1,430 EUR) | Companies with 20+ staff or heavy daily volume | Employer taxes, software, and no backup cover |
Costs That Never Appear in the Monthly Quote
The monthly fee is rarely your full annual spend. Budget separately for these items:
VAT on the fee itself: VAT-registered accounting firms add 18% unless your quote states otherwise
Catch-up work: cleaning up months of missing records often costs 1-3 times the monthly fee per month repaired
Annual financial report: some firms bill it as a one-off charge
Notarized documents: powers of attorney and certified translations for banks
Software or bank fees: some firms pass on licence or export costs
The annual report deserves attention. Georgian companies submit financial statements to SARAS, the state body that supervises accounting and reporting. Your entity category decides which standard applies and whether an audit is required. Small entities usually face lighter rules, but confirm your category each year.
When Cheap Accounting Costs More
Late or wrong filings trigger penalties and interest from the Revenue Service. The amounts change over time, so check rs.ge for the current schedule. A missed VAT return or salary declaration can quickly outweigh a year of savings on fees.
The risk is highest for Virtual Zone companies. If foreign and local income are not separated correctly, the Revenue Service can tax the mixed income at the standard rate. A specialist firm earns its higher fee here.
DIY makes sense in one narrow case. That case is an IE with Small Business Status, a few foreign clients, and a founder who reads the portal comfortably. Do not handle it yourself once you register for VAT, hire staff, or hold Virtual Zone status. At that point, one error costs more than a year of professional fees.
An in-house hire is also the wrong choice for most small companies. Below roughly 20 employees, you pay a full salary for part-time work. You also lose cover when that person is away.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I still pay accounting fees in a month with no revenue?
Usually yes, because reporting duties continue even when sales stop. Many firms offer a reduced dormant rate, often 30-50% of the normal fee. Ask for this rate in writing before you sign. Do not assume the firm will apply it automatically.
Are accounting fees tax-deductible for a Georgian company?
It depends on your structure. An LLC is taxed only when it distributes profit, so business expenses do not lower a running tax bill. Spending that is not business-related can be treated as a hidden distribution and taxed. An IE with Small Business Status pays 1% on turnover, so expenses do not reduce that tax at all.
What does it cost to switch accountants mid-year?
The new firm normally reviews your existing books before taking over. If the records are clean, this review is often free or a one-off charge close to one monthly fee. Messy books lead to a catch-up quote instead. Revoke the old firm's rs.ge access on the handover date so only one party can file.
Can my accountant be based outside Georgia?
Legally, yes, since filings happen online through rs.ge. In practice, a foreign accountant may not know local rules such as SARAS reporting or NBG rate conversion. You will also need someone who can read Revenue Service letters in Georgian. Most foreign founders keep a Georgian firm for filings and a home-country adviser for their personal taxes.
Does a small LLC need an audit?
Most small and micro entities do not need a statutory audit. Audit duties mainly apply to larger categories and public interest entities. Your category can change if revenue, assets, or headcount grow. Have your accountant reassess it before each annual report, because an audit adds a separate fee.
Can I pay my Georgian accountant in EUR or USD?
Many firms invoice in EUR or USD for foreign clients and accept international transfers. The firm still records the income in GEL at the NBG rate. Check who bears bank transfer fees, which can add 15-40 EUR per payment from outside Europe. An annual prepayment can cut those fees and sometimes earns a small discount.
How quickly can an accountant start if I just registered my company?
A firm can usually begin within 2-5 business days once you sign and grant rs.ge access. Your first filing deadline is the 15th of the month after your first taxable event, such as a salary payment. If you registered near the end of a month, start onboarding before trading begins. That way, the first deadline does not arrive before your accountant is set up.
