When do you graduate from an EOR to your own Greece entity?

The table below uses EUR 550 as the illustrative EUR equivalent of the Teamed fee. This is illustrative, not a fixed EUR price. The actual EUR amount depends on the exchange rate at the time of invoice. Teamed charges from $599 USD with zero FX mark-up.

All entity cost figures in this table are typical ranges. They cover outsourced payroll, bookkeeping, ERGANI filings, statutory benefit payments, and HR admin for a small Greek entity. They are illustrative, not law figures. Actual costs vary with the complexity of your setup and the mandatory bonus payments for Christmas and summer holidays.

The crossover compresses faster at higher salaries. e-EFKA employer contributions at 21.79% apply on all earnings up to a monthly cap. Greece also requires mandatory Christmas and holiday bonuses totalling two additional monthly salaries per year. These are the same on both sides of the comparison, but they raise the per-head cost base that both the EOR fee and the entity overhead are measured against.

At lower salary bands the crossover shifts toward 8 to 10 employees. At higher salary bands, where the e-EFKA cap reduces the effective social charge rate, it can shift slightly lower. Run the Crossover Calculator with your own headcount and salary band.

1. Calculate the EOR cost

   Multiply the Teamed fee (from $599 USD) by your planned Greek headcount. This is the fixed variable cost. It grows linearly as you hire.

2. Estimate the entity fixed overhead

   Typically EUR 3,500 to 5,000 per month for a small Greek entity. This covers outsourced payroll with ERGANI filings, bookkeeping, e-EFKA declarations, and first-point HR. This cost does not grow much until headcount exceeds 15.

3. Find the crossover headcount

   The crossover is where EOR monthly cost equals entity monthly overhead. For most Athens tech salary bands, this is around 6 to 9 employees. Use the Crossover Calculator for your own numbers.

4. Factor in non-financial triggers

   The maths gives you a headcount threshold. Tax treaty substance, ERGANI compliance readiness, and market-validation reversibility are separate questions that may move the decision in either direction.

5. Plan the graduation date

   Allow 8 to 12 weeks for entity formation before the first payroll on your own Greek entity. Factor in extra time for bank account opening and document apostille requirements. Start the GEMO process while EOR continues running.

These are typical ranges. They are not law figures. There is no law that sets what a Greek entity costs to form. The range reflects real market rates for professional services. It varies with your chosen legal form and how much substance your structure needs.

Greece offers two main legal forms for foreign companies hiring locally. The IKE (Private Capital Company, introduced by Law 4072/2012) requires a minimum share capital of EUR 1, making it the lighter-touch option. The AE (Societe Anonyme) requires a minimum share capital of EUR 25,000, a board structure, and more ongoing disclosure. Most new international employers start with an IKE.

Why the GEMI process and bank account take longer than expected

GEMI (the General Commercial Registry) registration for an IKE typically takes 5 to 10 working days after all documents are submitted. For foreign-parented companies, document authentication and apostille requirements add 2 to 4 weeks before you can even submit. Bank account opening for a newly formed Greek entity with foreign shareholders typically takes 4 to 8 weeks. Plan for a total of 8 to 12 weeks from the decision to first payroll in the entity.

These figures are typical market ranges for a small Greek entity with 1 to 15 employees. They are illustrative. They are not law figures. Actual costs depend on your chosen legal form, whether you outsource or hire in-house, and the complexity of your mandatory bonus payment cycle.

Greece requires two mandatory bonus payments every year: a Christmas bonus equal to one full monthly salary (paid by 21 December), and a combined Easter and summer holiday allowance also equal to one monthly salary. These are the same on both sides of the comparison but they affect the annual cost modelling. For a Greek entity, they appear as separate payroll runs that your payroll bureau must schedule and file correctly.

Above 15 employees, dedicated Greek HR capacity and an in-house finance function typically become necessary. The cost band widens at that point. ERGANI notification complexity also increases proportionally with headcount as every hiring, termination, and working-time change must be pre-notified.

Most cost comparisons skip the director-liability dimension because it is hard to put a number on. It is worth naming explicitly before you decide.

Personal liability for tax and social contribution debts

Under the Greek Income Tax Code and e-EFKA rules, any director, managing director, or shareholder with effective control of a Greek entity can be held personally liable for the company's unpaid income tax withholding and e-EFKA employer contributions. The Greek tax authority (AADE) can pursue directors personally if the entity has insufficient assets. This is not a theoretical risk. AADE enforcement activity has increased sharply since 2022 as part of the broader digitalisation of Greek tax compliance through myAADE and ERGANI 2.0.

The ERGANI pre-notification treadmill

• New hire: the employer must file in ERGANI before the employee's first shift. Late notification is a fine. The fine escalates on repeat failures.
• Working-time changes: any change to an employee's hours or schedule must be pre-notified in ERGANI before the change takes effect.
• Termination: the dismissal must be notified in ERGANI within 4 business days. Severance must be tendered simultaneously with the dismissal document.
• Annual leave register: employers must maintain a leave register in ERGANI and record all leave taken within the calendar year.
• e-EFKA monthly declarations: employer contributions must be declared and paid by the last working day of the following month.

Each requirement is individually manageable with a good payroll bureau. Missed together, they compound into penalty territory fast. A Greek entity director who is not monitoring these personally is exposed, because AADE and e-EFKA hold directors jointly and severally liable for the entity's compliance failures.

• Under 6 Greek employees on average salaries: EOR is cheaper and faster every month. The entity overhead has nothing to amortise against.
• Market validation phase: you are hiring 1 or 2 people to test commercial fit. Entity setup commits capital and management attention before you know whether the Greek market will deliver.
• Short-duration hires: 6 to 18 month project engagements where the formation cost will not amortise before the engagement ends.
• No share option plan needed yet: senior hires are not expecting equity, or you are pre-Series A. A Greek entity adds structure but not the option scheme benefit until you build one deliberately.
• ERGANI complexity concern: you do not yet have a local payroll bureau or HR advisor who can handle pre-notification requirements. Running ERGANI from abroad without local support creates real director-liability exposure.
• Exit optionality matters: if there is any chance you will exit the Greek market within 2 to 3 years, entity wind-down cost and complexity are a material factor. Greek entity dissolution involves GEMI, AADE clearance, e-EFKA clearance, and a minimum 3-month creditor notice period.

• Sustained headcount above 9 Greek employees at typical salaries: the entity overhead amortises across enough people that per-head cost falls below the EOR fee.
• Tax treaty substance requirements: if your structure needs a permanent establishment in Greece for treaty or transfer-pricing purposes, a registered Greek entity with real employees is the minimum requirement. EOR employment creates no permanent establishment in your own entity.
• Government and public-sector contracts: many Greek government tenders require the bidder to be a registered Greek legal entity. An EOR arrangement does not satisfy this requirement.
• Local banking and payment relationships: Greek corporate banking accounts require a registered entity. Certain payment systems and local credit lines also require legal establishment.
• Long-tenure team building: if you are planning a team that will be in Greece for 5 or more years, the entity overhead amortises well. The severance exposure that accrues over long tenure is also more predictable and manageable when you control the entity directly.

The technical mechanic is contract novation: the employment contract transfers from Teamed's Greek entity to your new entity on a specified date. All terms carry across. Salary, mandatory Christmas and holiday bonuses, leave entitlement, and continuous service date all remain unchanged. The employee sees a different employer name on their ERGANI record. Nothing else changes.

What we do operationally:

• Stand up your Greek entity through GEMO, typically around 8 to 12 weeks, while EOR continues running in parallel.
• Complete GEMI, AADE, and e-EFKA employer registrations on the new entity.
• Pre-notify the transfer in ERGANI before the novation date.
• Novate every active employment contract on a single effective date.
• Migrate ongoing mandatory benefits including Christmas and holiday bonus accruals without any lapse.
• File final EOR-period e-EFKA declarations and open new declarations on the entity from the novation date.
• Provide the same local specialist as the post-graduation primary contact.

The Graduation Model exists because every other EOR makes this hard. Greek ERGANI and e-EFKA transfers involve multiple government filings that must be sequenced correctly. We treat the move as something we help you plan for from the day you hire your first employee through us.

Real HR and legal experts handle your Greek hires from the first ERGANI pre-notification through every e-EFKA monthly declaration. An actual person, not a chatbot or a pooled queue. There is no setup fee and no exit fee. Every employer cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice. You see the e-EFKA line at 21.79%, the mandatory bonus accruals for Christmas and holidays, and the leave accrual for 20 days. Nothing is hidden inside the management fee.

EOR payroll, contractor onboarding, and entity setup all live on one platform. Run the Crossover Calculator to see the month the model flips. Start from the Greece hiring overview. Key sources: Greek Ministry of Labour e-EFKA contributions and GEMI (General Commercial Registry).