Create a company online

As a rule, no preparatory documents are required to incorporate a company, as long as the articles of association contain all information required by law.

Depending on the situation in question and on the analysis carried out by these services, among others, you may need the following documents:

• Declaration of acceptance from the Certified Accountants (ROC) when appointed in the memorandum and articles of association itself
• Declaration from the actual shareholder controlling the company
• Declaration of acceptance from the manager or administrator and declaration stating having no knowledge of any circumstances preventing them from occupying the position, when appointed in the memorandum and articles of association.

Setting up a company online can be done in thegov.pt or through Empresa Online 2.0.

The Online Company service is available at portal gov.pt, which can be accessed from a computer or other mobile device at your home, office or another place with Internet access.

To start a company online:

1. Access portal gov.pt, authenticate yourself using either the citizen card or digital mobile key, and fill in the required fields (name, email, telephone/mobile phone, civil identification number and address)
2. State the company name of your choice (enter up to 9 options), or choose  the company name from the names available in the list of company names or designations or enter the access code to the certificate of admissibility if you have one previously approved
3. Fill in the information about the company and of persons/entities involved. You can also join an arbitration centre
4. Submit the digitally signed memorandum and articles of association through the available means
5. Make the payment.

The cost of setting up a company varies according to the service used:

• 220 euros - in case of incorporating a company with a pre-approved memorandum and articles of association
• 360 euros - in case of incorporating a company with a memorandum and articles of association drawn up by the company.

If the company has a trademark associated with one class of goods or services, it costs more 100 euros. Each additional class costs 44 euros.

Payment methods

You may pay:

• with credit card (Visa or Mastercard)
• on ATM machines or on your bank’s website.

• The name of the company, if chosen on the Company Names Exchange or by automatic name approval, is reserved for 24 hours, until the payment stage is reached
• when you choose a payment method, the period is extended to 48 hours
• after analysing the Registries, and if there are no inconformities in the creation process, the Registry registers the company in 5 days for pre-approved agreements or in 10 days for agreements made by interested parties
• If the IRN detects any problems, it has 5 days to make the corrections. If you don't correct it within these 5 days, the registration may be provisionally approved or refused
• If you haven't filled in the beneficial owner's details during the online company creation process, you have 30 days to do so once the online company has been created
• You have 5 working days to deposit the amount of the share capital in the company's bank account. This obligation does not apply if the deposit has already been made when the company is created or if the shareholders confirm, by the end of the first financial year, that the amount has been handed over to the company.