Opening a Business in Mexico: Initial Accounting Process
You´ve created your corporation, hired your accounting firm who obtained your FIEL from SAT, opened your bank account and now you´re ready to begin operations. Find out how you should partner with your Mexican accountant to ensure your corporation is meeting its fiscal obligations.
File First Declarations
While you are working on getting ready to begin operations, your accountant has already started filing your monthly declarations with SAT. That is because even though you may not have made your first sale yet, your corporation must file monthly beginning with the first month that coincides with the date your business was officially incorporated. This date will appear on your articles of incorporation (known in Mexico as an acta constitutiva).
Use the Corporate Bank Account
Your accountant will remind you that all your business transactions must be completed via your corporate bank account. If you, as a shareholder, need to invest additional capital into the corporation or provide the corporation with a loan, you must notify your accountant prior to making any deposits. Your accountant will need to be sure that any deposits made by shareholders are properly registered in the accounting record as either a loan or a capital investment.
Facturas for Income
As mentioned in our previous article (Opening a Business in Mexico: Getting Started), your corporation will need to issue a factura (digital invoice) for any income you receive. There are two ways in which you can issue a factura. Your administrator you hired can use the SAT website or a software you purchase to issue the facturas. Or your accountant can do this for you for an additional fee.
Facturas for Deductible Expenses
You will also need to request facturas from your suppliers. They will need information specific to your corporation, including the RFC, in order to issue the factura. Your accountant can provide you with this information, so you can have it on hand when making purchases. In future articles, we will discuss which items can be considered deductible. In the meantime, your accountant can advise you on deductible expenses.
Teamwork
It is important that you and your accountant work together as a team to ensure that your corporation reduces any risk in not complying with SAT requirements and Mexican tax laws. You should have regular contact with your accountant, especially in the early stages of your business.
Mextax is ready to be a member of your team to ensure the success of your new business in Mexico. For more information or a quote for our services, please visit the contact us section of our websites.
