How many employees before we need our own entity?

There is no headcount threshold. It depends on salaries, local employer costs and how long you intend to stay, not on how many people you have.

What does setting up an entity actually cost?

The registry fee is the small part. Recurring costs matter more: annual filings, a registered agent or local address, accounting, and someone keeping it current. Each guide states that jurisdiction own figures.

Does an entity remove the need for an employer of record?

In that jurisdiction, once it can run payroll, generally yes. Elsewhere, no. Most companies run an entity in one or two markets and an employer of record everywhere else.

Can we move back to an employer of record after incorporating?

Rarely cleanly. Registrations are easier to open than to close, and a company that has employed people keeps filing obligations afterwards. Plan the move as one directional.

My country is not listed. Can you still set one up?

Yes. Teamed runs entity formation and operations across 100+ countries through Global Entity and Employment Operations. These guides are the jurisdictions written up so far, not the limit of what we cover.

Entity guides

Set up your own entity.
Or decide not to.

What it actually takes to open a company in each jurisdiction, what it costs to keep open, and when an employer of record is the better answer.

An entity is a commitment rather than a purchase. Incorporating is usually the quick part. What follows is a standing obligation, annual filings on fixed dates, a registered agent or local address where the law demands one, and somebody whose job it is to keep all of it current.

These guides state each jurisdiction own figures, read from that jurisdiction own registry and tax authority rather than averaged across a region. Averages are worse than useless here, because the jurisdictions are genuinely not alike. Some charge almost nothing to register and a great deal to leave. Some tax gross receipts, so a loss making company still pays. Several are part way through legislated changes that make anything published two years ago wrong.

Written up in full

These are the jurisdictions with the whole picture: what you file to incorporate, what it costs every year afterwards, where tax presence starts, how you move people across from an employer of record, and the honest comparison between the two.

Also covered, in less depth

Teamed sets up and runs entities in these countries too. The guides here are shorter, usually the entity or employer of record decision and the tax presence question rather than the full set. Ask and a specialist will fill the gaps for your situation.

Sometimes an employer of record is the better fit

Not every team needs its own company. If the group is small, still changing shape, or you are testing whether a market works at all, an employer of record can be the better answer, and it is a fair one rather than a lesser one. It is also reversible in a way incorporation is not.

Talk to a member of the team and we will tell you plainly which one suits where you are. If you would rather look at the numbers yourself first, the crossover calculator models it on local salaries and employer costs rather than on a rule of thumb about headcount.

Talk to a member of the team Crossover calculator Entity Management (GEMO)

Frequently asked questions

How many employees before we need our own entity?
There is no such number, and anyone quoting one is guessing. Whether an entity earns its keep depends on what you pay people, the employer costs where they work, and how long you intend to stay. Those three move the answer far more than headcount does, which is why we point people at a calculator that uses them.
What does setting up an entity actually cost?
The registry fee is usually the small part and the least interesting. The real costs are the recurring ones: annual filings, a registered agent or local address where the law requires one, accounting, and the person who keeps it all current. Each jurisdiction guide states that jurisdiction own figures rather than an average, because averages across countries are meaningless here.
Does an entity remove the need for an employer of record?
In that jurisdiction, generally yes, once it can actually run payroll. Everywhere else, no. Companies commonly run their own entity in one or two established markets and an employer of record everywhere else, which is usually cheaper and considerably less work than incorporating in every country where one person happens to live.
Can we move back to an employer of record after incorporating?
In practice it is rarely clean. You can stop employing through the entity, but registrations are much easier to open than to close and a company that has employed people keeps filing obligations afterwards. Treat the move as one directional when you plan it, because that is how it behaves.
My country is not listed. Can you still set one up?
Yes. Teamed runs entity formation and ongoing entity operations across 100+ countries through Global Entity and Employment Operations. The guides here are the jurisdictions written up so far, not the limit of what we do. Ask about any country and a specialist will answer on the specifics rather than in general terms.

Not sure an entity is the answer?

Tell us where you are hiring and how long you expect to be there. A specialist will tell you plainly whether a company is worth opening, including when it is not.

Talk to a specialist