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

The calculation 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 based on outsourced payroll, bookkeeping, CRO filings, and HR admin for a small Irish private limited company. They are illustrative, not statutory numbers. Actual costs vary with the complexity of your setup, whether you outsource or hire in-house, and the benefits programme you run.

The crossover compresses faster at higher salaries because PRSI at 11.25% applies to earnings above EUR 552 per week with no ceiling. At EUR 100,000 salaries the PRSI line grows faster. The crossover shifts closer to 5 to 6 employees.

Auto-enrolment pension at 1.5% on qualifying earnings applies on both sides of the comparison. It does not change the crossover significantly because it is symmetric. Run the Crossover Calculator with your own headcount and salary band.

One factor that moves outside the headcount maths: Ireland's 12.5% corporation tax rate. If your company generates meaningful trading profit in Ireland, the CT saving from operating through your own entity can justify earlier incorporation. This is a financial structuring question, not just a payroll question. Discuss it with a tax advisor before making the decision solely on headcount.

1. Calculate the EOR cost

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

2. Estimate the entity fixed overhead

   Typically EUR 2,500 to 4,000 per month for a small Irish Ltd. This covers payroll bureau, bookkeeping, CRO filings, Revenue returns, auto-enrolment admin, 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 Ireland tech salary bands, this is around 6 to 10 employees. Use the Crossover Calculator for your own numbers.

4. Factor in non-financial triggers

   The maths gives you a headcount threshold. The 12.5% corporation tax rate, EU trading substance, and market-validation reversibility are separate questions that may override the cost crossover in either direction.

5. Plan the graduation date

   Allow 4 to 6 weeks for entity formation before the first payroll on your own entity. Factor in time for Revenue registration and bank account opening. Start the GEMO process while EOR continues running.

These are typical ranges. They are not statutory figures. There is no law that sets what an Irish company costs to form. The range reflects real market rates for professional services, and it varies with how much substance and complexity your structure needs.

Why the bank account and Revenue registration matter

Irish business bank accounts for foreign-parented companies can take 4 to 8 weeks from application to an opened account. Some fintech providers are faster. Revenue PAYE registration is typically completed within a week but requires the company to be already incorporated and active on the CRO register. Plan for these sequential steps before you set the first payroll date. The CRO incorporation itself is fast, often 5 to 10 business days online.

These figures are typical market ranges for a small Irish private limited company with 1 to 15 employees. They are illustrative. They are not statutory costs. Actual costs depend on whether you outsource or hire, the quality of service you choose, and the complexity of your payroll and benefits programme.

Above 15 employees, dedicated Irish HR capacity and an in-house finance function typically become necessary. The cost band widens at that point. The 12.5% CT rate benefit grows in proportion to trading profit, partially offsetting higher compliance overhead at scale.

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 director duties

Under the Companies Act 2014, every Irish director must act honestly and responsibly, exercise reasonable care and skill, keep proper books of account, and avoid reckless trading. A director who allows the company to trade while insolvent risks personal liability for the company's debts. These are personal obligations. They cannot be outsourced.

The compliance treadmill

• Annual return: due within 56 days of the Annual Return Date. Late filing results in loss of the audit exemption for two years, plus late filing fees to the CRO.
• Financial statements: must be attached to the annual return. Small companies may use a simplified audit-exempt format, but the director must sign them.
• Corporation Tax return: within 9 months of the accounting period end. Preliminary tax is due earlier. Repeat late filing carries penalties.
• PAYE payroll reporting: under Revenue's PAYE Modernisation system, payroll data must be submitted on or before each payday.
• Auto-enrolment reporting: under the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act 2024, employer contributions must be submitted with each payroll run from the scheme launch in September 2025.
• WRC obligations: records of working hours, annual leave, and pay must be retained for the inspection of the Workplace Relations Commission.

Each filing is individually manageable. Stacked across a year, they consume real management attention. An EOR carries all of these on its own entity and none of them reach your directors.

• Under 6 Ireland 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, with an option to scale back. Entity setup commits capital and management attention before you know whether Ireland will deliver.
• Project-based hires: 6 to 12 month engagements where the formation cost will not amortise before the project ends.
• No CT substance needed yet: the 12.5% corporation tax benefit requires genuine trading activity and substance. If your Ireland headcount is below the level where meaningful profit is generated there, the CT advantage does not materialise.
• Acquired team you may divest: post-acquisition holding patterns where adding an Irish entity creates wind-down complexity later.

• Sustained headcount above 8 Ireland employees at average salaries: the entity overhead amortises across enough people that per-head cost falls below the EOR fee.
• Meaningful trading profit in Ireland: the 12.5% corporation tax rate is one of the lowest in the EU. It applies to trading income from an Irish-resident company. Accessing it requires your own entity with genuine management and control in Ireland.
• EU market access substance: enterprise customers and regulators in EU markets occasionally require contracting with an EU-incorporated entity. An Irish company provides that, and Ireland's common-law legal tradition makes contracts familiar for English-speaking founders.
• Long-term talent attraction: Irish employees and senior hires from the wider market expect a local employer with a permanent presence. An Irish entity supports longer-term employment commitments, share scheme options, and local HR policies that reflect the culture.
• CRO public register profile: an Irish registered company builds local credibility with customers, suppliers, and public sector procurement panels faster than an overseas-parented EOR arrangement.

The technical mechanic is contract novation: the employment contract transfers from Teamed Ireland Ltd to your new entity on a specified date. All terms carry across. Salary, pension, annual leave entitlement, and continuous service date all remain unchanged. The employee sees a different employer name on their payslip. Nothing else changes.

What we do operationally:

• Stand up your Irish entity through GEMO, typically around 4 to 6 weeks, while EOR continues running in parallel.
• Register the entity with Revenue for PAYE and VAT, and enrol in the auto-enrolment pension scheme where applicable.
• Novate every active employment contract on a single effective date.
• Migrate ongoing benefits without any lapse.
• File final EOR-period payroll submissions to Revenue and open new PAYE on the entity from the novation date.
• Provide the same Ireland People Ops specialist as the post-graduation primary contact.

The Graduation Model exists because every other EOR makes this hard. 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 Ireland hires from the first offer letter through every Revenue submission and year-end P60. 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 PRSI line at 11.25%, the auto-enrolment pension line at 1.5%, and the statutory annual 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 Ireland hiring overview. Key sources: gov.ie PRSI Class A Rates and Revenue PAYE Modernisation guidance.