From the first question to an operating Bulgarian business.
Start in BG helps international founders and companies understand Bulgaria, choose the right setup and coordinate the steps required to establish and operate locally – from company formation through accounting and banking to market entry.
Rather read up first? Get the book →
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney, Animator and film producer
For founders, freelancers, consultants and owner-managed businesses.
See how formation worksFor entrepreneurs whose personal move and business setup belong together.
Plan the move and the companyFor established businesses planning a Bulgarian entity, team, location or nearshore operation.
Plan our market entryIs Bulgaria right for your situation at all?
A decision matrix built on realistic scenarios: residence, place of management, substance and operational plans — before anyone talks about incorporating.
Open the decision matrixCan you incorporate in Bulgaria?
The practical formation check: requirements, process and matching next steps — free, in about two minutes.
Start the formation checkFour reasons the location holds up – and a fifth point that matters just as much: a Bulgarian company on its own does not decide where you or your business are taxed.
A flat rate across company sizes, with no tiered surcharges on top. How much of it reaches you depends on your distribution policy and your personal situation.
Free movement of goods and services, the EU VAT system and company forms recognised across the Union – the same rules as any other member state.
Materially lower than Western Europe depending on location and business model. In Sofia's tech segment the gap is narrower than most people expect.
Software and IT services, shared service centres, professional services and manufacturing – with English-speaking specialists in the larger cities.
Close to Western European time zones, with access to the Balkans and Turkey and direct access to the Black Sea.
Worth settling before you run the numbers: where your company and you personally pay tax is decided by residence, place of effective management and genuine local substance – not by the registration itself. Someone living in Germany and managing from there generally stays taxable in Germany. This is not small print; it is where most plans stand or fall.
Bulgaria vs Estonia, Cyprus, Romania & the UK – the country comparison →
Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna or Burgas? Compare business locations in Bulgaria →
By Dr. Dennis Kwiatkowski & Svilen Petkov
The practical guide
Before opening a company, it is worth understanding what running a Bulgarian one actually involves. That is what we wrote the book for: over 140 pages of practice rather than promises — including for the readers who finish it and conclude that Bulgaria is not for them.
What you will work out
Five stages, and you join at the one you are actually on. Not everybody goes through all of them – some read the book and decide against Bulgaria. That is a good outcome too.
How business in Bulgaria actually works – the book, guides, the blog, the FAQ and verified sources.
Whether and how Bulgaria fits your situation – decision matrix, country comparison, provider comparison, cost factors.
The formation sequence with clear responsibilities – documents, notary, Commercial Register, bank preparation.
Accounting, VAT, registered address, banking and the obligations that start the day you are registered.
Market entry, nearshoring, local providers and introductions, once the setup becomes an operation.
Start in BG guides German- and English-speaking founders and companies (and everyone else!) through the practical steps in Bulgaria:
Start in BG is not a law firm, not a tax practice and not an authority. We orient, coordinate and accompany. Bookkeeping and tax filings are delivered by our accounting partner under their own agreement with you; legal advice, notarial acts, residence matters and banking decisions sit with the relevant professionals and institutions. Where that is the case we say so – and point you to the right people.
We coordinate – and we do not pretend to decide everything ourselves. The full sequence, with clear ownership of every step:
Step 1: Initial consultation
Responsible: Start in BG
Step 2: Preparing the formation documents
Responsible: Start in BG
Step 3: Your documents and signatures
Responsible: Your decisionYou
Step 4: Notarial certification
Responsible: Official authorityNotary
Step 5: Commercial Register entry
Responsible: Official authorityRegistry Agency
Step 6: Business bank account
Responsible: External partnerYour bank
Step 7: Accounting and ongoing obligations
Responsible: External partnerAccounting partner
Step 8: Handover – company ready to trade
Responsible: Start in BG
We coordinate the process. Final decisions remain with the responsible institution.
Operate
Accounting obligations start the day you are registered, not with your first invoice. These pages cover what comes next.
Not sure what actually applies to your company? Build your operating calendar →
Also for existing companies:Roadmap: after incorporation →Address registration →
For established companies
From establishing a Bulgarian entity to coordinating accounting, banking, payroll, premises and local partners: Start in BG gives your market-entry project one German- and English-speaking point of coordination.
Market entry & nearshoring
Rather than claiming everything on this website is correct, we tell you for each important statement where it comes from and how far it has been checked.
Follows from Bulgarian or EU law, official guidance, or a register kept by an authority.
An observation from the formations we run ourselves - not a rule.
Decided case by case by the responsible body - a bank, a notary, an office, or a tax authority abroad.
Describes the documented scope of our own service.
Bulgaria is not only for large corporations – it suits entrepreneurs, freelancers and small businesses that want to work efficiently and flexibly, and established companies looking for an EU location.
Consulting, software, design, content – usually a single-owner company (EOOD) with manageable administration.
Shops, marketplace sellers and SaaS – here VAT often decides what a sensible setup looks like.
If you are scaling inside the EU, Bulgaria offers an EU framework at competitive operating costs.
A subsidiary, a local team, nearshoring or sales presence – the B2B route, with its own path through the site.
The one case where residence, management and company genuinely end up in the same country.
German commercial perspective, Bulgarian entrepreneurial experience – one route into doing business in Bulgaria.
Dr. Dennis Kwiatkowski
Analysis, strategy, business development
A biochemistry PhD who moved into boutique consulting and commercial roles with international companies, and now builds businesses between Berlin and Sofia.
Svilen Petkov
Bulgarian entrepreneur and investor
Built several startups in Bulgaria, including the exit of one of the country's leading SaaS companies, and now backs local founding teams as an angel investor.
“Bulgaria is a wonderful country, and it’s a great opportunity to be able to have a business here. It’s not very hard to set up, and depending on your status or where you come from, I don’t believe it is that expensive.”
Amy Sabella, CEO & Founder of Spectra English
This quote comes from the founder interviews we recorded for our book. It describes one entrepreneur's own path in Bulgaria — it is not an account of a project we delivered.
The guide
Our blog walks you through every step – from choosing a legal form to taxes and everyday life. The most important articles, sorted by topic:
Is Bulgaria right for you? →Take the formation check →Compare countries →Compare providers →Compare business accounts →What a formation costs →Form your company remotely →Create documents for free →
Relocation & Living
Moved from Bansko to Sofia? Depending on your residence status there are one or two authorities to notify – and the order is not arbitrary. Which deadline runs, why the municipality comes before Migration, and what this typically fails on.
Relocation & Living
Only the owner signs – the tenants do not, and they do not have to go to the notary either. What belongs in the declaration, which notarisation type matches which status, and why a married couple needs two originals.
Relocation & Living
Ask this in any expat group and you get three contradictory answers – and all three can be right. Why that happens, which three procedures keep getting confused, and which type of notarisation actually belongs to your residence status.
Still researching Bulgaria?
Join the Start in BG WhatsApp community and stay close to the practical developments while you decide.
Community information only. No legal, tax or accounting advice. Your phone number/profile may be visible to other WhatsApp members. Community guidelines & privacy
Read up on it, check whether Bulgaria fits your situation, or discuss your setup with us. All three are fine – including the first one on its own.
Not ready to start yet? Start with the book.
