From idea to CVR number: the five steps every new company goes through
Registration, VAT, bank, bookkeeping and insurance, in the order that saves you from redoing anything.
There are not twenty things to do when you start. There are five, and the order matters.
1. Register the company
Everything starts at virk.dk. You choose the legal form, state your industry and address and get a CVR number (the Danish company registration number). For a sole trader it happens immediately; an ApS requires that the capital has been paid in and the memorandum of association is in place first.
2. Decide on VAT now, not later
If you expect to turn over more than DKK 50,000 in 12 months, you must register for VAT. Register a little too early rather than too late: if you sell without being registered when you should have been, you owe the VAT anyway. If you sell VAT-exempt services (e.g. certain health services or teaching), other rules apply; ask before you assume.
3. Open a business account
An ApS must have a separate account for the share capital. A sole trader may technically use a private account, but don't: a mixed account is the most common cause of a messy set of books. The bank and card are also where you later connect the bookkeeping.
4. Choose how to keep the books, before the first invoice
The Danish Bookkeeping Act requires bookkeeping to be digital and receipts to be kept. Decide now, while there are zero receipts. Moving three months of receipts from a shoebox into a system is the job nobody ever gets done.
5. Insurance, and what your industry requires
Business liability insurance is not mandatory for everyone, but it is cheap compared with the one claim you do not want to pay yourself. If you employ people, occupational injury insurance is mandatory. Some industries require authorisation or a licence: electrical, plumbing, food, transport, and it must be in place before you sell.
What LegaSum does
The plan in LegaSum is the five steps, labelled by who does what: registration and capital with a partner, VAT and bookkeeping in LegaSum, bank via the banks that allow a connection. You see what is done and what is missing, and you are only asked when a choice is yours.