The network covers Bosnia and Herzegovina within the Southern Europe region. Payslips there are drawn up in BAM, and dealings with a local firm are conducted in Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian.
The business centres where the network is looking for a correspondent as a priority are Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Tuzla, Mostar.
The country lies outside the European Union and outside the European Economic Area: the A1 certificate has no standing there. Whether the employee remains in the scheme of origin then depends on the bilateral social security agreement, if any, concluded with the sending country; where no such agreement exists, dual affiliation must be expected and budgeted into the assignment.
The answer to this question changes everything: it determines to whom you may entrust your payslips locally, and what you must ask for before signing. It has been verified country by country with the local authorities.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, running payroll on behalf of third parties is a regulated activity. It is carried on under the title of Certificirani računovođa (CR) — Federacija BiH ; sertifikovani računovođa — Republika Srpska, and a registration in force must be produced to you before any engagement.
La Bosnie-Herzégovine est, dans ce lot, l'un des rares pays où la tenue de comptabilité pour compte de tiers est encadrée : la législation comptable des entités subordonne l'activité à la détention d'une licence et à l'emploi d'un comptable certifié. Deux organisations professionnelles distinctes coexistent, l'une en Fédération de BiH, l'autre en Republika Srpska, avec des certifications non automatiquement interchangeables. Vérifier que la licence produite est celle de l'entité où le cabinet est établi, et qu'elle est en cours de validité — elle se renouvelle annuellement.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina the first question is not legal but geographical: does the firm or the establishment sit in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Republika Srpska, or in the Brčko District? The answer determines which court or agency keeps the register, which tax administration is competent, which professional accounting organisation applies, and in part the employment rules themselves. Employing in the country therefore starts with knowing which entity you employ from.
The currency is the convertible mark, tied to the euro under a currency board arrangement, which removes exchange risk for a euro-area company. Three official languages coexist and documents circulate in both Latin and Cyrillic script.
Social contributions are collected by the entity tax administration, so a single certificate covers tax and contributions alike. Value added tax, by contrast, is handled by a separate state-level administration. Bookkeeping for third parties is regulated: it requires a licence and the involvement of a certified accountant.
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska or Brčko District: the territorial entity governs everything that follows and is settled before anything else. Entry in the court register of business subjects is made before the competent court or agency, and a current extract from it is the document on which existence is established.
Two counters then issue two numbers that should not be swapped. The tax identification number comes from the entity tax administration; the value added tax number is allocated at state level by the indirect taxation authority. Misdirected applications are common.
The employer reports the employee to the entity tax administration, which distributes contributions to the pension, health and unemployment schemes. The contract is written, in the language of the place of work.
Payroll configuration must match the entity concerned, since contribution bases and reporting obligations are not identical on either side. An employee whose place of work moves from one entity to another also changes framework.
Termination, finally, follows the employment law of the entity rather than a single national statute, and a policy written for one side will not transfer cleanly to the other. A pay policy intended to cover both entities therefore needs a comparative reading before it is announced to employees.
The network asks 9 documents of any firm wishing to represent it in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The table gives, for each of them, the exact wording in use locally, the body that issues it and the period during which it remains admissible. These are the terms to use in an application to the local administration.
Of these 9 documents, 6 are required of every applicant and 5 have a limited period of validity, the shortest being 3 months. 1 of these documents exist only in Bosnia and Herzegovina and have no equivalent in the common core of the network.
| Local wording | Issuing body | Validity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aktuelni izvod iz sudskog registra poslovnih subjekataCurrent extract from the court register of business entities La Bosnie-Herzégovine n'a pas de registre unique : le registre est tenu par entité. Le portail bizreg.pravosudje.ba couvre la Fédération de BiH (Ministère de la Justice de la FBiH) et le district de Brčko renvoie vers bizreg.osbd.ba ; la Republika Srpska a son propre circuit. Vérifier d'abord dans quelle entité le cabinet est immatriculé, sinon la recherche ne donne rien. | Općinski / kantonalni sud (FBiH) via bizreg.pravosudje.ba ; Okružni privredni sud et APIF (Republika Srpska) ; Osnovni sud Brčko distrikta (bizreg.osbd.ba) | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Uvjerenje o poreznoj registraciji (JIB — jedinstveni identifikacioni broj)Tax registration certificate (unique identification number) L'« uvjerenje o poreznoj registraciji (JIB) » figure explicitement parmi les certificats délivrés par la Porezna uprava FBiH. Le JIB est l'identifiant unique de l'entité, utilisé pour les impôts directs et les cotisations. | Porezna uprava Federacije BiH ; Poreska uprava Republike Srpske | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Uvjerenje o registraciji obveznika PDV-a (PDV broj)VAT registration certificate Point crucial : en Bosnie-Herzégovine, la TVA relève d'une administration d'État distincte des administrations fiscales des entités, l'UIO. Le PDV broj n'est donc pas délivré par la Porezna uprava. Il n'est obligatoire qu'au-delà du seuil d'assujettissement — l'absence de numéro de TVA n'est pas en soi une anomalie pour un petit cabinet. | Uprava za indirektno oporezivanje BiH (UIO / ITA) | No expiry Where applicable | Official website |
| Uvjerenje o izmirenim poreznim obavezama i doprinosimaCertificate of settled tax and contribution obligations C'est la pièce centrale du dossier bosnien, et elle couvre à la fois les impôts et les cotisations sociales. La Porezna uprava délivre par ailleurs un « uvjerenje o neizmirenim obavezama » (attestation d'obligations non acquittées) : vérifier qu'on reçoit bien le premier document et non le second. | Porezna uprava Federacije BiH ; Poreska uprava Republike Srpske | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Uvjerenje o izmirenim doprinosima (compris dans l'uvjerenje o izmirenim poreznim obavezama i doprinosima)Social contributions clearance certificate En Bosnie-Herzégovine, ce sont les administrations fiscales des entités qui collectent les cotisations de retraite, de santé et de chômage : il n'existe pas d'organisme collecteur distinct de type URSSAF. La régularité sociale se prouve donc avec la même attestation que la régularité fiscale — ne pas réclamer deux documents. | Porezna uprava Federacije BiH ; Poreska uprava Republike Srpske | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Polica osiguranja od profesionalne odgovornostiProfessional liability insurance policy Obligatoire pour les sociétés d'audit en vertu de la législation comptable des entités ; pas d'obligation légale générale identifiée pour un prestataire de services comptables et de paie. À exiger contractuellement. Vérifier que l'assureur est agréé dans l'entité concernée : les deux marchés sont supervisés séparément. | Compagnie agréée par l'Agencija za nadzor osiguranja FBiH ou l'Agencija za osiguranje RS | 12 months Where applicable | No online service |
| Licenca za obavljanje računovodstvenih poslova + certifikat certificiranog računovođe (CR)Licence to provide accounting services and certified accountant certificate Le SRRiF-FBiH décerne quatre qualifications : certificirani računovođa (CR), ovlašteni revizor (OR), certificirani računovodstveni tehničar (CRT) et ovlašteni procjenitelj (OP). En pratique, la législation comptable des entités impose qu'une société offrant des services comptables emploie un CR titulaire d'une licence en cours : demander le certificat ET la licence annuelle, qui est renouvelable. | Savez računovođa, revizora i finansijskih djelatnika Federacije BiH (SRRiF-FBiH) ; Savez računovođa i revizora Republike Srpske (SRRRS) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| Lična karta ili pasoš ovlaštene osobe za zastupanjeID card or passport of the authorised representative L'extrait du registre judiciaire désigne nommément la ou les « ovlaštene osobe za zastupanje » et l'étendue de leurs pouvoirs : c'est le document de référence pour vérifier qui peut engager le cabinet. | Nom du représentant figurant sur l'izvod iz sudskog registra | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Prijava zbirki ličnih podataka Agenciji za zaštitu ličnih podataka u BiHRegistration of personal data filing systems with the BiH Data Protection Agency L'AZLP est bien l'autorité de contrôle nationale. Demander la preuve de déclaration si le candidat en dispose, sans en faire un motif de refus. | Agencija za zaštitu ličnih podataka u Bosni i Hercegovini (AZLP) | No expiry Where applicable | Official website |
The institutional structure dominates everything. A group employing in Sarajevo and in Banja Luka is in practice running two parallel systems, with different authorities, forms and rules, and a third if a site lies in Brčko. This is not an administrative nuance but a constraint on system configuration and on the skills required.
A single certificate issued by the entity tax administration does, by contrast, cover both taxes and social contributions, which simplifies the file: there is no separate fund certificate to chase.
Accounting certification is finally issued by two distinct professional organisations, one in each entity, and the qualifications are not automatically interchangeable. The licence produced must be the one for the place of practice, and it is renewed annually rather than held indefinitely. A file presenting the certificate of the other entity is not a minor irregularity but a gap in the right to practise.
Le vrai piège bosnien est institutionnel : il faut d'abord établir si le cabinet relève de la Fédération de BiH, de la Republika Srpska ou du district de Brčko, car registre, administration fiscale et organisation professionnelle changent selon l'entité. Deuxième particularité : les cotisations sociales sont collectées par l'administration fiscale, si bien qu'une seule attestation (uvjerenje o izmirenim poreznim obavezama i doprinosima) couvre le fiscal et le social. Troisième : la TVA relève d'une administration d'État séparée, l'UIO — ne pas la demander à la Porezna uprava.
The network opens 3 partner slots in Bosnia and Herzegovina, not one more. No firm is listed there yet: all 3 slots therefore remain open to applications.
No listed partner in Bosnia and Herzegovina has asked to appear in the public directory. The contact details of a firm are passed on to the client only when an assignment is awarded.
Filing an application does not amount to admission: every request is reviewed one by one. There is no minimum turnover requirement, and the partner selected invoices its fees directly.
Submit an application: we review your file, we check the documents required on the ground and we give you an answer, whether it is positive or not.
Everything here depends on the entity in which the firm is established. We ask for the licence to perform accounting work and the certified accountant certificate issued by the professional organisation competent for that entity, both in current validity. The file includes a current extract from the court register, the tax registration certificate carrying the unique identification number, where applicable the value added tax registration with the state authority, and the certificate confirming settled taxes and contributions. Notification of data files to the data protection agency is reviewed separately.
Describe your requirement. No firm is listed in Bosnia and Herzegovina yet: we review the request, then entrust it to a local firm that the network identifies and vets, or to the partner of a neighbouring country covering this territory. Your contact details are passed on to the selected firm alone.
Request a provider in Bosnia and HerzegovinaMobility is rarely arranged one country at a time. The neighbouring profiles follow the same outline.
These countries account for most of the requests received: each one has, in addition to its profile, six pages devoted to a single aspect of local payroll.
The information gathered on this page comes from the registers, administrations and bodies listed below, consulted when the reference base was compiled. It is given for guidance and does not replace the advice of a professional established in Bosnia and Herzegovina.