Your new company already has its identification number, a bank account and perhaps its first order. Accounting is easy to postpone, particularly when there are only a few documents. Yet the opening weeks are a good time to establish routines that prevent repeated searches for payments and paperwork.
Start from the company's legal incorporation. The Slovak Financial Administration states that a legal entity opens its accounting books on the date it comes into existence. For an s.r.o., a Slovak limited liability company, this is the date of entry in the Commercial Register. Keep accounting records in mind even if your first customer invoice will come later. Slovak Financial Administration: opening accounting books.
Gather company documents in one place
Your accountant will need the company's identification details and documents showing its incorporation and basic arrangements. Prepare the founding documents, Commercial Register details and evidence relating to the shareholders' contributions. Include notices and decisions received from public authorities.
Keep invoices and payment confirmations connected with setting up the company. If a founder paid some costs personally, make that clear. Their accounting treatment and any reimbursement need to be assessed in the circumstances. Without a document and the identity of the payer, the origin of the payment will be harder to establish.
Add a list of contracts already signed, such as rent, telephone, software or service agreements. This gives the accountant an overview of recurring payments and shows which supporting documents to expect in later months.
Distinguish company and personal money from the outset
Using a company bank account and company card is a practical approach to daily operations. Mixing personal purchases with company spending creates a question about ownership each time an unclear transaction appears.
Even with a good routine, a managing director might pay for a company purchase using a personal card. Do not leave the receipt out. Send it with details of who paid and whether the company has already reimbursed them. Similarly, explain any personal purchase accidentally paid from the company account.
When a shareholder transfers money into the business, state why it was paid. A bank movement alone does not distinguish a contribution, a loan or another arrangement. Keep the relevant document with the transfer and agree on its treatment with your accountant.
Set up the first invoice before issuing fifty
Check the company name, registered office, identification details and bank account in your invoicing tool. Agree on numbering and invoice details with your accountant, taking into account the type of transaction and your VAT position.
Pay attention to the description of the supply. "Services as agreed" may not explain what the customer is paying for. A clear description and a traceable order help with accounting and with any later disagreement about the scope of the work.
Decide how you will handle advance payments, corrections and cancelled orders. Correcting an invoice should not mean overwriting the original file and losing the first version. You need to know which document was sent to the customer and what changed afterwards.
Check electronic communication and permissions
Legal entities entered in Slovakia's Commercial Register must communicate electronically with the Financial Administration. Check who will submit documents for your company and whether they have the necessary portal permissions. Slovak Financial Administration: electronic communication.
Separately, check access to the company's electronic mailbox on slovensko.sk. Agree on who monitors it and handles incoming messages. Knowing that your accountant prepares filings does not, by itself, establish who reads all the company's official correspondence.
Use the permissions and authorisations offered by each service. Sharing a personal login password is not an appropriate way to allocate responsibility. The company needs to retain an overview of who can access each system.
Mention overseas software before ordering it
A new s.r.o. may make its first overseas purchase before its owner thinks of it as international trade. Online advertising, an application subscription or a service bought through a foreign platform are common examples. These costs deserve attention even when the amounts are small.
Send your accountant the supplier details and description of the service before the first purchase. They can assess whether a specific VAT obligation will arise. For services with a place of supply determined under Section 15(1), received from a supplier in another EU member state, a business that is not a VAT payer may need registration under Section 7a before receiving the service. Slovak Financial Administration: place of supply of services.
Do not determine the treatment of an overseas service solely from the invoice currency or website language. The supplier's details and the particular transaction matter. Also tell your accountant when you start supplying services to customers outside Slovakia.
Agree on the first monthly handover
Choose where to collect documents and set a handover date. A simple folder structure may be enough to start with. Keep purchase invoices, sales invoices, bank records and other documents separate. Use the same structure every month.
Track documents still awaiting completion as well. A missing invoice for a payment should not exist only in your memory. Record the supplier, date and amount so it is clear what still needs obtaining.
At the first handover, ask for feedback on the format. If the bank export or invoicing report is unsuitable, you can change it immediately. The monthly documents checklist explains the main groups of records.
What to check after the first month is processed
Return to unclear payments and establish whether they have all been explained. Check that your accountant received statements from every account used and any documents paid personally by the managing director. Agree on a specific next step for anything still missing.
For a new company in Prešov, an initial meeting can help address these questions together. Prepare your own description of the business and examples of its records. If you would like to discuss accounting with Hanesy, use the contact form to state the company's incorporation date, its activity and whether you already have documents to process. The conversation can then focus on what your business actually needs.