Where is the company formed?
Jurisdiction of incorporation and the legal entity that will contract.
Business
Running a business across borders
Coordinate company structure, banking, payments, payroll, tax and international operations before expanding into another country.
The important question is not simply where the company is incorporated — it is where the business is managed, where people work, where customers pay and where obligations arise.
International businesses create obligations in more than one place
A company may be incorporated in one country, managed from another, employ people in several jurisdictions and receive customer payments somewhere else.
That can affect banking access, payroll, corporate tax, VAT or sales tax, employment obligations, accounting, insurance and regulatory reporting.
The objective is not to find one “best” country. It is to make sure the different parts of the operating model work together.
Use this page to map the operating model, understand the main decision points and compare the providers that can help with each part.
For entrepreneurs — company structure, banking, hiring and founder mobility in one place.
Start here
Describe the operating model before choosing providers
Where is it managed?
Directors, decision-making and the place of effective management.
Where do people work?
Employees, founders, contractors and remote teams.
Where do customers pay?
Bank accounts, payment processors and settlement currencies.
Where are customers based?
Potential tax, VAT, sales-tax and regulatory implications.
Where are records kept?
Accounting, payroll, invoices and compliance documentation.
Core considerations
The parts that need to work together
These are connected decisions. Treating banking, people, tax and insurance as separate purchases is how the operating model drifts.
Company
Incorporation, ownership and management.
People
Founders, employees, contractors and employer-of-record arrangements.
Banking
Operational accounts, local account details and account eligibility.
Payments
Receiving customers and paying suppliers internationally.
Tax
Corporate residence, permanent establishment, VAT / sales tax and reporting.
Payroll
Local payroll, benefits and employer obligations.
Accounting
Books, invoices, reporting and audit / filing requirements.
Insurance
Business liability, cyber, employee and international-risk cover.
Planning sequence
A sensible order for setting up international operations
01
Describe the activity
What will the company sell? Where are the customers? Who performs the work?
02
Map the countries involved
Where is the company formed? Where is it managed? Where do employees and founders work?
03
Check tax and employment consequences
Do not choose the company structure before understanding where obligations could arise.
04
Choose the operating infrastructure
Banking, payments, payroll, employer of record, accounting and foreign exchange.
05
Put reporting and controls in place
Invoices, accounting, payroll records, tax filings, insurance and governance.
06
Review when the business changes
New countries, employees, customers or directors can create new obligations.
Operating models
How international businesses commonly operate
These models can overlap. A company may use several at the same time.
One company, international customers
- What it is
- Selling abroad from one primary operating company.
- When businesses consider it
- Customers are in other countries, but the work and management still sit mainly with one entity.
- What still needs checking
- Where contracts are signed, where people perform the work, and whether a sales market creates tax or regulatory duties.
Local subsidiary
- What it is
- Creating an entity in another country.
- When businesses consider it
- The activity, hiring or risk in that country justifies a company of your own there.
- What still needs checking
- Banking, tax, accounting and who manages the subsidiary — not only the incorporation certificate.
Employer of record
- What it is
- Hiring people without immediately creating a local entity.
- When businesses consider it
- You need someone on the ground before a local company is justified.
- What still needs checking
- Who the legal employer is, which employment rules apply, and what the arrangement does not cover.
International contractors
- What it is
- Using independent contractors across jurisdictions.
- When businesses consider it
- The work is a defined service and employment is not the right description.
- What still needs checking
- Whether the person is genuinely independent where they work. A contract title is not the test.
Banking & payments
How will money move through the business?
The account, the currencies and the way customers pay are part of the same operating question.
Compare business bankingCompare multi-currency accountsCompare money transfer providersCompare FX & large transfers
International accounts are compared on the international bank accounts page. Larger movements sit with FX and large transfers.
Business bank account
Operational account for the legal entity.
Multi-currency account
Holding and receiving multiple currencies.
Payment processing
Customer card and online payments.
FX
Currency conversion and supplier payments.
Local account details
Receiving domestic transfers in important markets.
Treasury
Managing larger balances and currency exposure.
People
How will people be engaged?
The label on an arrangement is not a legal conclusion. Use the differences below as questions for the country where the person works.
Local employee
Direct employment under local rules.
A continuing role, and the company is prepared to be the employer in that country.
Contract, payroll, benefits and withholding. Confirm whether a local entity is required.
Employer of record
A third party becomes the formal employer.
You need a person in a country before you have your own entity there.
Who holds the contract, which rules apply, and what the fee does not include.
Contractor
An independent service relationship.
A defined piece of work, where employment is not the right description.
Whether independence is real where the person works.
Local subsidiary
The company employs people through its own entity in that country.
Activity, risk or headcount justifies having that entity.
Banking, tax, accounting and governance for the subsidiary, as well as the employment.
Local employee
- Contract
- Between your company and the person
- Payroll
- Your payroll in that country
- Benefits
- Whatever that employment requires
- Tax withholding
- May apply — confirm locally
- Employment law
- The rules for employees there
- Local entity needed?
- Often part of employing locally — confirm
Employer of record
- Contract
- Between the provider and the person
- Payroll
- Run by the provider
- Benefits
- As agreed with the provider
- Tax withholding
- Often handled by the provider — confirm
- Employment law
- Local employment rules still apply
- Local entity needed?
- Not always — confirm before you rely on it
Contractor
- Contract
- A services agreement
- Payroll
- Not employment payroll
- Benefits
- Not employment benefits
- Tax withholding
- Depends on the relationship — confirm
- Employment law
- Different from employment rules
- Local entity needed?
- A different question from employment
Local subsidiary
- Contract
- Between the local company and the person
- Payroll
- The subsidiary’s payroll
- Benefits
- The subsidiary’s arrangements
- Tax withholding
- May apply to the subsidiary — confirm
- Employment law
- Local employment rules
- Local entity needed?
- The subsidiary is that entity
Company structure
Where the company is formed is only one part of the question
Company formation should not be separated from tax, banking and management considerations.
Incorporation
Where the legal entity exists.
Management
Where strategic decisions are made.
Ownership
Who owns the company.
Operations
Where employees, offices and activity are located.
Customers
Where revenue is generated.
Banking
Which country and which entity hold the operational accounts.
Tax & compliance
The main cross-border questions to identify early
This page does not determine tax outcomes. Use these as questions to take to an adviser.
Corporate residence
Where could the company be considered resident?
Permanent establishment
Could activity create a taxable presence elsewhere?
VAT / GST / sales tax
Where do indirect-tax obligations arise?
Payroll tax
Where do employees trigger employer obligations?
Transfer pricing
How are transactions between related companies priced?
Reporting
Which company, tax and accounting filings are required?
Finance operations
Keep accounting, invoicing and banking aligned
Operational clarity becomes increasingly important as more countries are added.
- Invoices issued by the correct entity
- Customer payments matched to the right company
- Expenses recorded by jurisdiction
- Payroll reconciled
- Intercompany payments documented
- Currency gains and losses tracked
- Tax records retained
- Bank and payment accounts reconciled
- Accounting integrations reviewed
- Year-end requirements planned
Protection
International operations create new risks
Business liability
Third-party and operational risk.
Professional indemnity
Professional and errors-and-omissions exposure.
Cyber
Data, ransomware and business interruption.
Business travel
Employees travelling internationally.
Employee benefits
Group health and protection.
Multinational insurance
Coordinating cover across countries.
When to review the structure
Business changes that should trigger another review
- 01You hire your first employee abroad
- 02You open an overseas office
- 03A founder moves country
- 04You appoint a foreign director
- 05A new country becomes a major market
- 06You hold substantial funds in another currency
- 07You create a second company
- 08You acquire another business
- 09You introduce local inventory
- 10You sell regulated products
Common scenarios
Which situation is closest to yours?
I run an online business from abroad
Founder residence, company management, banking and tax.
ExploreI want to hire someone in another country
Employment, employer of record, payroll and local obligations.
ExploreI want to form a company overseas
Structure, management, banking and compliance.
ExploreI receive customers in several currencies
Banking, payment processing and foreign exchange.
ExploreMy business is expanding into a new market
Local entity, tax, payroll and insurance.
ExploreI operate in several countries already
Governance, finance operations and a wider programme.
ExploreReadiness
How ready is the operating model?
Tick what you can already describe. The list stays in this browser and is not sent to WiT Access.
0 of 10 checked
Use unchecked items as questions to investigate.
Putting it together
A practical decision flow
Follow the numbers. Each step depends on the one before it.
- 1Business activity
- 2Countries involved
- 3People
- 4Tax and company structure
- 5Banking and payments
- 6Payroll / employer of record
- 7Accounting
- 8Insurance
- 9Ongoing review
Before you expand
Questions worth asking before you expand
Open a question to see what to take into a conversation. None of these panels decides the outcome.
Ask where it is incorporated and where directors actually make decisions. More than one country may have a view. This page does not decide residence.
Ask whether people, an office or a dependent agent in another country could create a taxable presence for a company formed somewhere else.
Ask what the activity, the people and the customers require. A local company is one operating model, not a default.
Ask whether an employer-of-record arrangement is available for that role and country, and what it does not cover.
Ask the bank before directors, owners or the place of management change. Acceptance is the bank’s decision.
Ask which company signs the contract, issues the invoice and should hold the account. Those three are not always the same today.
Ask which currencies customers pay in and which currencies suppliers, payroll and tax must be paid in.
Ask where customers are, what is being supplied, and which indirect-tax registrations that pattern can trigger.
Ask under the rules of the country where the person works. The title on the contract is not the test.
Ask which filings, invoices and payroll records a country expects to be held there, and for how long.
Ask which covers are compulsory for the activity or the employees, and whether a home policy responds abroad.
Ask whether the activity is regulated where customers are, where people work, or where the company is formed.
Ask what changes for company management, personal tax residence, banking and the right to direct the business from the new country.
Ask which law and which company should sit on the contract, and whether that matches the entity that invoices.
Ask at what point a sales market, a hire or a local presence should trigger a fresh look at tax, banking, payroll and insurance.
Guides
Reading that sits beside the operating model
Mobility
Moving from the UK to the UAE
8 min read
Business
How to approach a business bank account when directors live abroad
5 min read
Business
Company formation and company tax residence
5 min read
Business
Remote teams: banking, payroll and insurance questions
5 min read
Tools for the practical questions
These tools record figures and questions you supply. They do not open accounts or decide tax. The full set is on Tools.
Business banking requirements checklistDescribe how the company is paid and how it pays others, before you compare business accounts.FX cost comparisonCompare transfer fee and FX markup using figures you enter, and see how much the recipient would receive under different quotes.Currency converterConvert an amount with an exchange rate you type in. No live rate is connected.Large transfer plannerPlan a large cross-border payment in stages, with FX scenarios you define.Income currency plannerSee how income and expenses sit across currencies, using rates you enter.Cross-border tax questions checklistPrepare questions for a tax adviser from the kinds of income and countries you select.
Comparisons
Compare the services that support the model
Comparisons prepare questions. They are not a recommendation. The full index is on Compare.
Providers
Providers featured in international business comparisons
A few names already published in the public comparison data. This is not a ranking. The directory is at Providers. Employer of Record providers are listed for comparison, not ranked.
Business bankingAirwallexGlobal business payments platformView provider
Business bankingWise BusinessMulti-currency business accountView provider
Company structuringVistraGlobal entity managementView provider
FX & large transfersOFXGlobal FX specialistView provider
FX & large transfersCurrencies DirectFX and international payments specialistView provider
Business insuranceGallagher International / former Clements WorldwideGlobal brokerView provider
WiT Access provides general information, comparison resources and practical planning tools. Nothing on this page constitutes financial, tax, legal, immigration, employment, insurance or investment advice. International business obligations vary by jurisdiction and circumstances.