Opening a company account in Denmark
A business owner in Denmark who wants to open a company bank account will not have a simple task primarily because of the need for banks to comply with Danish regulations aimed at preventing money laundering. In order to make your business credible and thus increase your chances of successfully opening a company account, it is advisable to prepare and present to the bank in advance an annual balance sheet budget, a business plan, a twelve-month budget of both cash flow and profit and loss.
When it comes to opening a company bank account in Denmark, banks such as Jyske Bank, which, in order to open a company bank account, require a company audit (annual cost of DKK 20 to 50 thousand plus VAT), which is not mandatory for smaller Danish companies, are not recommended. In contrast, the banks most frequently chosen by entrepreneurs to open a company bank account in Denmark include Nykredit, Danske Bank and Nordea (costing between DKK 4,000 and DKK 5,000 to open a company bank account). The longer a company has been operating in Denmark, the better its chances of opening a company bank account (after three to six months), as it can present a financial report to the bank.
In Denmark, an entrepreneur can register both a sole proprietorship and a limited liability company - most commonly ApS - without a company bank account, but it is not advisable to accept payments from customers to a private bank account, as the bank may close it in such a case, and as far as the company is concerned, payments from customers to a private account are treated as a highly taxed shareholder loan. It is worth remembering that, in Denmark, a company bank account can only be opened personally by the director or owner of the company in question (a company bank account cannot be opened on his/her behalf by a third party such as an accountant).
Entrepreneurs in Denmark can also take advantage of online banking and open a company bank account, in USD, DKK or EURO, among others, with Revolut. Revolut is a good solution until a company account is opened with a standard bank. The owner will get a MasterCard with Revolut, which can be used to pay for company expenses, but Danish company customers who want to transfer funds to the account will only be able to use IBAN/SWIFT transfer.