The most common type of company registered in Colombia is the SAS, which stands for Simplified Stock Corporation. This is due to the ease of the procedures and the flexibility in the requirements for capital, shareholders, economic activity, duration of the company, among others.
JLC does not register companies that are related to the following economic activities due to being considered high-risk in Colombia:
Cryptocurrency
Adult entertainment industry
Real estate investment
Foreign entrepreneurs can register a company remotely, providing basic identification details.
If you need to register another type of company (Foreign Branch, Ltd., SA, etc.), please contact us.
Type of
registration company
Remote:
JLC will carry out the registration 100% remotely; no presence of any company official in Colombia is required. Neither are apostilled or notarized documents required. We only need you to review the documents we share via email and have them approved.
In-person:
If you are in Colombia or plan to come to Colombia, JLC will accompany the officials to the registration in person before the Chamber of Commerce. In the same way, we will provide all the documents required to carry out the procedure.
Register company process
The documentation required for company registration in Colombia varies depending on the legal nature of the shareholder:
Shareholder is a person: Identification document.
Shareholder is a company: certified copy of the articles of incorporation of the foreign company. This document must be presented in Spanish or accompanied by an official Spanish translation made by a Colombian public translator. This document must include at least:
- Name
- Tax ID
- Address
- Phone number
- Economic activity
- Shareholders structure
Our legal team will guide you through each step to ensure full compliance with Colombian regulations.
Information about the new company: a basic form must be completed, which will request the following information about the company to be registered:
- Shareholders names
- Economic activity
- Company’s name
- Share capital amount
- Legal representatives / Directors names
- Country and city of residence of the shareholders
- Fiscal address**
To fill out the form please hit here for ENGLISH or SPANISH.
** By contracting our accounting services with JLC, you can use our fiscal address as your own free of charge, so you won’t have to pay additional fees to other companies for a business address.
The fee for registering an SAS company is USD 800. USD500 is payable upfront, and the remaining amount will be due upon our submission of the following documents evidencing the company’s registration:
- Tax registry: Registro Único Tributario (RUT)
- Certificate of existence and legal representation: merchantile registration
- Articles of incorporation
- Shareholders books
- Minutes book
- Share certificates
In addition to the initial USD 800 payment, a supplementary fee ranging from USD100 to USD200 shall be paid to cover the costs associated with registering the company at the Chamber of Commerce. Please note that the stated registration fee is applicable for an authorized capital not exceeding USD700. For higher capital amounts, a pro-rata adjustment shall be made.
JLC grants a 7-day grace period for the payment of the outstanding balance. In the event of non-payment within the stipulated timeframe, JLC shall be entitled to retain full ownership of the newly incorporated company without any obligation to provide a refund for services rendered.
Our bank details are
- Company: JLC Auditors & Advisors SAS
- Tax ID (NIT): 900.703.390
- Phone: 601 245 6465
- Address: Calle 98 No. 70 – 91 Oficina 803
- Bank address in Colombia: Carrea 7 No. 32 – 28, Bogotá
- Bank address in Panamá: Calle 47 y Aquilino de la Guardia. Plaza Marbella- Edificio Bancolombia Apartado 0816-03320 Ciudad de Panamá
Colombia
Bancolombia Savings Account 03120933301 SWIFT code COLOCOBMXX.
This account receives payments in both currencies USD and COP.
Panamá
Bancolombia Savings Account 80100009724 SWIFT code COLOPAPAXX.
This account accepts transfers in US Dollars (USD) ONLY.
The estimated timeframe for the registration process is 3 to 5 business days. This timeframe is divided as follows:
Articles of incorporation: Once the client approves the proposal for the registration of the company and transfers 50% of the fees indicated in section 1, JLC will provide a form (indicated in section 1) that must be completed with the basic information required (5 questions) for drafting the articles of incorporation of the new company. Upon receipt of this completed form, we will take a maximum of 2 business days to draft and send the articles for the client’s approval.
Registration: Once the client approves the articles of incorporation, the company registration process will begin and take a maximum of 3 business days.
Registration confirmation: JLC will send the documents evidencing the company registration by email, along with the final balance due (remaining 50% of the fees + registration costs + translation costs, if applicable).
Final payment: The client will remit the remaining balance of the registration fees indicated in section c.
Bank account opening: If the bank account opening service has been contracted, JLC will initiate the process of registering the bank account. For this service, please refer to the section titled “Bank Account Opening”.
Bank account opening
In Colombia, banks generally do not permit foreigners without official Colombian citizenship to open accounts on behalf of third parties. For this reason, JLC offers its clients the convenience of opening such accounts under our responsibility.
It is essential to note that JLC can only proceed with the opening of the bank account if it has been selected as your bookkeeping services provider. This is because the bank will require periodic information from the account holder, and the only way to comply with these requests is by having a complete understanding of the new company’s operations.
