Complete accounting support tailored for freelancers and contractors, handling everything from “recibos verdes” to compliance—so you can focus on your work with total peace of mind.
You’ve built your business from the ground up, and navigating Portuguese accounting shouldn’t slow you down. We understand the challenges of running a business abroad and handle the numbers, compliance, and paperwork so you can focus on growth and peace of mind.
Never worry about miscommunication again
Get answers when you need them
SLA to complete bookkeeping within 1 month
Your price will depend on your specific situation. Below are price ranges for our standard plan to give you an idea of the price you can expect. These prices only include payroll for the Managing Director.
< 20 invoices / month
Best suited for businesses with low transaction volume, such as holding companies or very simple service providers.
Starting from
299€
excl. VAT / month
20 - 60 invoices / month
For active businesses with 20-60 expense invoices per month. Common examples: marketing firms and real estate agencies.
Starting from
349€
excl. VAT / month
> 60 invoices / month
Best suited for businesses with low transaction volume, such as holding companies or very simple service providers.
Starting from
549€
excl. VAT / month
All plans include:
Bank Statement Reconciliation
Complete reconciliation of all your business bank accounts to ensure accurate financial records.
VAT Declarations
Quarterly or monthly VAT declarations prepared and submitted to the Tax Authority on your behalf.
IES Annual Reporting
Complete annual reporting to meet all Portuguese regulatory requirements.
Government Account Monitoring
Automated monitoring of your Tax Authority and Social Security accounts to identify upcoming or unpaid debts. Peace of mind included.
Categorization of Income & Expenses
Proper categorization of all transactions for accurate financial reporting and tax compliance.
Model 22 Report Submission
Annual corporate income tax report preparation and submission to ensure compliance.
General Business Support
Standard questions and support included - we're here to help you focus on your business.
Charged Separately:
Payroll Processing - 25€/employee
Full payroll processing including pay slips, social security communications, and all associated tasks. You simply approve and pay your employees.
Consulting and Analysis
Simple questions are included. Questions requiring substantial additional time will be billed separately (with your permission first).
Detailed Reporting
Detailed monthly report showing your business data over time, key KPI’s, and helpful comparisons to quickly give you actionable insights into your business.
Personal IRS Declarations
Worldwide income reporting in your IRS tax declaration. Complexity varies by person, so charged separately based on your situation.
Premium plans include a full range of advanced services to support and grow your business.
With this service, our bilingual team does the work for you — sourcing vendor quotes, managing follow-ups, joining calls to translate, and navigating administrative processes. Because we do this regularly for clients across our portfolio, we already know how things work in Portugal, which means faster results and fewer headaches for you.
Cost Center Accounting goes beyond standard bookkeeping to give you a clearer picture of how your business actually performs. We set up custom accounts to track separate business units so your financials reflect the way you think about your business, beyond accounting for Portuguese compliance.
Meetings to specifically review your results and discuss what’s going on in your business. These structured review sessions keep you informed, accountable, and positioned to make proactive decisions rather than reactive ones.
Helps you plan for the future of your company, balancing money coming in and what payments will be due and when. Critical for fast growing companies.
We track your goals vs actuals to identify where you need to focus, before it’s too late.
Specialist review of government grants that may be eligible for your business.
A specialized tax advisor reviews your financial situation to identify opportunities for tax optimization.
We've invested in technology that most Portuguese accounting firms don't offer - giving you real-time visibility, automated monitoring, and actionable insights to run your business smarter
Premium clients access powerful reporting that turn your accounting data into strategic insights. Track KPIs, analyze expense patterns, compare year-over-year performance, and drill down into vendor spending - all with visual charts that make complex data easy to understand.
Our automation continuously monitors Portuguese Tax Authority and Social Security systems on your behalf. We identify missing payments, upcoming obligations, and potential issues before they escalate into fines or legal problems - giving you peace of mind to focus on growing your business.
Capture all eligible deductions with our multi-channel invoice submission system. Photograph receipts with our mobile app, forward vendor emails to your custom address, or upload batches through the web portal. We help ensure no deductible expense is missed.
Every business document you need lives in your secure online portal. Company registration certificates for bank applications, monthly financial reports for decision-making, VAT declarations for audits, and historical records for compliance - all organized and instantly accessible.
A new client came to us with six months of unpaid vehicle tax - they had no idea it existed. Our government monitoring tool identified the missing payment immediately during onboarding. We alerted them right away so they could pay before additional fines and legal complications accumulated.This kind of proactive protection isn't possible without sophisticated automation. It's one of many ways our technology investment directly benefits your business bottom line.
Running a Sociedade por Quotas (LDA) in Portugal comes with a defined set of legal accounting obligations that must be managed by a certified accountant (contabilista certificado). At Elevate, we handle the full scope: monthly bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, expense categorization, VAT returns (filed monthly or quarterly depending on your turnover), social security declarations, payroll processing for any employees, and all required corporate tax filings — including Modelo 22 (annual corporate income tax return) and IES (annual financial information declaration).
We also invest in an automated tool that monitors your government portal (Portal das Finanças) on your behalf, so we catch any notices, fines, or compliance issues before they become problems. Everything is delivered in English, with a secure online portal to keep things organized — no office visits required.
Our LDA accounting fees depend on the size and complexity of your business — primarily your transaction volume, whether you have employees, and the plan tier you choose. Plans start from €299 and cover all monthly and annual compliance obligations. Premium tiers add monthly financial review meetings, cash flow forecasting, bilingual (PT/EN) outsourced admin support, government grant eligibility screening, and a semi-annual tax advisory review.
Everything can be done remotely — and that's by design. We serve clients across Portugal and internationally, and our workflow is built around online tools where you upload invoices and expense documents, keep track of what you need to do, and message our team directly. You never need to drop anything at an office or mail paper documents. We have offices in Lagos (Algarve) and Carnaxide (Lisbon metro). While you’re always welcome to meet in person, we prefer online meetings as they are much more efficient. For most clients, the entire working relationship runs via our portal and occasional video calls. If you're an expat or international business owner managing things from abroad, you’ll have no problem managing your accounting.
Finding an English speaking accountant in Portugal can be difficult. Many certified accountants (contabilistas certificados) work exclusively in Portuguese, which can leave English-speaking expats and international business owners translating their own financial reports and second-guessing every communication.
At Elevate, English is our primary working language. Our team communicates with you and handles client support fully in English. We serve clients across all of Portugal and have physical offices in Lagos (Algarve), and Carnaxide (Lisbon metro), although most of our clients work with us remotely.
Independent activity (atividade independente) is simpler and cheaper to run. You issue green receipts (recibos verdes), pay personal income tax (IRS) on a percentage of your gross income, and have less administrative overhead. An LDA is a separate legal entity subject to corporate income tax (IRC) — the standard rate is 21%, with a reduced rate of 17% on the first €50,000 of taxable profit for qualifying SMEs. Overall the LDA is more expensive to operate and requires more work/responsibility than Independent Activity, and the tax rate isn’t necessarily better with an LDA.
Whether an LDA or Independent Activity will be more tax efficient is very dependent on each individual situation. LDAs also offer limited liability protection and can be necessary for certain industries, clients, or contracts. We help clients make this decision at onboarding and revisit it as their business grows.
LDAs in Portugal have both periodic and annual filing obligations. Monthly or quarterly (depending on your VAT regime), you must file VAT returns (Declaração Periódica de IVA), social security declarations, and payroll withholding tax (IRS retenção na fonte). Annually, your LDA must file Modelo 22 — the corporate income tax return, typically due May 31 — and IES, the annual financial information declaration, due July 15.
Depending on your activity, Modelo 10, Modelo 30, or other declarations may also apply. We manage every one of these deadlines as part of your plan. You won't need to track a compliance calendar or worry about missing a submission — our system flags deadlines in advance and we handle everything.
Payroll in Portugal involves more than processing salaries. Each month, we calculate gross and net pay, apply Social Security contributions (11% employee, 23.75% employer), process income tax withholding (IRS retenção na fonte), and generate compliant pay slips. We submit the monthly Social Security declaration (DMR) and ensure all employer obligations are met on time.
For business owners paying themselves a salary through their own LDA, we handle the setup and monthly processing of that as well. Premium plan clients also have access to bilingual (EN/PT) business concierge service, which can eliminate the need to hire an employee in some cases and can help the client with tasks for their business across a wide range of duties.
One of the core things we do is monitor your government accounts proactively. Through the Portal das Finanças and Segurança Social Direta, we track declaration submission, fines, pending debt notices, and compliance alerts — catching issues early, before they compound into larger problems.
If the AT contacts your company formally, we handle all communication on your behalf in our role as your registered contabilista certificado. If a formal response, objection, or dispute is required, we coordinate directly and keep you informed at every step. You will not be left trying to navigate Portuguese bureaucracy in a language you're still learning.
Our standard response time is one business day. You can reach us via email, or through the client portal, where you can also find your documents and any tasks that you may have been assigned. We know that unresponsiveness is a common complaint English-speaking expats have when doing business in Portugal — sometimes not getting no reply for weeks.
We've built our client experience around solving that. Our team is responsive, proactive, and communicates in plain English.
Yes — and we manage the transition for you. Switching accountants in Portugal requires formally notifying your previous accountant and ensuring a clean transfer of records and obligations. We handle this process: requesting the necessary documentation from your previous firm, verifying there are no outstanding filings or debts, and onboarding your LDA onto our systems.
The process typically takes two to four weeks depending on the contract you have with your previous accountant and their responsiveness. We've handled many client transitions for English-speaking clients, and we make the changeover as smooth as possible.
Organized accounting — contabilidade organizada — is the full double-entry bookkeeping system required by law for all LDAs in Portugal, regardless of size or revenue. It means your company's financial records are maintained under the Portuguese Accounting Standards System (SNC) and must be signed off each year by a certified accountant (contabilista certificado). This is a legal requirement, not optional.
Organized accounting is distinct from the simplified accounting available to some sole traders under independent activity. As an LDA, you have no choice on this point — but with the right accountant, it's also the foundation for the financial visibility and reporting you need to run a serious business. All Elevate LDA plans include fully compliant organized accounting as standard.
On our standard LDA plans, you receive a monthly Profit and Loss statement including revenue, costs, gross margin, and net profit. Premium plan clients receive a full management accounts package: profit and loss statement, balance sheet summary, and more. For premium clients this is accompanied by a quarterly Financial Review and Strategy session where we walk through the numbers with you and discuss what they mean for your business.
Our goal is for you to understand your financial position clearly and make better decisions because of it.
Book a consultation with our expat accounting team — we'll explain exactly what applies to your situation.
