Engaging with a secretarial services provider in Ecuador is a crucial step for multinationals expanding to the Andean country.
Although economic growth was slow last year, the ambitious tax and tariff reforms implemented in 2019 contributed to better management of the country’s fiscal budget, which is key for Ecuador. In addition, the World Bank estimates an economic growth recovery for 2020. Entrepreneurs operating in or seeking to expand to Ecuador must engage with a professional secretarial services provider to guarantee full fiscal and legal compliance.
In this article, we list crucial competencies that you should look for in a secretarial services provider in Ecuador for your expansion.
Table of Contents
You secretarial services provider in Ecuador must offer bookkeeping services
Bookkeeping is the process of recording your business’ financial transactions on a daily basis. It’s the backbone for creating your business’ financial statements.
Making sure your financial statements are accurate is crucial, as they will be filed before the Internal Revenue Service of Ecuador (Servicio de Rentas Internas del Ecuador, SRI). Your secretarial service provider in Ecuador will guarantee that your business is compliant with all tax regulations while managing them efficiently.
In Ecuador, businesses must file monthly and annual taxes to SRI. Tax obligations vary per industry, but the general tax obligations include your business’s value-added tax (VAT), different withholding taxes and income tax.
Payroll processing
A key service that your secretarial services provider in Ecuador should offer is payroll processing. Payroll processing involves calculating, presenting, and paying remuneration for employees while taking into account contributions for social security purposes.
Your provider needs to make sure that the amount of income tax to withhold from your employees is correct. At the end of the year, your employee’s taxes and deductions in your reporting must be included in your filing SRI.
Auditing
Auditing involves examining your business’ financial reports and statutory records to determine their accuracy and compliance with tax regulations. Regular auditing protects your business from unnoticed issues that can result in problems with local authorities or sanctions if not fixed timely.
Your secretarial services provider in Ecuador should offer your business bespoke and tailored auditing services that will make sure all your financial reports and operations are compliant with Ecuadorian law.
Most common types of audits conducted include:
- Audit of annual accounts for financial statements: This type of audit analyses your business’ financial reports. Auditors check all transactions, procedures, and balances. The goal of an audit of financial statements is to determine the accuracy of financial reports and that they reflect faithful information of your business assets and liabilities in compliance with regulations.
- Fiscal audit: This type of audit focuses on taxes. Fiscal audits will identify any discrepancies in your tax filings, which may have resulted in overpay or underpay taxes. Identifying unnoticed issues is crucial to avoid problems with local tax authorities and to maintain your business’ clean image.
- Compliance audit: This type of audit will examine whether your business conducts operations in accordance with internal and external standards. Compliance audits are important to verify that your business operations are compliant with industry-specific and general regulations, as well as with accounting standards.
Although audits are classified in types, it is common to conduct fiscal, financial and compliance audits at the same time. Expert secretarial services providers in Ecuador will assist you with your auditing needs, and escalate any issues that may cause problems for your business down the line.
International taxation
Navigating financial reports and taxation can be complex when conducting operations or expanding abroad. International taxation entails the structuring, planning, and submission of documents for compliance with the respective jurisdictions, in this sense, understanding more than one country’s tax regulations is of the utmost importance.
Your secretarial service provider in Ecuador must have experience with double taxation management, taxes applicable for income generated abroad and taxes applicable for non-residents, amongst others.
Make sure to obtain assistance from locals with international experience.
Seeking a secretarial services provider in Ecuador? Contact Biz Latin Hub
Expanding to Ecuador can be a complex process, but thankfully the country is well known for its wealth in legal and financial expertise. Make sure to satisfy your taxation and legal needs with a trusted, responsive, and efficient secretarial services provider in Ecuador.
At Biz Latin Hub, we help businesses from all over the world to enter and operate in Ecuador. Our team of local and expatriate lawyers and accountants have vast experience in tax compliance, company incorporation, auditing, and visa services. Contact us now for a consultation.
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