Bosnia and Herzegovina

Starting a Business in

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

Compare Bosnia and Herzegovina to 184 other economies.

YearNew business densityNumber of new limited liability companies
2011 0.711,898

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Limited Liability Company
  • Paid in Minimum Capital Requirement: BAM 2,000
  • City: Sarajevo

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Stipulate a founding act and have it notarized by a notary

The system of Notary was introduced in May 2007: The Law on Enterprises of FBiH; The Law on Notary of FBiH. The amended Law on Enterprise determines that all legal entities are required to harmonize business activities in accordance with a new Standard Classification of Activity. The Law on Notary requires all documentation needed for registration of a company to be prepared and certified by the public notary.
5 days BAM 400
2 Obtain a statement from commercial bank that full amount of the capital has been paid in; pay the registration fee to the budget account of the cantonal court

The founder should pay the amount of the capital to a temporary account at one of the local banks, to be subsequently transferred to the company transaction account after its opening.
1 day no charge
3 Obtain the statement of tax authorities that the founders have no tax debts

Statement of tax authorities is required which confirms that the enterpreneur does not have any unpaid pecuniary fines and it costs BAM 15.
1 day BAM 15
4 Court registration with Municipal Courts

By law, regulated forms must be completed. These forms may be purchased at a stationery shop or at the court (BAM 15), to be prepared according to the regulations on registering legal entities in the court register. After the court registration of the new company, the court informs the Official Gazette to announce the prepared notice.

Companies are automatically registered for membership in the chambers of economy at the state, entity, canton, and regional levels. Since 2004, membership in the Chamber of Economy of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Chamber of Economy of the Republic of Srpska is voluntary.

 10 days BAM 405 (registration fee) + BAM 150 (publishing fee)
5 Buy a company stamp

The electronic version of the forms is available on the website of some of the competent courts, for i.e. for the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, the forms are available on the web site www.oss.ba.
1 day BAM 40
6 Request and obtain municipal approval on intended activities

The 4 municipalities making up the City of Sarajevo have reduced the cost for this procedure to BAM 10.

The Company founder goes to the municipality, fills out a request form and attachs all required documents (proof of company's court registration, statement confirming that all business premises fulfill conditions mandated by the law, and notification about the date when the company will start with operations) and the proof of payment of the administrative fee. Then, the time necessary to obtain the resolution on intended activities takes about 10 days
10 days BAM 10
7 Notify the commencement of the business activities to the Cantonal Inspection Authority

The company submits the notification on commencement of business activities to the Cantonal Inspection Authority and the inspectors may subsequently make supervision in terms of fulfillment of all conditions for conducting of business activities.

New Law on Internal Trade (Official Gazette of FB&H, no.40/10) is enforced. It regulates that the notification on commencement of business activities should be submited by the company no later than 5 days before starting to work. The following document should be submitted: court resolution on registration in the registry, statement that the company meets all legal requirements for performing trade activities and notice of the date of commencement of work.

 1 day no charge
8 Apply for company identification number with the competent tax office

When filing an application for statistical and taxpayer numbers simultaneously with the competent tax authorities (according to Regulations on Obtaining ID Numbers [Official Gazette No. 39/02]), the newly incorporated company must submit with the application form a photocopy of the court resolution (registration) and the contract on the lease of the business premises, resolution of the competent municipality on the intended activities (this resolution must confirm that certain activities may be exercised at a certain address), and a copy of the Director of the company's ID card. Newly adopted Rulebook (as published in the OG FBiH 02/10) regulates new tax registration procedures that streamlines the process for legal entities. In accordance with the new Article 8a of this Rulebook, respective court and tax administration initiate tax registration by mutual official correspondence and legal entities are only obliged to submit required documents (copy of court registry, 2 copies of application form including company's stamp, and copies of ID cards) after the court registration is completed. This Rulebook does not require submission of following documents (as previously requested: 1) contract on the lease of the business premises and 2) resolution of the competent municipality on the intended activities.
5 days no charge
9 Open a company account with commercial bank


1 day no charge
10 Enroll the employees in health insurance with Health Insurance Institute and in the pension insurance

Law on Unified System of Registration, Control and Collection of Contributions (Official Gazzete of FB&H, no. 42/09) regulates completely new system of registration. In accordance with the Article 14 of this Law, the company is obliged to submit the application for registration for every new employee, within seven (7) days from the date of commencement of work. The following document should be submitted: court resolution on registration in the registry, Certificate of the Identification and Statistic number and Form JS 3100.
1 day BAM 1
11 Adopt and publish a rule book on matters of salary, work organization, discipline, and other employee regulations.

The procedure applies to employers who hire more than 15 workers. The company’s body authorized to issue internal regulations shall pass these rulebooks and does not have to submit them anywhere.
1 day no charge
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