The limited liability company is the most common form of business in Serbia. A citizen of another country can found one too: there are no restrictions on nationality or on the size of the stake, and the minimum share capital is just 100 dinars. It is important to understand that capital is not a fee or a payment to the state: the money stays in the company's account and is spent on the business.
What registration costs
Since 1 January 2026 the fee of the Business Registers Agency (APR) for registering a company is 8,000 dinars — that sum already includes registration of the founding act. Only reserving a name is paid separately, if you want to secure it in advance: another 2,000 dinars. For comparison, registering a sole trader costs 2,500 dinars, so the difference in entry cost is not large; the form should be chosen for its tax regime and liability, not for the fee.
Which documents are needed
With a single founder, a decision on founding is prepared; with two or more, a founding agreement. Alongside them go the registration application on a single form with the required annexes, copies of the founders' and representative's documents, and proof that the fee has been paid. If the director is not a founder, his consent or an appointment decision is usually prepared as well. Where the contribution is property rather than money, the procedure is more complex because a valuation is required.
How the documents are signed
There are two routes. The first is an electronic signature, in which case everything is done remotely. The second is a handwritten signature certified by a notary, after which the document is digitised. There is a trap here: the APR does not allow the two methods to be mixed in one document. If one founder signs by hand and another electronically, the application will be rejected. For a foreigner without a Serbian qualified certificate, going through a representative with notarial certification is more practical — that way it can be done without travelling to the country.
How long the decision takes
The registrar decides within five working days of receiving the application. In practice a clean electronic filing passes in one to three working days. The decision gives the company its registration number and tax number (PIB), and through the single registration process social insurance for the founder or representative is filed at the same time, where there is a basis for it.
The first 30 days after registration
The decision is only the start. The order is this: open a business account at a bank, without which the company can neither receive a payment nor pay tax; file for advance corporate income tax — a newly founded company does so within 15 days of registration; settle the director's status, if he is employed, since that brings contributions and monthly payroll calculations; check the VAT obligation, which arises only once turnover exceeds 8,000,000 dinars over 12 months; join the SEF electronic invoicing system; and appoint an accountant, because double-entry bookkeeping is mandatory for a company from day one. If the company sells goods or services to individuals, electronic fiscalisation is added, and if it expects receipts from abroad, a foreign currency account.
Common mistakes
The most expensive is missing the deadline for notifying a change: file later than 15 days after the event and the fee rises by 6,260 dinars. The second is stockpiling changes for later: each additional change in one filing costs 3,000 dinars, while separate filings cost 4,000 dinars each. The third is mixing signature methods, as described above. And the fourth is assuming registration immediately grants the right to work: founding a company is not itself a basis for a residence permit — for that a foreign founder needs employment in his own company.