Accountant fees in Luxembourg, every rate published.

How much does an accountant cost in Luxembourg?

A company retainer starts at EUR 250 excl. VAT per month and a sole trader retainer at EUR 125 excl. VAT per month. Work outside the retainer is billed at the published hourly rates, from EUR 75 to EUR 250 excl. VAT by seniority. Payroll runs at EUR 25 excl. VAT per payslip up to 5 payslips per month, EUR 22 excl. VAT from 6 to 20, EUR 20 excl. VAT beyond. A monthly VAT return costs EUR 220 excl. VAT per return, a quarterly one EUR 230 excl. VAT.

The decisive factor is volume: two companies with identical revenue and different document volumes do not pay the same retainer. The definitive figure is confirmed in writing after a review of your file. The scope of work and the production calendar are set out on the accountant in Luxembourg page.

Monthly retainer and hourly rates: how the two fit together

Recurring work lives inside the retainer: bookkeeping, filings, annual accounts. Work outside that scope, one-off advisory, catch-up on a backlog, a complex tax position, is billed at the published hourly rates, from the junior rate of EUR 75 excl. VAT to the partner rate of EUR 250 excl. VAT. Publishing both scales serves one purpose: you can audit any invoice line against a public rate rather than against a private quote.

The retainer is reconciled once a year against the hours actually spent. Within 10 percent, nothing changes. Beyond 10 percent, it is revised for the following year only, never retroactively. Companies incorporated less than three years ago are billed at the startup rate of EUR 65 excl. VAT per hour on eligible work.

What the retainer includes, and what it does not

The monthly retainer covers bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, VAT returns, preparation and filing of the annual accounts with the RCS through eCDF, the company's annual tax return, and regular contact with a named person. Payroll is billed per payslip, on top, because it moves with headcount.

Outside the retainer by design: official third-party costs (RCS, notary, publications), group consolidation, one-off structuring mandates, and catching up on unclosed prior financial years. Those are priced separately, at the published rates or on a firm written quote, before any work starts. Domiciliation is not provided in-house: it is delivered by a partner avocat à la Cour, from EUR 250 excl. VAT per month, subject to KYC acceptance.

How to reduce accounting costs sustainably

Three levers produce most of the saving, and none of them involves negotiating the rate. The first is document flow quality: files uploaded continuously, named and legible, rather than dumped at quarter-end. The second is a strict separation of personal and business accounts, which removes the single most expensive reprocessing item in a small-structure file. The third is choosing the VAT regime that fits the actual business model, not the most common one.

A fourth lever is often overlooked: the calendar. Moving the closing date away from 31 December frees production from the tightest period of the year and allows calmer processing at identical volume. If you are starting from a degraded situation with a current provider, the change accountant in Luxembourg page sets out the handover procedure with no break in VAT or payroll.

One-off operations: published fees by activity

Beyond the monthly package, the operations that punctuate a company's life are billed as one-off fees, published in advance. A business licence applied for on its own runs from EUR 650 to EUR 1,250 excluding VAT depending on the activity, and each activity has its own page with the documents required and the observed lead time.

Unrestricted activities, no qualification required: delivery rider at EUR 650, then IT consulting, e-commerce and light goods transport at EUR 750.

Qualified trades under the Chamber of Skilled Trades, EUR 1,250 flat whatever the validation involves: construction, roofer, zinc and sheet metal, electrician, heating and plumbing, carpenter-joiner, painter-plasterer, tiler, landscaper, cleaning company, hair salon, beauty salon, bakery, restaurant and HORECA and real estate agency.

Corporate changes follow the same logic: a SARL share transfer is quoted on the operation, and a change of manager costs EUR 500 excluding VAT, RCS filing included. Publishing these fees is deliberate: an operation whose price is only disclosed once the file is open is an operation you cannot budget for.