Accounting costs in Azerbaijan: what should your monthly fee cover?

Compare work, limits and costs together

A monthly fee is useful only when you can see what activity it covers. These are Caspentra’s own published professional-service prices, not a survey of market prices or an all-inclusive tax bill.

Compliance Lite — $100/month

For qualifying minimal activity or simplified reporting: up to 10 transactions per month, maximum one employee, and the agreed routine bookkeeping and filings. Tax eligibility and payroll coverage must be confirmed. Low activity alone does not establish a tax regime.

Ask whether my company fits Lite →

Active Company — $250/month

For an operating company within the agreed profile: up to 50 transactions per month, routine filings and payroll for up to five employees. VAT, profit-tax complexity and sector requirements are reviewed before the scope is confirmed.

Request an Active Company scope →

Growing Company — from $450/month

For higher activity or broader reporting needs, including VAT or profit-tax accounting where agreed. Transaction and payroll limits are set in the proposal. Inventory, imports, construction, several locations or a larger payroll need individual review.

Discuss a Growing Company scope →

Use the contact-free scope checker or compare the published accounting prices.

Six questions that change the quote

1. What counts as a transaction? Agree how sales, purchases, bank movements, refunds and adjustments are counted. A limit without a counting rule is difficult to compare.
2. What does the business do? A consulting business, a stocked shop and an importing company can create different work even with similar turnover.
3. What is the reporting position? Share the known VAT and other tax registrations. Ask for review if they are uncertain; ownership nationality does not, by itself, answer this question.
4. Who is employed? Confirm employee numbers and whether payroll calculations and employment administration are both included.
5. Are the records up to date? Missing periods, unresolved notices and corrections should be identified before the recurring start date.
6. What must the owner receive? Agree the work summary, outstanding queries and any additional head-office reporting before the fee is accepted.

Separate the recurring service fee from company taxes, statutory payments and external charges. Catch-up work, audits, licences and specialist assignments are separately scoped when needed. Any applicable tax on Caspentra’s invoice is identified in the quote.

A practical handover checklist

At the enquiry stage, a description is enough. Once the engagement and secure handover channel are agreed, organise the available records into these groups:

• Company profile: formation or branch records, taxpayer registration, known tax status and activity locations.
• Reporting history: latest submitted returns, filing acknowledgements, tax balances, notices and a list of unresolved questions.
• Business records: sales and purchase documents, contracts, expense support and relevant inventory or customs records.
• Money movements: bank statements, reconciliations and details of unexplained balances or payments.
• People: employee and payroll records for the agreed work, plus outstanding payroll questions.
• Access and responsibility: who currently files, which periods they cover, authorised access arrangements and who approves work and statutory payments.

This is a preparation list, not a universal legal filing checklist. Do not put passports, employee identity records, bank statements, passwords, electronic-signature PINs or one-time codes in the public enquiry form. Agree secure document transfer and appropriate authorisation separately.

Build the calendar around your actual obligations

The State Tax Service publishes different reporting cycles. Its general deadline table lists VAT returns and payment by the 20th of the following month, simplified-tax returns and payment by the 20th after the reporting quarter, and annual profit-tax final payment and return by 31 March of the following year. Current payments can also apply. These examples apply only where the corresponding obligation exists; they are not a complete calendar for every company.

Use the official deadline table and current tax calendar. Check the applicable period and non-working-day adjustments before fixing a due date.

A company with little or no trading activity should have its reporting or formal suspension position checked, rather than assume that silence means there is nothing to submit. The State Tax Service describes notification procedures for suspension; the appropriate steps depend on the taxpayer’s circumstances.

Changing accountants: agree the cut-off first

Before the existing arrangement ends, identify the last completed period, the next due filing and any work still in progress. Request the available books, reconciliations, submissions and supporting records. Record who remains responsible for each outstanding item.

Ask the incoming provider to distinguish three jobs: checking the handover, correcting historic work where necessary, and running future periods. Agree their prices and start dates separately. A new monthly subscription should not silently imply that earlier gaps have already been repaired.

For foreign-owned companies, explain whether the overseas owner also needs a group reporting package, a currency conversion or a particular reporting format. Include that request in the scope instead of assuming it comes with routine local work. A branch and a locally incorporated company have different structures; describe which one you operate.

Five details for a useful first quote

1. Business activity and whether this is a new company or a change of accountant.
2. Approximate monthly transactions and number of employees.
3. Known tax/reporting position, or “not sure”.
4. Whether the records and previous filings are up to date.
5. Your intended start date and the next deadline you know about.

That gives the team a useful starting brief without requesting confidential documents in a public form. The written proposal should then state included work, counting rules, limits, customer responsibilities, separate costs and what happens when activity changes.